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7/24/2019 Bach_The Extra-Digital Axis Mundi: Myth, Magic and Metaphor in Laptop Music.
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C011tcmpornry
usic R
roiew,
2003,
Vrll
22, o. 4, 3-9
The Extra-Digital Atis
Mundi
Myth Magic and
Metaphor
in
Laptop Music
Glenn Bach
TI1e rny.,hc.ll um..lerpann111gs of digital culture can b1 tr
,KI.'d
an 1.1ptnp mu..,lc br cx.:unming the mct.:J
p h o r ~ of d1,1.'1lmg,
ll.' .:.tl
.md
loom. TI1e
l < ~ p l n p c o m p ( l ~ l ' f /
p
r w r
,tppropri
tho.>
met:aphnm:al
'a l h l ~ e forms :.ugge,>;,t shaman, l c h c m i ~ t and Wl'JI'l'r .1:. i n ~ p a r a t i 1 1 1 1 Jnd :.trJlcgy. The :.h.1man
t r a H I ~ d
,>tp
an to thl.'
macro-.copac
world of
granular
-.uund
b J E ' < ' l ~ .
and
1 'll'''"'
am
a n h a b i
the bordlr-.
b1:twt1:n
tlw laptop-;
h,ud
drt'
e an
d ib sound
ca rd The
o ~ k h , m a - . t U"eware to di-.tlll,
r.Jrtl),
.md nvi\'l' "
the
digital revolution.
A :>
an
alternative, I offer the term ex tra-digital, whid1 describes a music
outside
or be\
ond
the either
/o
r limi ta tions of binary code, a parallel his tor}
that
pr
e-
date
:>
the
ad\
ent
of
the
co
mput
er
an
d
rdraw:.
connccttons
with
my ths
and
cultural beliefs that existed Long before, . : ~ r c h e t y p l '
that
\\ tll continue to
prosper
long
after
"dtgital" becomes a dead \\Ord
Steppmg .ma
y from
the
inward-focused
c'Camination
of
much
laptop
music, we hnd fertile ground in
the
mvs tical under
pinnings of
technology, mythological reterenccs and
magi
c.
Vvith an
incredibly fast processing -.peed, the l
aptop computer's
ability to
&le, process
and broadcast
so
und see
ms c1lmost magical - a
wealth of
sound
seeming
to
cmt'
rge from a thin wedge of elec
tt
omcs. Something magical
happens
during the focus of laptop composition .1nd the highly streamlined r i t u < ~ l of
laptop
perform c a u ~ e of
the
authority
implied bv
the
imposing notebook cove
r, but
becau
se
of
the
my
s
teriOLt'>
ingredients
the
lo1pt
op
co
ntam
s and the rnag1cal manner m which they arc broadcast. Loaded ""'ith
7/24/2019 Bach_The Extra-Digital Axis Mundi: Myth, Magic and Metaphor in Laptop Music.
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mythologtcal i l ' > ~ O C t a t i o m
.
from the tran..,formatin \
. . - e ~ . . oi
the
alchembt
to the
spiritual spmdles and looms of foLklore,
the
laptop not only takes on magical
powers
, it
s
magic.
Enk Oa\'is summarizes
the
technology-magic
connection:
Powerlul nt\\'
l l . C h n t ) k ~ l l . ~
are
mapcal
becau-.t> lht'\ lunchon
,,,
ma):u:. nptnin):
up
novel
and
proti Jn
~ r ; ) u - - . t ) f
po,,ib1htv
\\
ithin "'Ctal
re.llitv
Thev
aiiO\\
human'
tu
i m p r ~ ' thc1r
dft.',lming
wilb upon
the
'>tuft ul the world, R 'hapmg
tt,
at least m
part,
,1.:cordm>:
t1> 1111. d t ~ t g n . t.lf the imagmabon (Davb
1998.
