Soothe Operator: Muzak and Modern Sound Art-Suset Min (2002)
Examples of retaliation to Muzak: There have been many attempts to eliminate Muzak, whether through legislation, high profile campaigns, or attempted buy-outs such as heavy- metalist Ted Nugent’s $10 million bid to purchase the company in order to destroy it. Last year in the British House of Parliament, Salisbury MP Robert Key brought forth his Ten-Minute Rule bill that would outlaw Muzak in almost all “public” places. The measure lost despite the efforts by high-profile organizations such as Pipedown, whose “Campaign for Freedom against Piped Music” is supported by well-known figures such as author Stephen Fry, actor Tom Conti, and conductor Sir Simon Rattle.
On one hand, Muzak gives the illusion of a democratic space, an unlimited choice of songs ranging from urban beats to country currents to Fiesta Mexicana to jukebox gold. On the other hand, it effaces the listener, and turns the body into a site of experimentation and mass production: a passive yet industrious automaton.
Muzak as the bad object operates almost like a colonial tool, producing a sonic landscape laden with metaphorical maneuvers of invasion, dispossession, and surveillance through mechanized sound. It has the potential to seep not only through walls, but to become part of the foundational structure of a building. In their recent move to update their corporate image, Muzak’s officials now present themselves not as a group of scientists but as “audio architects,” interior designers who specialize in “audio imaging” the spa, restaurant, or boutique near you. Due to falling revenue and increased competition, Muzak has been forced to update its corporate image with the help of the multi-disciplinary design firm Pentagram.
Personal stereo use reorientates and re-spatializes the users’ experience with users often describing the experience in solipsistic and aesthetic terms. Personal stress appear to provide an invisible shell for the user within which the boundaries of both cognitive and physical space become reconstructed. (P.31)
The environment is re-appropriated and experienced as part of the users desire. Through her privatised auditory experiment the listener gets ‘more’ out of the environment, not by interacting with it but precisely by not interacting. Actual environment, unadorned, are not normally sufficient for personal-stern users. It is either populated with people or merely mundane. Music listened to through personal stereo makes it ‘what it is’ for the user and permits the recreation of the disked space to accord with the wishes of the user. (p.37)
Personal stereos can be constructed as functioning as a form of ‘auditory mnemonic’ in which users attempt to construct a sense of narrative within urban spaces that have no narrative sense for them. The construction of a narrative becomes an attempt to maintain a sense of pleasurable coherence in those spaces that are perceived to be bereft of interest.(Mnemonic: a system such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations which assists in remembering something.)
The Management of Cognitive Contingency
The user repeatedly plays his or her own favourite track of ‘the tape of the day’ so as to sustain the chosen mood. The same favourite or ‘successful’ track will be multiply recorded onto the tape and played continuously. This not a too infrequent activity amongst those users who wish to maintain a static mood whilst being physically mobile. In the above examples mood is sustained through a series of complex social manoeuvres. The external environment is perceived as an obstacle to be surmounted.
Users often describe the transformative function of listening to music through personal stereos in terms of energy… “If I’m in a bad mood I listen to different sorts of music . I turn it up louder. I don’t want anyone else to put me in a bad mood. If I’m in a bad mood I have to block everything out so nobody else can put me in a bad mood. If I’m in an O.K mood it puts me in an even better mood. But it won’t get me out of a bad mood. (Gemma: Interview number 24) (p.46)
This continuation of mood from home to street is achieved by bridging these spaces with music. In doing so, the distance from leaving her house to arriving at her destination is negated or overlaid by the use of her personal stereo…If, for example, a user is merely going to work, then use might change their mood into one that is more suitable, successful and appropriate for the tasks of the day.
Aestheticising Everyday Life: A Critique
Aestheticizing; to depict as being pleasing or artistically beautiful; represent in an idealized or refined manner.
