T R A N S C R I P T

THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW: A SOJOURN IN SOUND™
CHAPTER ONE: "WHAT IS PAST IS PROLOGUE"
WRITTEN, PRODUCED, AND HOSTED BY CHRISTINE BUSH
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: MARCH 10, 2020
(CC-BY-SA 4.0)


[LICENSING DECLARATION]


BEGINNINGS BALANCE
TEMPTING PROLOGUES, PAGES TURNED:
SMOKE, STORMS, LESSONS LEARNED.
 
 
[PRE-PRODUCED BILLBOARD]
 
 
A-BLOCK: THE PROLOGUE (OF NOW)
 
A01. GREETINGS. THIS IS CHAPTER ONE OF THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW: A SOJOURN IN SOUNDTM. I'M CHRISTINE BUSH. 

     THE AUTHOR FRANK HERBERT ONCE WROTE THAT BEGINNINGS ARE A TIME FOR ESTABLISHING BALANCE. I WANT TO BEGIN BY BALANCING THE GOAL OF THIS INQUIRY WITH ITS METHOD. THE GOAL IS THIS: TO FOREGROUND THE COGNITIVE DANCE BETWEEN THOUGHT AND LISTENING. THE METHOD WILL BE A SIMPLE TWO-STEP: A THEME PRESENTED FIRST AS ESSAY AND AGAIN IN SOUND OR MUSIC. I AM INTERESTED IN EVALUATING THIS CHOREOGRAPHY, NOT JUDGING THE DANCERS.

     AS WRITER/PRODUCER/HOST OF THIS AUDIO PROGRAM, I AM AWARE THAT I MUST PROCEED WITH RESPECT FOR A FACT THAT SOUND STUDIES SCHOLAR SALOM É VOEGELIN [VOE-GHELLIN] ADDRESSES IN HER BOOK LISTENING TO NOISE AND SILENCE: TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHY OF SOUND ART. SHE WRITES: “HEARING IS FULL OF DOUBT” (xii). THIS IS BECAUSE SOUND AND MUSIC ARE UNSEEN. IT HAPPENS NOT IN OUR EARS, WHICH ARE SIMPLY ANATOMICAL FUNNELS FOR SOUND WAVES, BUT BETWEEN THEM…BEHIND OUR EYES IN OUR BRAIN. VOEGELIN ALSO WRITES OF HER ESSAYS: “IT IS A PHILOSOPHICAL PROJECT THAT NECESSITATES AN INVOLVED PARTICIPATION…THE OBJECT OR EVENT UNDER CONSIDERATION IS BY NECESSITY CONSIDERED NOT AS AN ARTEFACT BUT IN ITS DYNAMIC PRODUCTION” (xii).

A02. THE SAME HOLDS TRUE FOR THIS PROGRAM, WHICH DIFFERS FROM OTHERS IN THAT THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW IS HIGHLY SELF-REFLEXIVE. THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW IS INTERESTED IN WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONE FOREGROUNDS COGNITION OVER CONTENT AND CONTEMPLATES WHAT IT MEANS TO LISTEN. IN THE ACT OF DESCRIBING WHAT IT MEANS TO LISTEN, I CANNOT HELP BUT REVEAL IN WORDS AND MUSIC AND SOUND SOME OF WHAT I THINK. THAT IS BUT A SIDE EFFECT OF THE PRINCIPLE UNDERTAKING, WHICH IS THE SELF-CONSCIOUS CONSIDERATION OF HOW I THINK. IN THIS SENSE, THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW MIGHT BE DESCRIBED AS COGNITIVE MEMOIR.

A03. FULL DISCLOSURE: I AM NEITHER A COGNITIVE SCIENTIST NOR A MEMBER OF THE SOUND STUDIES ACADEMIC COMMUNITY. THIS PROGRAM WILL STRIVE TO TRANSPARENTLY BE THE CONTINUING RECORD OF A DEVOTED AMATEUR. I RECOMMEND THE EXCELLENT PHANTOM POWER PODCAST IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN INTERVIEWS AND COMMENTARY ON SIMILAR TOPICS FROM THOSE WITH PROFESSIONAL CURRENCY IN THESE AREAS.

