#and the nature of his existence is even more liminal & uncertain than before

[playerkingsley]

campaign 3, episode 51 spoilers:

[hmsex2023-rorys3965039]

Blog Entry 8

Sound Design: Resonance – HOME

I’ve decided to go with Resonance by Home, the song that got me hooked on Schyguyy and, in turn, this whole aesthetic. The song I said I’d use before was Memory Reboot but now I feel like that track is too in your face and exciting; I like how neutral Resonance is, it makes the vibe less attributable to one emotion, the uncertain, the unclear, and the undefinable is the essence of liminality.

Research - Technical

I’ve used Reaper to essentially do what time remapping does in Premiere Pro for video, but for audio. Pressed alt T to bring up the tempo envelope, and made 3 BPM keyframes (90, 100, and 120, 120 being the song’s normal tempo) with the second transitioning to the third linearly. I did this because I couldn’t choose between the different popular versions of Resonance, sometimes I like Resonance slowed (.9x) + reverb, other times I like super slowed (.75x), but most often I like the original.

Sidenote: I believe many people who’ve listened to this song and songs like it feel the same; remixes of songs being as popular or more popular than the original appears to be positively correlated with Phonk’s popularity (my personal observation).

I looked for ages trying to find out how to remap the time of an audio clip, something that I thought should be simple as it is for video. I asked google, YouTube, chatgpt, nothing. Finally through clicking different “audio item timebase” options I found a solution that no one else on the internet recommended.

“Beats (auto-stretch at tempo changes)”

Before setting this, Reaper was playing the whole track at the BPM of the last keyframe (120BPM, the track’s original tempo) despite the tempo envelope’s time remapping between 90, 100, and 120. All sorted now.

I’m still fiddling around with reverb, thinking I might even try to keyframe particular parameters so that the sound either starts out sounding far away and low clarity and becomes encapsulating and clear, or vice versa.

Research - Academic

Zuckerman Interview video on genetic basis of sensation-seeking.

“Well, this is determined from twin studies called Biometrics of Behavior Genetics actually. Using these twin studies we initially found that roughly 60% inheritability. In heritability is the proportion of the variance in a trait that is determined by genetics. We discovered there was 60% -- which is very high for a personality trait which generally runs between 30% and 50%. So, 60% is high for a personality trait.” (Zuckerman 2009).

He goes on to talk about a particular dopamine receptor gene having existed in our species for, not all evolution, but around 50,000 – 100,000 years. He says that because analogues of sensation seeking expressions or approaches to novelty in other species linked to the same biological indicators that humans have, this is more than just an analogy, it indicates it has evolutionary history.

So, I could potentially have some visuals that come up displaying evolution as a potential cause of this ability to have a dulled fear response that gives the individual the rewarding satisfaction of completing a dangerous task.

Research - Creative Practice

Looking some examples of good Reverb and how it started out. King Tubby was a prominent figure in the Jamaican soundsystem culture of the 50s. His sound engineering work was pivotal to the creation of reggae and dub in the 60s & 70s; apparently, he’s known for basically creating the concept of remixing!

His modest use of reverb is present on the snare, it’s very noticeable.

“One of Meek’s most famous techniques was using different reverberant spaces in his studio and house for recording instruments with natural room sound—like under his staircase or in his bathroom.

Listen to the different kinds of spaces he creates with various reverbs, especially the uniquely spacey reverb on the backup vocal line: ‘I Hear a New World.’” (Trandafir, 2022).

Feedback on Videos Week 8

Last Train Edit:

Harry

What’s the mood or style?

 Reminds me of JDM car core, where people show off their cars at night time in minimal lighting.

When you see this kind of video where it looks lonely or only has one subject, do you find it creepy?

In the context of how you’ve edited the video, no. But you could, the space itself is not inherently dangerous or creepy, so the space alone isn’t creepy. More aesthetic than uncanny. And the music is not creepy, sort of peaceful almost.

Lucas

What’s the mood or style?

Quite moody, feel like that song is often used in tiktoks with beauty in them or representing something emotionally motivated or trigger emotions. So that sort of paired with the color grading and the style of the video, creates this real almost reflective feeling.

2.When you see this kind of video where it looks lonely or only has one subject, do you find it creepy?

Nah, more of a feeling of beauty. It’s like the “are you lonely I can’t fix that” blade runner moment, soft. I can’t explain it really, I’d have to think about it for a moment. It’s like standing in the rain but you're not cold and your mind is clear and you’re just there. I can’t put it into words, not static not uncomfortable not creepy not warm it’s just yeah. It’s like a version of the sublime.

Carpark Edit:

Harry

            I like the composition; I like how all the yous overlap.

What’s the mood, style, or emotion provoked?

Feels busy, there a lot more going on; busier. Makes me feel relaxed. Really like how it’s layed out, it’s very satisfying. Feels quiet even though there’s music. I like how the pole is in in the right third. However, you running at the camera right at the end, is a large contrast to the vibe before that; the mood and seriousness kind of changes. Really liked the environment, you leaning against that pole alone makes you acknowledge the empty environment. These environments are really interesting cuz it doesn’t look like how I imagine Australia looking.

2. When you see this kind of video where it looks lonely or only has one subject, do you find it creepy?

Perhaps the setting itself is more uncanny. If it was just one you leaning against the poll and no rotos it’d probably be creepier and uncannier. So having all those rotos there takes that potential creepiness away.

Lucas

What’s the mood or style?

Crazy how much sound design affects the vibe cuz that one feels way more stranger things. 80s vibes. I feel like that fits in with the aesthetic. Quite a similar feeling until the end running part that parts quite different adds this urgency to it where the whole rest of the video doesn’t. Totally changed the overall feeling. That running was pretty violent, I don’t think it suits at all, even is slowed down (slowmo) further.

2. When you see this kind of video where it looks lonely or only has one subject, do you find it creepy?

No. I feel like it’s like same sort of video as a guy sitting out the front of a 711 smoking a cigarette and listening to music at like 1am feeling content; It’s an in-between, beauty of the in-between of the suburban lifestyle. Kid that has to wait for a train for an hour cuz the next train doesn’t come for an hour and you’re just sat there waiting, not in a rush cuz you can’t make it come any faster.  

Takeaways:

More human presence appears to take away that creepy/uncanny potential

Off centre positioning of large/noticeable objects may be an effective technique, satisfying. e.g., when there’s just me leaning against a large electricity pole in the right third of the frame, and nothing else to see except the environment.

Peaceful

A feeling that is hard to articulate, "reflective feeling" "version of the sublime" "Your mind is clear and you're just there"

The running rotoscope of me breaks the immersion and the feeling; I will not be doing this again.

(McLean, 2023) (Horta, 2023).

I want to make the point that with just a slight change of the human presence and music, the video could become creepy and uncanny; this reminds me of how exhilaration works, it often straddles the threshold of excitement and fear. Essentially, everything ties in as this description of exhilaration is liminal in itself, i.e., occupying a position at or on both sides of a boundary or threshold (being the boundary of excitement and fear).

Works Cited

Big Think and Zuckerman, M. (2009) ‘The Genetic Basis of Risk-Seeking’, Big Think.

McLean, H.M. (2023). Interview by Rory Henderson, hmsex2023-rorys3965039, 16.09.2023.

Horta, L.H. (2023). Interview by Rory Henderson, hmsex2023-rorys3965039, 16.09.2023.

Trandafir, L. (2022) 8 songs that belong in the Reverb Hall of Fame, LANDR Blog. Available at: https://blog.landr.com/8-reverb-examples/ (Accessed: 15 September 2023).