Bull uses the final chapter to discuss the negative more contentious aspects of personal stereo usage. The chapter aligns perfectly with my own ideas on ‘Soundtracking’ and the fabrication of ones experience when using personal stereos and noise cancelling technology. I persoanlly feel that Bull and other writers lack definitive definition of this activity, therefore I prepose’Soundtracking’. The listener situates themselves with the sonic environment while in the ‘theatre’ i.e public space and uses the sounds as a platform for escape. The same way a soundtrack situates itself within a film and the theatre and helps guide the audience into the story.
Aestheticization is a strategy embedded in the use of a range of communication technologies…modes of aesthetic appreciation concerning looking at a painting or in listening to a piece of music need to distinguished from aestheticising the practices of everyday life. (P.171)
“But when I’m out I’m looking for things that I see—in the world, human, interaction—beautiful things that I think can touch my soul—you know, that certain sound at a certain time and it will just move me to tears—an it is filmic…But because I’m listening to music thats’ really tender it moves me even more. (Jay: Interview number 33)—Jay aestheticises her experience through musical accompaniment. The experience is described as having pathos in the same way as if she were watching a film or television programme on poverty from the comfort of her home. Implied in the above description is that if the music is not right, then somehow the woman in the street, who is really there, will not have the same presence. The situation is ‘real’ if it is filmic.
–The opening section of this chapter discuss’ Freuds psychoanalysis theories in relation to music, listening and the manic creative (or neurotics). Although I don’t agree with Freud totally, Storr bring to light interesting ideas as to why we attempt to regress from our reality.
External/Internal Stimuli: ’One of Freuds fundamental ideas was that the organism is continually seeking to rid itself of disturbing stimuli. As noted in Chapter Two, he thought that the nervous system was an apparatus for getting rid of both external and internal stimuli as soon as possible. If this is true it follows that the ideal state must be one of tensionless tranquility.’—Agreeing with this statement, arguably since the lockdowns there has been a noticeable shift in the way we (the people) and companies interact with others and our surroundings. Self-care, veganism and healthy living are intertwined with the climate crisis.
Following the above quotation, Storr discuss’ Freuds belief that the tranquil state derives from the ‘satisfied infant’; ‘Interaction between mothers and infants includes stimulation and arousal as well as blissful union; but phsyoanalysis has emphasised union whilst usually neglecting arousal. In infancy, Nirvana is attained at the breast; in adult life, it follows sexual orgasm.
Phantasy and Play:’Freud believed that phantasy was derived from play. Since play and phantasy involve turning away from, or denying reality, both are childish activities which ought, ideally, to be outgrown. As all forms of art depend upon the exercise of phantasy, of the artists imagination, it is unsurprising that Freud considered that the artists are closer to be neurotic than the average person.’
Infant/Sound: ‘Pyschoanalysis is based on Freud’s theories of infantile development: it includes the idea that no one, however mature, entirely outgrows his or her infantile past. For example, the earliest ‘oral’ stage of libidinal development continues to manifest itself in adults in such forms of behaviour as smoking, sucking pencils, or in various types of eating disorders.’
Infant/Sound:’The assumption is that the infantile past exerts a constant seductive pull upon the adult present and that it is easy to its enticements. Although psychoanalysis recognises that no human being reaches complete emotional maturity, the implication is that regression to infantile modes of satisfaction and communication is to be deplored: at its best, it is a respite from the burden of being an adult; at worst, a permanent failure to grow up.’
Infant/Sound: ’Other psychologist refer to regression to a stage of narcissism or to an early period in which the ego was not yet differentiated from external objects. Pinchas Noy records that several of his patients admitted a recurrent pressing need to hear music…(the patients) vividly recalled early memories of their long dead mothers. The same psychoanalyst eludes to ‘longings for the lost paradise of oral infancy, and to music as taking a person back to the primary period when maternal voice conveyed loving reassurance.
