Oct 2, 2019
Tech rider sketch for a potential performance of Beyond Absolute.
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Tech rider sketch for a potential performance of Beyond Absolute.
Apparently it is unlawful to post an ultrasound image of my own thyroid. So I drew one instead.
Imperfection study: regularity-irregularity
"A healthy thyroid is homogenous", Dr. G.A. told me, as she was looking at an ultrasound image. She and other researchers are busy collecting data from volunteers with healthy or unhealthy thyroids, in order to understand the data generated by the LUCA device. The regularity of the thyroid's structure, its homogeneity, can be revealed by photonic absorption and scattering patterns, and will be one factor used in converting the device's readings into diagnostics.
The notion of homogeneity resonates with my interest in imperfection as an aesthetic concept. In a time-based medium like music, any exploration of imperfection first requires to establish a corresponding perfection, as a point of reference. For example, an irregular rhythmic structure is easier to perceive, and more meaningful, when it follows a regular one.
Part of what I'm trying to do in this residency is to map the outputs of the LUCA device onto musical parameters. Until now, I was hoping to map every data point into sound parameters, but this discussion with Dr. A. raised a different set of questions in my mind: how does the homogeneity of the thyroid revealed by the absorption and scattering of photonic signals, and how can this be represented through musical perfection and imperfection?
Sound texture of muted, dark and heavy, powerfully represented in visuals by Jane Hilberry, a participant of Beyond Absolute sound perception survey.
Sound texture of whispering, dark, resonant, ethereal, moving, active and continuous, beautifully represented in visuals by Jihae Ko, a participant of Beyond Absolute Sound Perception Survey.
Defining sound texture: muddy
After reading the web article written by Richard Vella et al.(http://www.rogerbissell.com/id11e.html), I felt the necessity of using more precise list of sonic elements to imagine and create each sound texture. Using the same sound source and the same tool (SuperCollider) from my first attempt “muddy, heavy, dry” ( https://reikoyamada.tumblr.com/post/186536034527/muddy-dry-heavy ), this time I focused on a single sound texture, muddy. The list of elements I have so far is as follows, and here is what I came up with for “muddy”:
register (mid to low)
dynamics (soft to average)
density (high)
envelop (slow attach, long sustain and decay)
harmony (dissonant)
contrapuntal character (polyphonic)
The sound post below is the resulting audio example.
(reiko yamada) muddy
Planning a structure
I am trying to come up with a convincing musical structure to organize the audio mapping of physiological data (from LUCA device) and the result from the audio questionnaires (see the sketches below). Here are two methods that I am thinking right now:
the mapping of physiological data is followed by sound textures based on audio questionnaires
shapes of sound (rhythmic) texture are influenced by the mapping of physiological data