"The ear favors no particular 'point of view.' We are enveloped by sound. It forms a seamless web around us. We say, 'Music shall fill the air.' We never say, 'Music shall fill a particular segment of the air.'"The Medium is the Massage
To me, the radio is a way that our minds can get trapped in the web of song. Pop songs are often designed to be "ear worms," songs that are impossible to forget. They act like a virus. You listen to a song and it repeats itself over and over in your head. Viruses enter the body, infect cells, reproduce, and continue this cycle indefinitely. These are the songs that never end, because they are impossible to get out of your head. To me, the song "Wonderwall" by Oasis is an example of one of these ear worms. I have a developed a visceral and passionate hatred for the tune due to the fact it was played so often on the radio. I couldn't go anywhere without being assaulted by it. Thus, for this project I attempted to recreate the song to demonstrate how it makes me feel and expose it for the monster that it truly is. I incorporated an out of tune guitar and the sound of knives being sharpened to create a grating and not-easy-to-hear atmosphere. Then I repeated a verse of the song throughout, while also adding vocal transformations at some points. This was my first time working with sound, and I am not yet sure how I feel about the final product. It gets my point across, but I hope I never hear it on the radio.
I thought that your soundscape did a great job of mimicking what goes on in our minds when referencing something that we don't particularly like. I find myself repeating a song over many times especially when i dislike it and your soundscape was a great tangible representation of the mental process I sometimes find myself in.
ReplyDeleteErin,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your soundscape project and can definitely relate to how you feel about the song "wonderwall". Certain songs that are overplayed start to get on my nerves and the lyrics seem to echo in my head in the same annoying fashion that you depicted. I also thought addition of an untuned guitar completely enhanced the song. As a musician myself, the clash between the guitar chords and the song made your piece almost uncomfortable to listen, just as I imagine you might feel listening to the original song. Great job!