	I AM REMINDED OF THE EXCHANGE IN JOSEPH CONRAD'S HEART OF DARKNESS BETWEEN MARLOW AND THE COMPANY MANAGER REGARDING THE SOUNDNESS OF THE METHODS USED BY MR. KURTZ. THERE CAN BE NO DISCUSSION OF SOUNDNESS OF METHOD IF, AS MARLOW ASSERTS, THERE IS “NO METHOD AT ALL.” YOU WILL DETERMINE FOR YOURSELF WHETHER MY METHOD IS SOUND, OR: IF THERE IS NO METHOD AT ALL.

	I WILL BEGIN AND END THIS CHAPTER WITH A STORM.

A04. I TAKE AS THE THEME FOR OUR FIRST DANCE THE PHRASE "WHAT IS PAST IS PROLOGUE." THESE WORDS WERE WRITTEN BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE FOR HIS PLAY THE TEMPEST. THEY ARE SPOKEN BY THE CHARACTER ANTONIO IN AN EFFORT TO MANIPULATE ANOTHER CHARACTER, SEBASTIAN, INTO KILLING HIS FATHER. THE PHRASE HAS BECOME SHORTHAND FOR JUSTIFYING ALL MANNER OF PRESENT TENSE DEEDS BY INVOKING A KIND OF TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT THAT EVERYTHING WHICH HAS COME BEFORE HAS DONE SO TO SERVE A PRESENT PURPOSE. IT IS ONE OF MANY CHOICES ONE CAN MAKE IN HOW TO FRAME A DECISION OR ACTION. IT SHARES A CERTAIN IMPULSIVENESS WITH NOTIONS SUCH AS CARPE DIEM, SEIZE THE DAY! IT IS INSIDIOUS: A CALL TO ACTION DISGUISED AS A FAIT ACCOMPLI.

     THE PAST, BY DEFINITION, IS PRIOR TO THE PRESENT FROM A CHRONOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE. BUT IN THIS CHAPTER I WANT TO UNPACK THE IDEA THAT THE PRESENT IS NOTHING MORE THAN THE SUM OF PROJECTED CONSEQUENCES OF THE PAST. EACH OF US PLAYS THE ROLE OF SEBASTIAN AND MUST DECIDE WHETHER TO HEED THE CALCULUS OF ANTONIO. THE PAST IS PROLOGUE, IN ONE SENSE: OUR LIVES CAN BE SUMMARIZED AS THE ANSWER TO ONE RECURRING QUESTION: TO WHOM, OR TO WHAT, DO EACH OF US LISTEN?

      
[001-A-SFX-01]
“A SERPENT? A GENERAL? A PATIENT? A DREAM?
A SONG? AN ANGEL? WORDS ON A SCREEN?”


A05. IN THIS FIRST CHAPTER I WILL CLARIFY HOW I CONCEIVE OF THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW AND SHARE SOME OF THE SOURCES, PEOPLE, AND IDEAS THAT WILL BE RECURRING THEMES OF THIS PROGRAM. I WILL BEGIN WITH THE STORY OF THE SOUNDTRACK, CONTINUE WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT TIME IN ORDER TO GRAPPLE WITH THE NOTION OF “NOW,” AND LASTLY I WILL SETUP CHAPTER TWO WITH SOME BACKGROUND ON THE ROLE OF ART IN RESPONDING TO OUR PRESENT ERA.
     
	THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW CONTINUES…
 


B-BLOCK: THE SOUNDTRACK
 
B01. THE CONCEPT OF THE SOUNDTRACK IS MULTI-FACETED. MOST COMMONLY THE WORD SOUNDTRACK REFERS TO RECORDINGS OF THE MUSICAL SCORE OF A FILM, OR MORE RECENTLY A VIDEO GAME. THE COMMON USAGE OF THE WORD SOUNDTRACK MAY INVOLVE TWO DIFFERENT LISTENING EXPERIENCES. THE FIRST IS WHEN ONE HEARS THE SOUNDTRACK WHILE VIEWING THE FILM OR PLAYING THE GAME, WHEN IT IS ONE OF MULTIPLE ELEMENTS IN THE COMPLETE SONIC MIX ALONG WITH DIALOGUE, SOUND EFFECTS, AMBIENT SOUNDS, INTERACTIVE FEEDBACK AND OTHER ELEMENTS.

