My original idea consisted of breaking down English language through phoneme reconstruction. The plan was to talk/sing each vowel then layer them to make up some form of harmony. The vowels would be stretched to make the length of the recording. Mono recordings of consonants would periodically appear throughout the piece in clusters and slowly fade with granular effects and modulating delays. However, once I realised that I wouldn’t be able to fulfil both ideas fully, I decided to experiment with the piece that became the final composition as much as possible.
I created a patch on a Korg Volca Modular during a lecture, then recorded a few different loops varying in timbre. After chopping up, time warping and pitch shifting the recording, I arranged the first section of the piece. Reverb, delay and other effects are added to create a sense of dreaminess and help the listener let their guard down. This is layered with a slowed field recording of the Hare Krishna mantra I captured in June of this year. This recording is significant because local hindus in my home town would sing in the city centre. I can recall a number of good memories that would’ve had this as the soundtrack. As it is a mantra it also adds to the lull of the first section.
Wanting to explore a new concept, I made a recording of my dishwasher to investigate reduced listening. Its scrape and hum intrigued me. It adds some sort of grim ambience to the track, which I find fits very well. The recording makes up the backdrop of the piece. Unbothered and unrelenting, it trudges along through the piece in its entirety.
The lyrics in this piece are taken from a reflective letter, written to myself prior to moving to London. There are three vocal tracks. One was recorded through a series of delay and distortion pedals to create a thick texture. I duplicated this track and slowed it down, so that the words would blend and melt together. The two tracks are then panned to the left and right, enveloping the listener, along side a loop from the Volca Modular that is slowed down and bitcrushed to create the wall of noise. However, the piece felt like something was missing, so I recorded myself whispering the passage, which I think helps complete the piece.
The piece is an attempt to translate my current psyche into audio, some kind of self portrait. It details the depths of confusion that I have come to know. My struggle in finding some sense of self or meaning within my art practice. I tend to struggle to mix all the elements in my work cohesively and I think that is the main weakness of this piece too. Although I looked into reduced listening while making this piece, I think that exploring this topic further will shine light on thoughts and ideas that can influence my practice even more.