181)
Davt'>
goe.,
on
to
d e ~ c r i b e
the my.,tical
nJture of
hvbridizc1tion,
where [e
]ach
new hybrid
. pushe
us further into
tha t
no
-
man's
land
between
nature
and
culture, J n ambiguous
zone where
scienct>, l
anguage,
and the social imagination
twerlap
and in terpenetrate
(Dad
1998: 12). lhe laptop h. a
hybrid,
a unification
of frieucrich
Kittlt r's
{1999)
record
player
,
typewriter
and film projector, and it
a l l o ~ . ,
for the compo:.ition,
performance
and
distribution
of mW>ic.
By
identifying
with
archetypal
1:>Ymbot.,,
the extr.1-dtgital
composer
performer
invokes premodern
ways of thmkmg,
and t h u ~ e m p l o ~ 1 : . the laptop
as a metaphor (Oa\b 1998: 12). Beyond the initi.1l anthropomorphic image of
the
portable
computer as a
laptop designed
to
. sL
m one's lap, or a notebook
as
a bibl1ographic
tnb11/n rasa the laptop
take., on
subtler
and
more
sophsh
cated association >
The
laptop
can be
setn
as
a
t < ~ l t s m a n holdmg sway over
audience
, po..,iti,
e
ly or negati,el),
with
it. seducttvel) tnscribed
Apple
or Son;
Vaio logo. W uo..,c thi'> touchstone to im
oke
new store.., of c r e a t i v i t ) ~ and to
explore
what
Chris
Chesher (2003)
describe.., a:.
the
re,.ihence
of
non-modern
cultural forms."
Myth
;md
magic
help
draw
associations,
add
new
l
avers of meaning
to l
aptop
composition
and
p12rformance. Re-emphasizing the spiritual
rights
the sh
ip,
brings
balance to th
e body-spirit
split.
The
extri1-digta l compos 'r
performer
rccognins
the con t
rast between
the linear rationality
of digita
l
code
and the intuitive mystery
of tlw creati\ e p roces.,, concocting a
hybnd that
allnw::. for a more
nuanced
and
mtimate relatwn..,hip
between the
composerI
performer
, the work and the audi
cnc;e By under..tanding the
m e t p h o r ~
inherent in
the laptop
, the e>..tra-digital
compoSr
/
pcrtormcr
can build a
bridge
back to lhl'
enchanted,
but very concrete,
world
that most
humans Jj,ed in before the
nltghtenment
reduced
the
muma
mtmd
to a soullc'>s
machine
" (Oa\is
1998:
180)
The aptop as elling
In
Pad1cs o Space Gaston
Bachelard d e ~ c r i b c ~ the
poe iL
ooations
of
the
image
of
the
hou
c, with ib four
waLLs and
roof, a permeable
boundary
defining interior
space
from the o u t ~ i d c world.
For
our house i > our comer
of
the world ,
he
w n l l ~ s , [ i]t
ib
our
first universe, a real C ~ ) S t n o ~ in
every
sense of the
word
(Bachclard
1994: 4).
Laptop musicians
spend so much
time
on
their laptops, establish ing such
intimate relutionships
with
their machines, that they .1ppear to
inhabit
the
p c e ~
tmplted
by
the
words, m g e ~
and
s o u n d ~
scrolling
down and
across
the
scn.'en.
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tL>chnologtes of perception
and
communication
open up ne''
spaces," Davts
".,rites,
and
these p a c e s are alway::. mapped, on one level or another, through the
imaginallon" (Davts 1998: 73). nu.., unagmation allows us to make the perceptu,,l
lenp to em ision the laptop m, a house, an mterior space protected from the outer
world
and
entered through the doonva) of the keyboard or the windowpane of
the mou'>e click
The
1magc
servco.,
a 'uluable metaphor, ..,uggcsting
an
other
worldly power of shelttr
and
protection .