     HAVING LEFT THE CINEMA, OR FINISHED THE GAME, ONE MIGHT THEN PURCHASE OR STREAM A SOUNDTRACK FROM A FILM, SHOW, OR VIDEO GAME. THIS SUBSEQUENT ENCOUNTER WILL BE DIFFERENT. IT WILL LIKELY BE HEARD ON A DIFFERENT DEVICE WITH AN ALTERNATIVE FIDELITY. IT MAY INVOLVE REMEMBERING SCENES FROM THE ORIGINAL ENCOUNTER. AND IT MAY INVOLVE HEARING THINGS AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME. IN SOME CASES, THE SOUNDTRACK RECORDING MAY INCLUDE “DIEGETIC” SOUND ELEMENTS, SUCH AS DIALOGUE OR SOUND EFFECTS, BUT THIS IS NOT TYPICAL. 

B02. WHETHER A SOUNDTRACK IS EXPERIENCED IN SITU OR AFTER THE FACT, THE COMMON USAGE IS AS A NOUN. THE FIRST SOUNDTRACK "PRODUCT" WAS LIKELY SOLD IN 1938: SONGS FROM WALT DISNEY'S SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS.

     BEFORE ONE EXPERIENCES A SOUNDTRACK, REGARDLESS OF CONTEXT, IT MUST BE REALIZED (OR CURATED), RECORDED AND LICENSED. JOHN WILLIAMS, THOMAS NEWMAN, ENNIO MORRICONE, PHILIP GLASS, HANS ZIMMER, AND MAX RICHTER ARE CELEBRATED FOR THEIR WORK AS COMPOSERS FOR FILM.

     THE ECCLECTIC COLLECTION OF CLASSIC ROCK, ELECTRONICA, AND AN EPONYMOUS SONG WRITTEN FOR THE PROJECT BY SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY MAKE THE SOUNDTRACK FROM THE FILM VANILLA SKY A TOUCHSTONE FOR ME. ANOTHER MORE RECENT SOUNDTRACK THAT LURKS IN MY IMAGINATION IS FROM ARRIVAL FEATURING AN INNOVATIVE, ATMOSPHERIC SCORE BY ICELANDIC COMPOSER JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON AS WELL AS A STAND-ALONE THEME BY MAX RICHTER PERFORMED BY STRINGS HEARD AT THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF THE FILM.

B03. A NEW YORK TIMES HEADLINE REPORTED IN 2019, “FEMALE COMPOSERS ARE TRYING TO BREAK FILM’S SOUND BARRIER.” WOMEN ARE SLOWLY MAKING PROGRESS IN DOING SO. IN FACT, IN THE COURSE OF PRODUCTION FOR THIS CHAPTER IN JANUARY 2020, ANOTHER ICELANDIC COMPOSER, CELLIST HILDUR GUÐNADÓTTIR [HILL-DUR GUTH-NAH-DOOR-TIER], BECAME THE FIRST SOLO WOMAN AWARDED A GOLDEN GLOBE FOR HER HAUNTING SCORE FROM THE MOTION PICTURE JOKER.

     TAKING NOTHING AWAY FROM THIS MILESTONE, CHANCES ARE THAT YOU CAN’T NAME ANOTHER FILM COMPOSER WHO DOES NOT IDENTIFY AS MALE WITHOUT THE AID OF A SEARCH ENGINE. THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ALSO CITES A REPORT FROM THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF WOMEN IN TELEVISION AND FILM THAT “OF THE TOP 250 FILMS AT THE DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE IN 2018, 94 PERCENT WERE SCORED BY MEN.”

