Étude may fail to conjure any form of imagined sound as the images may be too complex (Berger, 2002; Guttman, Gilroy, & Blake, 2005; McAuley & Henry, 2010) and the formation of movement may lack proper reference to established cultural systems or recognised forms of communication (Argyle, 1988; Handhardt, 1990; Gordon, 1994; Godøy & Leman, 2010; Ben-Tal, 2012). However, through the composition of
Étude I discovered research into the
perception of sensations and cross-modal perception which was applied to the composition of my fourth piece,
Apprentice. Gordon’s (1994) assertions on the audiation of a musical score suggest that the ability to conjure an imagined sound from a notated score alone is bound by an individual’s understanding of the notational system and is a task which requires purposeful engagement. It may therefore be unfortunate that the ‘language of collage, in which strategies of image processing and recombination evoke a new visual language from the multitextual resources of international culture’ (Hanhardt, 1990, p. 79) could be insufficient stimulus for
Étude to generate non-cochlear or imagined sound (Furlong, 1985; Hanhardt, 1990; Wooster, 1990).
Schnebel’s work
nostalgie [auch: visible music II], in which a solo performer conducts an imaginary orchestra, operates within a specific social or cultural system of bodily communication (Argyle, 1988; Godøy & Leman, 2010; Ben-Tal, 2012) and therefore calls on a referential system for a viewer to connect to. An appropriate form of bodily communication may be lacking with
Étude as the interventional editing techniques distort the reference to Western guitar techniques in order to create new movements. However, dance has been reported to produce similar delineations of temporal stimulus when compared with music through various combinations, including dance-only visual stimulus (Krumhansl & Schenck, 1997). As such, it remains unclear whether
Étude would be capable of generating non-cochlear or imagined sound. Public presentation of the piece may provide an avenue for feedback and further information relating to the generation of non-cochlear or imagined sound through the video piece.
Based on my research into cross-modal perception it was clear that several experiments engaged with flashing lights and sound against a contrasting negative space (Berger, 2002; Guttman, Gilroy, & Blake, 2005; McAuley & Henry, 2010). Although the research was designed to create an optimal condition to facilitate cross-modal interactions it may be used to gauge successful generation for my own practice. Based on this research it could be concluded that
Étude may fail to conjure a non-cochlear sound as the stimulus consisted of a complex moving image which may engage the viewer in a search for
meaning within the imagery.
My intention for
Étude was not to create or replicate a psychological experiment but to converge several lines of enquiry into an artistic practice which may raise questions or concerns for the viewer and composer alike. The depiction of a hand and a guitar, along with hard cutting and fast repetition of images, came from a desire to communicate a musician’s deliberate decision to dedicate time and energy into developing instrumental skill and technique.
Étude not only grappled with and brought attention to the presence of video editing but also commented upon the focussed and repetitious nature of work and action (Arendt, 1998): the linear narrative was constructed through a lengthening of only a few seconds of footage with heavy amounts of repetition creating new movements (Arnold & MacDonald, 1994).
Étude was composed as a piece for the concert hall as I considered that the inclusion of a physically silent piece within a program of physically sounding pieces may encourage an audience to engage with the search for sound. The task may require purposeful attention and mental focus which could provide the quality of experience needed to engage with the piece (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997; McAuley & Henry, 2010). Furthermore, the traditional layout of a concert hall reflects that of the cinema and may reinforce the culturally explicit notion of a classical cinematic narrative and associations with the screen to expose
Étude’s narrative arc (Klein, 1990; Westgeest, 2016). However, the hunt for sound may destroy the narrative in a pleasing, yet problematic, reversal of the traditional role of sound from cinema’s infancy (Wierzbicki, 2009).
Sheen and
Hill’s approach towards cinematography in
Hand Film contrasts that of
Étude through a non-linear narrative, with manual labour and a dissolution of human identity made clear through gesture, repetition and disembodiment.
My compositional practice with
Étude can be partially aligned with
Fluxus through the use of technology to subvert the original content and linear narrative of the video and through the intention to compose a physically silent piece for the concert hall, akin to Vostell’s use of film for the art gallery (Hanhardt, 1990; Arnold & MacDonald, 1994
; Meigh-Andrews, 2014). Some similarities also exist between the practice of visual music, electroacoustic music and my own in the use of technology to push around, cut and splice video and sound materials to create musical form (Evans, 2005
; Garro, 2011; Hyde, 2012). Although the stimulus was visual I would assert that
Étude contained musical qualities as I worked as if composing a piece of music. However, I acknowledge that it may fall short in producing non-cochlear sound.