Blog Entry 1/31/14: Let the sonic mind numbing begin!

Alright, so this is my first blog entry so far.  Yes, I missed the first two. Although I have not been updating you guys in this realm, there has been a lot going through my head in concurrence with this project.

First, a couple of books I am reading:

The Power of Sound by Joshua Leeds: This is an incredibly eclectic source of sound therapy techniques and all sorts of other kinds of information based upon how sound affects the brain.  Joshua Leeds is one of the few leading experts in psychoacoustics and far as I know.

Psychedelic Shamanism by Jim DeKorne: You may be wondering why a book entitled "Psychedelic Shamanism" is having a major role in my sound studies.  Well, my project is all based around consciousness.  This book has some great techniques described for achieving different states of consciousness and I have found it essential as a guide during my sound practices.  It many ways it describes how to "feel" for these different levels of sensation, in my case stimulated by sound.

Second, what I have been up to this week:

I started researching Binaural beats a little bit more.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Binaurals, they are frequencies generated in the brain when we hear two slightly different frequencies in each ear.  I recorded two tracks, one in the low register, and the other in the medium frequency domain.  Using two oscillators, I panned each one hard to the left and right, and tuned them ever so slightly apart.  In addition, they were modulated by the same source, an extremely slow lfo, to induce a bit of drifting.  Quite hypnotizing indeed.

Capstone: Sonic Hyperspace Projection

The omnipresence of sound is taken for granted by humans on planet earth.  While the human hearing range only encompasses a narrow, audible scope of 20hz-20,000 Hz, the majority of the frequency content inhabiting our daily lives is aurally incomprehensible. The future, and fate of man depends on understanding the role these vibrations have on every detail of our daily routines.  Due to the lack of tools for analyzing the sonic properties of various environments, there has not been much research done until the latter half of the twentieth century into how humans are involuntarily connected to sound and how we perceive sound.  The emerging field of Psychoacoustics pertains to precisely how sound affects the brain, or can be condensed to, the psychology of hearing.

I have been fascinated by the power of sound for as long as I can imagine.  Starting with a love of music at a young age, I began to break it down to its raw form as I got older.  Within the past couple of years I have become more and more interested in how sound affects the brain, and our overall wellbeing. I believe that understanding how the benefits, and faults, of sound intermingle with the high intelligence of the human brain will unlock knowledge that very well could change the direction of our evolution for the long run.

For my capstone I would like to focus further in on a particular aspect of the role that sounds plays in affecting how we function.  I’m not positive at this point what that particular aspect is going to be; however, I am confident that it will be revealed through experimentation with different psychological sound trials.  Sounds therapy is the primary avenue I plan to travel down.  In many ways this capstone project is all about personal therapy.  I want to reinforce my relationship with sound and stumble upon its deep healing properties.  

Tasty Harmonix

I have been taking some introductory classes on the incredibly modular program MaxMSP created by the company cycling 74..  This is an interesting instrument called the Harmonic Architect that was developed in MaxMSP.  I am really fascinated by overtones, or harmonics and this instrument allows you to generate several harmonics at once while controlling each individual's amplitude as well.  You could create some amazing sounding creations I'm sure.  Anyways, just one of the bazillion things you can do with MaxMSP.  I found this on the project section of the Cycling 74 website.

Bulbous Attack

I like to smack my guitar, and pretty much any sound source silly.  Back in January someone was gracious enough to pass me a new toy, the Adamas 2mm graphite pick.  This thing is huge and makes my guitar sound like a flubbery drum, in the best way possible.  I play guitar very percussively and after 14 years of bangin strings, I feel this pick is the missing link towards my style of attack towards my guitar.  It is the equivalent of finding the perfect size drumstick for your hand.  2mm is quite thick for a guitar pick and is usually used for people who tend to have a light pick attack.  I am the exact opposite, I already have a heavy pick attack and applying that attack with an equally heavy pick is just preposterous! I am able to do things with my axe I have never been able to do before and am having a blast, check out the adamas 2mm graphite wonder if you get a chance...sexy little slammer.

Space Is Deep and Horny

A few days a go I had some of the most fun I've had in a while playing guitar.  I hadn't had a good, solid experience playing with other noise makers for far too long. I had a great 3 hour jam that seemed like we were only playing for 30 minutes a guitar, trumpet, and saxophone player.  It was one of the first times I gotten to play with horns and I must say...its was QUITE FUN!  I thought it was very interesting to play spacey riffage and see how the horns reacted to it.  In honor of horns taking there proper place in outer space I have posted a pic of Nik Turner...the original caster of the horn into orbit.

In Solitude Fucking Grooves

It's always a pleasing site when I see bands taking an already awesome concept and expanding on it to the 666th degree on their own terms.  In Solitude from Sweden are a great example.  The group is made up of a bunch of kids (around my age) who simply just want to rock out, nothing else.  It really reminds me of the first time I heard bands like Iron Maiden when I was 12 years old and used to sit in the back of the bus  alone with my headphones on the way home from middle school caring about nothing more than rocking out...this sort of activity was much more important than getting pussy.  These guys take the Maiden swing to the fullest and then some, really happy to know there are people in my age group that want to keep the spirit of pure rock n' roll alive.  Makes me feel a little less alone on this planet!

Isadora Exercises

Here are my first Isadora patches, nothing special...YET