B04. IN THE EARLY CINEMA, DURING THE SILENT FILM ERA, THE SOUNDTRACK WAS WHAT IS NOW CALLED A “REAL TIME” EVENT, MAKING A TRIP TO THE MOVIES A HYBRBID EXPERIENCE WITH PRE-PACKAGED VISUAL ACTION ACCOMPANIED BY LIVE PERFORMANCE. THE MUSIC AND SOUNDS FOR THE FILM WERE PRODUCED BY ANYTHING FROM A FULL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TO THE FANTASTICAL KIMBALL ORGAN IN NEW YORK’S ROXY THEATER OR RUDIMENTARY AS A SOLOIST AT AN UPRIGHT PIANO. THIS ACCOMPANIMENT WAS PRODUCED IN A SPACE TYPICALLY LOCATED BETWEEN (OR ADJACENT TO) THE SCREEN UPON WHICH A FILM WAS PROJECTED AND THE AUDIENCE, (DEFINED BY THE WAY AS: A GROUP OF PEOPLE WITHIN RANGE TO LISTEN). AN ARTICLE AT ATLASOBSCURA.COM ENTITLED “KEEPING THE ART OF SILENT FILM MUSIC ALIVE” MAKES EVIDENT THAT HEARING THE SOUNDTRACK TO A SILENT FILM WAS A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE. EVERY SHOWING FEATURED SUBTLE OR DRAMATIC DIFFERENCES THAT VARIED FROM PERFORMER TO PERFORMER AND THEATER TO THEATER.

B05. A SOUNDTRACK IS ALSO A TECHNICAL TERM THAT DICTIONARY.COM DESCRIBES IN ITS FIRST ENTRY AS “THE NARROW BAND ON ONE OR BOTH SIDES OF A MOTION-PICTURE FILM ON WHICH SOUND IS RECORDED.” THIS IS INCREASINGLY AN OBSOLETE USAGE WITH THE ADOPTION OF DISTRIBUTING FILMS DIGITALLY, BUT IT IS HELPFUL AND INTERESTING TO REMEMBER THAT DURING THE PERIOD AFTER THE SILENT FILM ERA AND BEFORE THE DIGITAL FILM ERA THAT THE SOUNDTRACK WAS PART OF THE CELLULOID MEDIUM THAT WAS DEPENDENT UPON THE MECHANICAL APPARATUS OF THE PROJECTOR TO SYNCHRONIZE THE SOUND AND THE PICTURE.

B06. I AM GOING INTO SOME DETAIL ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE SOUNDTRACK NOT ONLY TO ESTABLISH IT AS A COMPLEX IDEA WITH AN INTERESTING HISTORY. THE SOUNDTRACK GIVES THE STORY COHERENCE AND UNDERSCORES THE EMOTIONAL NUANCES OF THE NARRATIVE. I CHARACTERIZE THIS ROLE AS REVELATORY AND I WILL BE EXPLORING THE NATURE OF THIS REVELATION IN FUTURE CHAPTERS. ALSO: THERE IS, I THINK, A CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE ROLE A SOUNDTRACK PLAYS IN A FILM OR GAME AND THE ROLE LISTENING PLAYS IN THE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS OF OUR MENTAL LIFE.

     I AM ALSO MINDFUL OF THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE WRITTEN WORK AND THE EXPERIENCED WORK. THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN THE WRITTEN AND THE SPOKEN, BETWEEN THE WRITTEN AND THE PERFORMED, BETWEEN THE WRITER OR COMPOSER AND THE READER OR LISTENER. THIS DIALECTIC IS WHERE THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW EMERGES AND I WILL RETURN TO THIS IN MORE DETAIL LATER IN THIS CHAPTER AND IN FUTURE CHAPTERS.

B07. THIS DIALECTIC BETWEEN AN IDEA AND AN EXPERIENCE OF AN IDEA IS A LIMINAL, PHILOSOPHICAL SPACE. ONE OF THE MANY INTERESTING CONCEPTS THAT ARE DERIVED FROM IT IS THE SAPIR-WHORF [SAP-UR WORF] HYPOTHESIS THAT HAS EVOLVED INTO THE THEORY OF LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY. THIS THEORY EXPLAINS THAT THERE IS COMPELLING, SOMETIMES CONTROVERSIAL, EVIDENCE OF THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE LANGUAGE OR LANGUAGES ONE KNOWS (AND USES) AND HOW ONE THINKS.