Phantasy:’Day-dreams are sometimes escapist as Freud suggests; but they can also be precursors of creative discovery and thus of new ways of adapting to reality. Like the other arts, music can provide a temporary retreat from the pains of existence; but this is only one of its function, and by no means the most important. Music can also aid our adaption to life in a variety of ways…’
Aural Armour: Charting The Militarisation of the iPod in Operation Iraqi Freedom (The Oxford handbook for Mobile Music Studies Vol.1)- J.Martin Daughtry
‘Over the first two years of the war, however, the iPod grew into a near-ubiquitous mobile entertainment device, one that allowed military personnel to deploy music with great precision in service of multiple aims: smoothing and hastening the passing of time; tethering the troops to their civilian lives back home; memorialising the deaths of fallen comrades and attaining and managing the middle altered state of heightened agressionand awareness that characterises the engaged and effective warrior.’
‘The iPod is well on its way to becoming a fully militarised prosthetic technology—once deployed in the service of media consumption, one-way translation, interrogation, crowd dispersal, intelligence gathering, “winning hearts and minds”, and even precision shooting in the field.’
‘For the first time, combat soldiers could create their own electro-acoustic environment, and take it with them as they fought.’
‘…The iPod appears to be a technology that is valued, in part at least, for the degree to which it can replicate the audiotopias of civilian life (Kun 2005). Service members often strive to construct a semblance of normalcy by listening to music that makes them feel as if they were ‘back home’.
‘Some soldiers describe the experience of listening to music during mission prep as being akin to ingesting amphetamines. But in addition to quickening the pulse, music is used to exert a measure in control over noise in an environment where many noises are unpredictable and connected to death. When they choose the right beat for the moment, they exert control over rhythm in an environment where coordination, dexterity, and timing are essential for survival. When they mouth the lyrics, they exert control over narrative to regularise their feelings about the immediate prospect of killing, and of being killed.’
As Buzzel stated in his interview with Jonathan Pieslak: It’s kinda like…having your own soundtrack to your own movie, to your own war. If you watch a movie and they have a war scene…it’s not the same without…some cool music dealt on top of it. When you’re out there in real life, you know, hey, this is your movie. So (if) thesis my movie then this is my soundtrack and this is what I’m listening to and it just gets you…pumped up for it.
Forever and Ever: Mobile Music in the Life of Young Teens (The Oxford Handbook for Mobile Music Studies Vol.1) – Arild Bergh, Tia Denora, and Maia Bergh
This chapter explores the younger demographic (‘tweens and young teenagers) relation to mobile music usage and how the modern format of listening is used. Bergh interviews her daughter and her friends in order to gain access to the thoughts of her topic. She begins by expressing the lack of literature available that looks at the younger demographic experience, arguing that the older generations should not overlook younger peopler for they have grown up/ been born alongside these technological advancements, thus experiencing the benefits and drawbacks completely.
Characteristics of current mobile music devices: ’We suggest the together these properties represent physical, exploratory, and storage conveniences, each of which affords easier and more powerful ways of interacting with music. In addition to these features, the devices share with older forms of mobile music the key aspect that music can accompany the user in his or hers travels, namely, the device allows for its user musically to infect space with relative ease.’
Mood: ‘The fact that music is closely linked to emotions and moods is a well documented and researched. In relation to mobile musicking, too, it has been shown that music enables adjustments and reconfigurations of auditory space, and thus of selves in motion.’
Mood: ‘But mobile music technologies afford new techniques for finding the ‘right’ music, and thus for constituting ones good mood, and for connecting to others and to memories through music. There was a general agreement among the informants that music affected their feelings an emotions…’
Sonic Mapping: ’The use of mobile music as a means for mapping space, and for establishing ontological security on the move is of course widely reported on in the literature and these young people share these practices with older users. Some respondents describe how mobile music can also be used for mapping and reconfirming their sense of place and occasion. Andrew explained “…when I cycle home, I like to listen to Pink Floyd and things like that…’
In conjunction with my research for the Contemporary Issues assessment, I have been exploring library music and Muzak, be it 1970s supermarket atmospheres or mall music, the sonically synthetic, processed nature appeals to me. As expressed in a previous blog post, although I come from a gaming background (Ps2-Ps4), virtual reality worries me for a number of reasons.