As a structure housing digital sound, the laptop functions as a conduit,
allo\\ ing ::.ound to emerge from the
intenor
of the computlr's arch1val chambers
to be broadcast
out
1nto the world
ilS
un.1log ..,ound
wa\
es.
The laptop
is a house,
fundiuning as a unified polarization of Jtg ital anJ analog, inside and ou tside, on
and off. As sheller, the laptop protects its inhabitants from the
dangers
of the
outside
world
and nurtures the miracle of creativity, in
that
the house shelters
da)
dreaming, the
how:,e
protects the drcamt>r, [and] the
houst>
allows one to
dre.1m m peace" (Bachelard
199-l: 6).
The l.1ptop projects onto
1ts
screen the
inhabttant's
daydreams,
the composer'> mu..,ic mvoked trom the house's interior
chambers.
The
lop top also funclions
as
a mst,
in
that the
laptop
composer
performer
gives birth to
and
hutches crenbve lom1s there, nurlurec;
U1em
to maturity and
sends
them forth a-, broadcast
sound
.
just as
"a tree becomes a nest the moment a
great
dreamer
htdec; m 1t" (Bachelard
149 1 : 97),
the Laptop 1s a dead object until
Uw
artist mhilbits it ;md invests it with vitality. The laptop as a house or nest
scncs
as
a homl' ba'>e, a launching point from
v.
h1ch a
sound
il'>Sumes a life of its
o"' n I he
sound
alway., returns
home
,
howe,
cr, alwa) s
f.1des
back. into silence. A
sound
S
ne\ er
just
il
sotmd.
sound
e'er/ performer deh
es mto
this netherworld uf sow1d-that-was
and
sound-that-will-be by writing code, scripting algonthms, or by
na ,
igating the
graphical u er tnterface of commerclcll software. By burrow mg
deeper
into the
realms of obscured
sound,
the
laptop
~ h m n can actc..,s worlds heretofore
unknown, a process Kim Cascone (lq9lJ)
d c s c n b c ~ > 111
the liner notes to his release
Resitlunlism: "We are able to descend into the 'abyssal t.ont>' of the noi.scfloor and
u-;c
what we find there as material for exploration." Th1s nmse floor, a seemingly
silent bed
of
line n m ~ e
or
tape hiss, coml's alt\'C
when
thrust mto the spotlight, a
reversal
of
figure
and ground
.
The
lnptop
'ham,m
magnifies increasingly micro
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Ren.>nl ttchnological
ad\
ances let u > probl .md C:\plr to 1sit tht"ot.
im isibll
realm.,.
h e ~
function as
tm
ncatiun.-.1
dl'\
h..C..,
th.lt
.11low the
cro:::.smg of
the threshold from U1b world to tlw lltlwr Onll:' upon a time, however, the
Ia) p l r ~ o n ncedld no magical tool" or intermtdt.mes to acce-.s the superna tural.
We
were able to
share
in the act of creation, "J..,ccnJ to
hc
Mtlfc1Cts. From ou t
of
the
laptop
the tllchcmi
tum
eib
cl
Ctm tinuous incantation
of
magiC
o;pcll'>, raiseo.; "ounds
frnm the dlad, retrieH'" them from their c;helters
of
c;torage, and ..,end them forth in
ttl
the
'"orld,
whcrl'L'd.,
in the memory of the listener.
Sound C\t..,h m a constc.1nt >tate of c c o m i n ~ of tr.mstornltltlon from potcnhality
to memorv. Recorded -.ounds tra\ el from ont \esse) (..,torage medta) to ;mo ther
(the
m L m o r ~
nf the listent?r). A
sound
n ~ t in ib cradle
1Ls
crucible, either as a
rL-cordtd
~ o u n d - t h a t - w a - ; , or
as
a
compd
~ o u n d - t h a t - \ \ ill-be. The sound
emerge
mto
the
\\
orld, tr.weling
m
sillnt
w,,,
l'" until it
i
pmnounced
m the
ear
of thL
lio.;tcner,
pi.1..:Ld
in
a
nC\\
'esc,el
in
t1
const.Hltl)
l'\'oh ing neighborhood
{
memon
f h ~ .
laptop
is an
a l c h L m i ~ t . . ,
lihr.1rv, its thousands ot booJ...s containing
word
.. 111
the process
of becommg
aural, a
fL'\
crish whbplring
tlf
potentiality.