     IF I ENDORSE THE FAIRLY UNCONTROVRSIAL VIEW THAT MUSIC AND SOUND (WITH OR WITHOUT VOCALS) ARE NON-VERBAL LANGUAGES, THEN MUSIC AND SOUND FALLS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF RESEARCH AND INVESTIGATIONS INTO LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY. THE HELLENIC JOURNAL OF MUSIC, EDUCATION, AND CULTURE IS AN OPEN-SOURCE JOURNAL WHERE THAT WORK IS BEING DONE. AN ARTICLE ENTITLED “APPLYING THE THEORY OF LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY TO MUSIC: AN INITIAL EXPLORATION” OFFERS:

[001-A-QUOTE-01]

“...A NEW ATTEMPT TO APPLY THE THEORY OF LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY, WHICH HOLDS THAT LANGUAGE AND CULTURE ARE MUTUALLY REFLECTIVE AND GENERATIVE, TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND CULTURE.”
 

B08. THERE IS A CORRESPONDING INVERSION OF LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY IN POSTSTRUCTURALISM. THIS IS FOUND IN THE CONCEPT OF “THE TEXT,” WHICH INVITES US TO TREAT NON-TEXTUAL CULTURAL STRUCTURES AS TEXTS THAT CAN BE READ, INTERPRETED, ANALYZED, AND CRITIQUED. TAKEN TOGETHER, LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY AND POSTMODERN LITERARY THEORY HAVE A PRONOUNCED INTEREST IN THE LINK BETWEEN THE PRODUCTION OF CULTURE AND THE NATURE OF MEANING DERIVED FROM THE EXPERIENCES AND PRODUCTS OF CULTURE.  THIS IS THE HALL OF MIRRORS, WHAT ESTONIAN COMPOSER ARVO P ÄRT CALLS “SPIEGEL IM SPIEGEL” --- MIRRORS IN MIRRORS --- IN WHICH ART AND CULTURE REFLECT ONE ANOTHER.

B09. IN CONSIDERING LIVE ACCOMPANIMENTS FROM THE SILENT FILM ERA, THE PROCESS OF COMPOSING AND NOTATING THE SCORE OR THE CURATION OF SONGS TO CONTEXTUALIZE PLOT OR CHARACTER, IT BECOMES CLEAR THAT THE CONCEPT OF THE SOUNDTRACK FOR PRODUCERS AND CREATORS IS A VERB.

     THE IDEA OF THE SOUNDTRACK ALSO HAS A HISTORY OF BEING USED METAPHORICALLY. BEACH BOY BRIAN WILSON IS WIDELY ATTRIBUTED AS HAVING PRODUCED [QUOTE UNQUOTE] "THE SOUNDTRACK OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA." THE NAME OF THIS PROGRAM WAS INSPIRED BY A PHRASE USED BY LEGENDARY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ROCK JOCK, JIM “THE LAST DJ” LADD, IN HIS 1991 BOOK RADIO WAVES: LIFE AND REVOLUTION ON THE FM DIAL, IN WHICH HE WROTE "FM RADIO WAS THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES." (NOTE, EVEN IN A BOOK FROM THE EARLY 1990s, THE USE OF THE PAST TENSE.)

     I DON’T THINK IT IS COINCIDENTAL THAT THE METAPHORICAL USAGE OF THE WORD “SOUNDTRACK” EMERGED FROM THE ENVIRONS OF HOLLYWOOD.

B10. THESE METAPHORICAL SOUNDTRACKS HAVE AN INTERESTING TRAIT: THEY INVOLVE A COMMUNAL LISTENING EXPERIENCE. UNLIKE A CONCERT, CHURCH SERVICE, OR RAVE WHERE A LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE ARE EXPERIENCING AN EVENT TOGETHER, RADIO (AND, AT TIMES, LIVE “TELEVISION”) IS EXPERIENCED REMOTELY, AT A DISTANCE FROM ITS SOURCE.