Also considering the ‘sense of place’ and ‘spirit of place’ in accordance to the essay __________ by continuing the notion of a virtual reality, I wish to divert from the musique concrete and field recording practices I have been working on, in order to capture the ‘sense and sprit’ in augmented reality. Inspired by my distaste for virtual reality, I intend to produce an opening score totally un-organic, digital and fake. By this I mean remaining rigid in terms of production;
One. Rather than using my own recorded sounds I will use ones found on my DAW of choice (Logic).
Two. No use of samples or other sources that may detract or add a specific context to the score.
Three. Keep score relatively simple in structure in keeping with the graphics and aesthetic of the menu screen. The user will be adjusting to the headset and game mechanics therefore the music should operate in the foreground. I n saying this, a moderate rhythm or percussive element should reveal itself hopefully generating a sense of anticipation/progress as the user nears entering the laboratory.
Nostalgia Por Mesozoica-Nikolaienko (Muscut Records)
As reference, Nikolaienko’s latest album explores library music for fictional museum spaces and exhibitions. Imagining soundscapes and library pieces for museum dioramas, I found this concept parallels the intentions of VR in which users can be placed within the fictional realm. Yet with the ever furthering of this technology, the goggle wearing, headphone listening user becomes the object of fascination for surrounding observers. The sealing off of the two most important senses (Eyes and Ears) is un-natural and definitive of ‘the future’ we now live in.
Sonically, this album explores a multitude of textures, rhythms, field recordings and samples, refashioned into quite childish and kitsch soundscape. The sense of place is strong and each track really feels as if it has been dug up from a v natural history library cd.
My first impressions of the menu screen/setting was that it reminds me of the Playstation 4 homepage. Both use shades of blue that drift and float around the user as if in a synthetic heaven, hoping to calm and relax the user before the gameplay. There is an endless quality in scope and feel (hence the use of blue associated with the sea and water) which I believe helps remind the user that escape is good but also invites them to play ‘endlessly’ i.e you can return as many times as you like or play for days on end because the technology will never fail.
My previous look at how Muzak works, as described in The Recording Angel is a rather outdated description. The NYTimes article summarises how the the company has evolved.
The architect rates the song in 45 detailed categories: the mood of the music; its instrumentation; its color (dark or light), and whether it is by a male or female vocalist. Once analyzed, the songs are assigned what the company calls ”quantum modulation” figures and stored in the database for future retrieval.
Every day, audio architects assemble 24-hour playlists, ranging from country to pop hits, for 60 broadcast channels. Songs are selected, Mr. Collis said, to provide the necessary blend and balance of stimulation throughout the day. ”We want to create an atmosphere that is dynamic and constantly changing,” Mr. Collis said. ”We don’t want to be boring.”
With the database updated, Muzak representatives meet with prospective clients to create an ”audio image” — a musical personality. They examine the client’s marketing goals, mission statement and products, then suggest an appropriate Muzak program. A shoe store in a rural area needs to keep kids mellow; maybe the country channel might be appropriate. An urban sneaker store wants to enhance the customer experience; how about Muzak’s channel with Puff Daddy songs?
In the opening act of Stanley Kubrick’ science fiction masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, the unsuspecting troop of primates wake up one morning to find a monolith amidst their camp. At first, the sleek iPhone looking stone scares the primates, who snarl and beat the floor un-controllably. But as the scene progresses, the seemingly inanimate monolith alters the primates response from fear to curiosity. One by one the apes tentatively approach the object, some even daring to touch it before scampering back to safety. Yet as suspected the apes lose all sense of fear and are overcome by the third stage of coercion ; wonder.
Interestingly, the transition from fear to wonder is cleverly masked by the non-diegetic, extremely harrowing vocal score that accompanies the monolith (Gyorgy Ligeti’s Requiem, composed 1963-65). Therefore by masking the diegetic sound, Kubrick suggests to the audience that the monolith gives off an energy or maybe it produces extremely low frequencies that alter the mind or it could even be music? Whatever it is the apes are ‘cohered’ by the monoliths magnificence unknowingly through sound and accept the knowledge/benefits it provides, in the apes case, evolution.