TI11c, '>onic laboratol) offers fcrtilt
~ r o u n d
tor I.'Xpcrin1l'ntalion. technologies are
U'>l'd
t
\\ays in
"h1ch
they WL W not intLnded ~ o u n d - d L > i g n software creates
noise rather ll1.1n cleaning it
up
. Imaging ..,oilwan vtelti... sound. Spectrographic
f r e e w t ~ r c f r t ~ t ' / t ' S >OLilld
into image. Bitm.1p pl.l'ver snnifv image.., bad. into sound.
Curtis
Road di'>cuss
c.-..
ome
of the
a k h c n l l c t ~ l ttchnll]Ul
"' employed
by
s o f t w a r ~
of thtc;c t)
peo.;:
"Micrnsonic
techmques
dio;soiVl'
tht rigid bricks of
mu.;ic
architec
ture thL' notes- into a mure tluid and
uppll
rned1um
Sound may
coales..:e,
C\aporalL or
mulatc
into other sounds'' (Ro.lds 2001: di).
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or
expansion,
choru..,, equallZation,
rmg
modui,Hion .md otlwr \'ariatioru,
of
the
alchemiccll process. The laptop alchemist
/Oomr
and >mailer olating,
~ u ~ p e n d i n g
anJ dbtilling. In the afkrword
to
a c q u ~ s
Atalh s l t l l l , Suc.;an lcC ary (1985
Jt)J)
explams "'h.1t happt.>ns next Breakmg
a
piL>ce
of
u ~ 1 c
dm.' n
into
a
series of
1ts smallest atom1c
unib
dec;tro) s
whatever
illusion of mot1on it might
have
had. I t } ields a ~ h , l i n
ot
fret>/t>-frame stilb. This
phonographic
L'\ 1dcnce is then
dic; '>ectl'd
L \ en further, cropped ,md tnmmed
The
res1dual
arhfacb U1at
remain becoml' "l'tJ.., for nt'\\ ..
orl-., nr e\.bt on their own
terms.
1
he
alchemis
t
suspends t h e M ~
ne\\ .,mmds in sustain
ed
loops, and creates
new compos1tions from lhe resulting
suund
..cape.,. Sound.., mto inler
locktng
v.
eft .md ' 'arp,
the
nc
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heReturn of ura
By exammmg lht aforementioned archetypt' - dw,.>lhng, ' l " " ~ l and loom -
we
can
re-m\
c:,t extra-digital
music ldth new mcJnings .tnJ a " ~ o C i a t i o n s
. com
en
ient ...ide eflcct of these
new
layer ..
b the
pntential ot resuung
laptop performance
from the danger.,
of
irrele' ance
and
auditnct indiflh'1.td
of
laptop musk
wtth
intimae)
and
meaning,
we
can \\
ork
magic
with
an
inter
sted
.md cunow; audt
ence, re-Jlign the extra-digital n;ns 1111111di .md
help
rt:-enchant
the
\-\.Orld in wlud1
we
li\ e and dream.
Ref reuces
lhclwl.ird.
. 1 ~ t o n (1994) Tire PPL fu:,
if
S1mn
Bt lnn
M 3\.Jc
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I liad, /\lircJlrtiml Lwnomv
y ' ' ''' b\ j.Kqul..,
AttoJh ,
pp.
144--l'il>. .tmni.'Jpt.l Press.
\kl,.m
, ,\d.Jm (20112)
rh
alchemical
H.,...,._.J
ch
ml:,ol ' ' ' th,
' 'ul Tlr