	RADIO LISTENERSHIPS IN PARTICULAR, LIKE BENEDICT ANDERSON’S BOOK ABOUT NATIONALISM, ARE IMAGINED COMMUNITIES --- NOT IMAGINARY COMMUNITIES, BUT GROUPS WITH STRONG ASPIRATIONAL BONDS AND A SHARED SENSE OF COLLECTIVE IDENTITY. THIS IS, IN PART, WHY TALK RADIO HAS PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE. REGARDLESS OF WHETHER WE’VE JOINED A GATHERING OF OTHERS, OR WE ARE “ALONE TOGETHER” AS SHERRY TURKLE HAS WRITTEN OF THE DIGITAL AGE, THE ADVENT OF TIME-SHIFTED, ON DEMAND LISTENING (AND VIEWING) HAS RENDERED EARLIER MEDIA CONSUMPTION HABITS A BIT MORE EXOTIC.

B11. AS LONG AS FILMS AND VIDEO GAMES ARE MADE, SOUNDTRACKS WILL BE SOLD. BUT THE CONCEPT OF THE SOUNDTRACK HAS BEGUN A QUIET OBSOLESENCE IN FAVOR OF THE RISE OF PLAYLISTS. ONE OF THE MORE INTERESTING DEVELOPMENTS IS THE TREND OF BOOKS FEATURING COMPANION PLAYLISTS. TWO SUCH EXAMPLES ARE A COMPANION PLAYLIST FOR RICHARD POWERS’ NOVEL ORFEO, AND TOMMY ORANGE’S NOVEL THERE, THERE.  

B12. BUT THE DEEPER WORK I WANT TO ACCOMPLISH WITH THIS PROGRAM IS TO FURTHER EXTEND THE METAPHOR OF THE SOUNDTRACK TO BE OUR STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS --- OUR INTERNAL NARRATIVE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW. FOR EXAMPLE, I SUSPECT THAT MANY OF US ARE AWARE OF INCREASING GEOPOLITICAL TENSIONS AROUND THE WORLD. I SUSPECT THAT MANY PEOPLE ARE AWARE OF DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS. I BELIEVE WE ALL ARE COGNIZANT OF THE STATE OF OUR HEALTH, OUR FINANCIAL POSITION, OUR HOPES AND FEARS. I CAN HAVE CONFIDENCE THIS IS TRUE WITHOUT FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE. LIKEWISE, EACH OF US WAKES UP, FOLLOWS A ROUTINE, DEALS WITH FAMILY DYNAMICS, JOB ISSUES, ETC. AND GOES TO SLEEP AGAIN.

	I CAN BE CONFIDENT AS WELL THAT OTHER PEOPLE ALSO HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT THESE EXPERIENCES BUT THAT THE NATURE AND QUALITY OF THEIR THOUGHTS WILL BE DIFFERENT FROM MY OWN AND UNIQUE TO THEM. THESE COMMON THOUGHTS, AND A THOUSAND SUBCONSCIOUS OR UNCONSCIOUS ONES, COMBINE TO FORM THE “BACKGROUND NOISE” FOR WHAT I AM FORMULATING HERE AS: THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW. THESE ARE EXAMPLES OF THE COMPARTMENTS IN THE “TRAIN OF THOUGHT,” THE COGNITIVE ZEITGEIST (SPIRIT OF THE TIMES…THAT TO WHICH WE ARE “TUNED IN.”

B13. THIS BRINGS ME NOW TO A CENTRAL IDEA OF THIS PROGRAM, AN EXTENSION OF THE THEORY OF LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY, WHICH POSITS A CORRELATION BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT. I WANT TO SUGGEST NOT ONLY THAT THINKING IS A FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE, BUT THAT LANGUAGE IS A FUNCTION OF LISTENING AND, THEREFORE: LISTENING IS A WAY OF THINKING, AND THINKING IS A WAY OF LISTENING.