With the monoliths backseat guidance, the apes discover how to use old bones as weapons and defend their camp by killing an invading ape. The final shot from the Dawn of Man, shows a single ape destroying the bones of an animal with its new weapon, the symbolism is obvious, out with the old and in with the new. The apes have now entered the final stage of cohesion; acceptance.
By beginning with 2001’ Dawn of Man, It is my intention to draw parallels between the real and fictional world, focusing on coercion and control through sound.
INSERT ADAM CURTIS ‘QUOTE’
Looking at how governments and mega companies have adapted surveillance to fit the needs of the modern person, by producing lucrative products, promoting the need to defend ones family and more subtly, using sound to anaesthetise us. I will be looking firstly at Amazon products such as Alexa and the Ring Doorbell and how the handover of surveillance from government to public has been generated, secondly the regeneration and evolution of Muzak and finally an amalgamation of the previous two, why Spotify owner Daniel Ek has invested £100million into a upstart AI Military Defence company.
Excerpts from The Recording Angel by Evan Eisenberg :
‘…Bing Muscio, former president of Muzak Corp.,who came to the firm from a manufacturer or air conditioners, said that his product should be heard but not listened to. Designed to flatten work efficiency curves, Muzak is programmed by a teleprompter computer in fifteen minute segments. A segment holds five selections, each more stimulating the last (in terms of tempo, rhythm and orchestration). There are different programmes for offices, light industry, heavy industry and public places (where the emphasis is on ‘well being’ rather than efficiency.)…That makes it the largest network in the world. Here is architecture of time on a titanic scale–free world equivalent of totalitarian radio. Generalissimo Franco used to have Muzak played over Radio Madrid. But then Muzak was conceived by a brigadier-general who wanted to pump it into the trenches of the First World War, and it had its first great success in the munitions factories of the Second.’ P.65
‘Of course, Muzak is not work music for musicians, but for workers. If good music were played in factories, either it would distract the workers or they would have to learn to ignore it. Surely people should not be taking good music for granted. Should they then, be taking bad music for granted? It may be a false dilemma. Where a task is is mechanical, good music may not speed it up, but it will make it infinitely more bearable.’ p.65-66
‘In some cultures work music is music one sings while working: grinding songs, harvest songs, building songs, sea shanties, field hollers. When the worker is exuberant, the song recycles his exuberance. When he’s bored, it entertains him. It thus reinforces the natural rhythm of the workday. Muzak comes from outside worker. It smothers his exuberance, prods, his exhaustion, and flatness the workday.’ p.66
Thought: Having worked in a number of establishments within the hospitality sector, I have noticed that hugely popular streaming channels such as Spotify and Apple Music ‘Playlists’ are the natural predecessors for Muzak. Without the intervention of a ‘conscious DJ’ who can alter the programme of music–restaurants, cafes and bars all fall into the trap of repetitive playlists. (It is understandable that the music is least of the owner/managers concern when running a restaurant, thus there is no desire to alter a comfortable sonic fit.) I find it interesting that we consciously numb and anaesthetize ourselves in certain situations and environments, it is not always outside oppressors that dictate our sonic experience. Why?
At my families restaurant I have also began to notice a rather strange phenomenon or sonic peculiarity that seems intertwined with the theories of Muzak. The Spotify account linked to the restaurant plays a continuous playlist mix of acid jazz, UK and US Soul/R&B and nineties house music, which I estimate runs for about four hours before replaying again. Interestingly, I have began to associate certain songs and respective rhythms with the a particular mood of service and noticed changes in the customers attitude.
The mood of service: How the waiting and cooking service is going-i.e a high influx of people and orders results in a manic service, resulting in arguments between workers and a decrease in moral.
On the weekend (the busiest days), the music played from the surround system guides, ignites and foreshadows the running of the service. EXPAND ON THESE THOUGHTS IN A SEPARATE POST
Thompson brings to the afore, the often overlooked topic regarding sound and gender, specifically human or autonomous sound that is not attached to a body or form. The essay is broken into three sections being Gendered-sound discourses, Gendered-sound production/reception and Policing gendered-sound.
Key points taken away from the opening section dissect the Eurocentric notion of a ‘neutral’ voice; ‘satnavs are often associated in the popular imagination with that is understood as neutral (i.e white, middle class) feminine voice.
MY POINTS/EXPANDING
Gendered sound is not just restricted to sound itself, we can also expand this notion to the equipment used in studios i.e male and female wires. Also certain websites such as GearSlutz being an example of the male dominance within sound practice and enterprise.
Following on from the above-Traditionally, in the west the playing of music or producing of sound (for an audience) on a macro scale was reserved for children and young women. Reciting famous classical pieces to guests almost autonomously, the division between art and business is traditionally structured around gender stereotypes. Unsurprisingly, the creation of the work remained with the aristocratic, white male composer, yet the amateur reproduction was for the women. It seems that even when examining ‘the creation of sound’, traditionally we cannot escape from personifying heterosexual reproduction. Thompson touches on this idea from the start; ‘The instructive voice of the GPS systems, or ‘sat nav’ has become an audible presence in many people’s everyday lives. These navigation devices offer a range of ‘male’ and ‘female’ automated voices…If gender is something that pertains to bodily difference and body-world relations, then it might seem problematic to describe the disembodied, automated voice, such as that of the sat nav, as ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’. ————> Abstract Analysis and comment:
While travelling on the Piccadilly line heading to Covent Garden, this line being one of the deepest subways underground in London, a crackled automated female voice announces the upcoming destination. In response to Thompsons essays and my own thinking, by restricting the gendered autonomous voice from a body or form, the manufactures are instead enclosing the voice within something. Essentially trapping the female voice within an object or code. Now, some may claim that dissecting certain aspects of modern society from a literary perspective (in my case personification) is far-fetched and borderline conspiracy. Yet, since studying sound arts, my ears have been opened up to the calculating methods of harnessing sound for control, and, the way governments, police forces and the wealthy secretly impose these auditory barricades onto its consumers, clients and public.
Ocular and Auditory Control
The general public (on the whole) is aware of control through sight/vision–24 hour news reels, elections, the internet and CCTV are all forms of ocular-sensory control. Though many may not realise the biased opinions and views written into tv dramas, soaps and documentaries and branding, the CCTV camera is the overarching (known) symbol of ocular-sensory control. And we accept this in return for our safety.
However if we examine the other end of the spectrum, Auditory-Sensory Control-tools such as Muzak, Sound Bombs, Noise-Cancelling Headphones, Sonic Deterrents etc. The known practice and implications of the above tools are widely unspoken about, and in most cases unknown to the general public. Therefore, the use of a female voice in certain objects and envorments such as a Sat Nav or in the underground are all forms of oppressive, control and subjugation. Think about the hundreds of young children that travel on the underground during the school holidays, exposed to the voices of robotic females underground. What sort of longterm association of a specific sound does this ensue on a young, growing mind?
It is important to note that most modern personal tech such as phones, tablets and SAT Nav’s now afford the user the ability to change the voice, therefore the auditory-sensory control methods used to marginalise gender come in the form of public announcements and tech.
Relevant Book: Life and Death in New York; 1980-83 by Tim Lawrence
Tim Lawrence is a Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of East London and author of three books; Life and Death being his latest, preceding the monumental Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture 1970-1979 and one I am yet to read, Hold On To Your Dreams. With primary focus on the music and scenes that evolved from post war America, hyper specifically Dance music emanating from New York parties and nightclubs.
Lawrence examines three crucial years in the development of specific genres such as Post-Disco, Post-Punk, Nu-Wave and Hip-Hop, depicting the overlooked synthesis between all the underground scenes. Most historians when writing about their particular genre neglect the unified nature of the scenes, instead analysing them as singular movements. Which I feel is a common occurrence within the literary Audio Canon (although completely understandable) for sound evokes feelings of extreme passion, causing listeners to live within an echo chamber of personal preference. Lawrence guides the reader to a more contemporary view of New York, arguing that a combined sense of place, fight for injustices and historical contexts helped develop or destroy each respective scenes. Life and Death is kaedescopic in scale, offering the reader a highly factual account of three years, constructed from interviews, newspaper sources, audio documents, mixes, magazine articles etc.
My personal interest in DJ culture led me to discover Tim Lawrence’ work, originally intending to find a comprehensive account on the birth of House Music in Chicago, not some biased re-telling from the Acid scene. Like Lawrence, who also set out to write the very book I wished to read, he unearthed an untold history of dance music, a mere legend or tale kept alive by the ageing DJs of today. Places such as the The Sanctuary, The Loft, The Gallery and the Paradise Garage are mythic within the canon of American dance music, but the writing on them is non-existent. In my opinion Lawrence acts as modern day Cecil Sharp or say the Brothers Grimm, weaving the historical and the fantastical, giving voice to the people who previously went un-heard.
BIO: Pamela Z is a composer/performer and media artist making works for voice, electronic processing, samples, gesture activated MIDI controllers, and video. She has toured throughout the US, Europe, and Japan. Her work has been presented at venues and exhibitions including Bang on a Can (NY), the Japan Interlink Festival, Other Minds (SF), the Venice Biennale, and the Dakar Biennale. She has composed scores for dance, film, and chamber ensembles (including Kronos Quartet and Eighth Blackbird). Her awards include the Rome Prize, United States Artists, the Guggenheim, Doris Duke Artist Impact Award, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and the Herb Alpert Award. www.pamelaz.com
Early in her career Pamela was considered to be just a musician, however her practice has evolved in scope to the point she names herself; composer, sound artist, videographer, artists etc.
Collage of work: Almost operatic in tone, Pamela loops vocal gestures and layers them until they take on a life of there own. She also enhances theses vocal performances by reading prose and written text, and also concrete samples. From what it seems her live practice explores performance and a synthesis between her voice and electronics.
Back in the day, her setup would consist of a stack of affects racks with a mixer on-top, all patched together. She eventually replaced this hefty live setup into a software patch via Max MSP–renaming her patches after the physical hardware she was replacing.
MAX-MSP: Max Signal Processing , or the initials Miller Smith Puckette), it remains the most notable of Max’s many extensions and incarnations: it made Max capable of manipulating real-time digital audio signals without dedicated DSP hardware.
Originally her performances were made up of short 4-7min pieces, very similar to a pop song format. She then became interested in perforce and integrating multimedia aspects into her live shows such as samples, collages, dancers, satire. Ultimately becoming full length modular pieces that flowed and evolved as the show went on. A huge jump away from her earlier practice.
Baggage Allowance–Installation/Live Performance—This was originally conceived as a installation featuring found objects such as suitcases, antique wardrobe trunks, bag x-rays (that superimposed fake objects into the audiences bags). The suitcase, 24inches wide, had a woman going to sleep projected into the suitcase so the audience could look down into the suitcase. Accompany all the pieces were related sounds, thus adding character to the the inanimate objects.
She then incorporated the this into a live performance.
“Sound remains central within her work”—–“Before creation she interviews people regarding her subject and then expands this into her work.” —–Pamela work is shaped by conversations and ironically other peoples voices before her own interprets these ideas. —–Links to my thoughts on art and the ego, and my research into Aural Histories.
Memory Trace–Sound Work (Potential inspiration for consequences of sound composition!) Fragments of speech collated together.
Pamela has composed many scores for dances and films. She likes to use found text and its–they can be tremendously poetic, a bit like rhyme but better due to its unpredictability. Within the formulaic and un-interesting, lists can become hypnotic and form there own rhythms that appear completley random. EXPLORE THIS———————-
Can there be chaos even in the formulaic?
Echolocation LP (First released on cassette in 1988)——–Listen