     ACCORDING TO JONATHAN KRAMER, AUTHOR OF A BOOK ENTITLED POSTMODERN MUSIC/POSTMODERN LISTENING, ONE OF THE DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POSTMODERN IS THE EXPERIENCE OF WHAT HE CALLS “TECHNOLOGY SATURATION” THAT RESULTS IN A “CONTEXT OF FRAGMENTATION” THAT HAS CONSEQUENCES FOR ATTENTION SPAN. I AGREE.

     GODFREY REGGIO, CREATOR OF THE QATSI FILMS, HAS TAKEN THIS A STEP FURTHER AND SAYS THAT THE HUMAN RACE IS UNDERGOING ONE OF THE MOST PROFOUND CHANGES IN HUMAN HISTORY SUCH THAT THE CONTEXT OF OUR CIVILIZATIONS ARE NOW PREDOMINANTLY TECHNOLOGICAL. IN THIS SENSE, BILLIONS OF US ARE LIVING NOT ONLY IN A POSTMODERN WORLD BUT IN A POST-NATURAL WORLD. FROM THIS PROVOCATIVE PERSPECTIVE, EACH OF US IS SLOWLY BECOMING A FUNCTION OF OUR TECHNOLOGY.

B14. THIS DOVETAILS WITH THE WELL-ESTABLISHED CULTURAL OBSESSION WITH, AND CRITIQUE OF, SOCIAL MEDIA THAT IS VERY MUCH ENCODED INTO MY CONCEPTION OF “THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW.” A DISTINCTION BETWEEN ONLINE INTERACTION AND FACE-TO-FACE INTERACTIONS IS NOW MADE USING THE PHRASE “REAL WORLD.” A CORRESPONDING DISTINCTION ALSO EXISTS BETWEEN ON-DEMAND MEDIATED EXPERIENCES (SUCH AS THIS PROGRAM) AND LIVE RADIO BROADCASTS OR CONCERTS THAT HAPPEN IN “REAL TIME.”

B15. IN FACT, LIVE RADIO IS ALMOST THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE. MANY OF THE VOICES YOU HEAR ON BROADCAST AND SATELLITE RADIO ARE PRE-RECORDED USING A PRACTICE CALLED “VOICE TRACKING” OR “CYBER-JOCKING.” ANNOUNCERS RECORD A WEEK OR MORE OF BREAKS THAT ARE PLAYED INTERSTITIALLY BETWEEN MUSIC AND COMMERCIALS USING BROADCAST AUTOMATION SOFTWARE. THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW, COUNTERINTUITIVELY, DOES NOT HAPPEN IN REAL TIME.
     
     FOR MORE ON THIS, I RECOMMEND TWO ARTICLES THAT PROVIDE A CURSORY INTRODUCTION TO THE NEXUS OF POSTMODERNISM AND SOCIAL MEDIA. IN A MARCH 2019 ARTICLE ON MEDIUM ENTITLED “SOCIAL MEDIA AND BAUDRILLARD’S SIMULATION AND SIMULACRA,” BRETT WILLIAM SMULLIGAN HAS WRITTEN:

[001-A-QUOTE-02]

“…THAT SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE WAY IT WORKS, AS WELL AS HOW MANY OF US USE IT AS A PRIMARY FORM OF COMMUNICATION, IS ESSENTIALLY TURNING EACH PERSON INTO A SORT OF SIMULACRUM, WHERE EACH PROFILE IS JUST A REPRESENTATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL WHERE THE INDIVIDUAL NO LONGER EXISTS. THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT HAS AN EFFECT ON THE SELF AND HOW WE INTERPRET OUR IDENTITIES, BUT IT ALSO EFFECTS (SIC) [AFFECTS] THE WAY WE INTERPRET THE IDENTITIES OF OTHERS WHO WE INTERACT WITH ON THESE PLATFORMS, CREATING A HYPERREALITY WHERE THE LINES OF WHERE OUR ONLINE IDENTITY AND OUR OFFLINE IDENTITY ARE SO BLURRED THAT IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE.”

B16. IN AN ARTICLE FROM SEPTEMBER 2018 ON QUARTZ ENTITLED “EVERYONE HATES POSTMODERNISM — BUT THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT WRONG,” EPHRAT LIVNI HAS WRITTEN:

[001-A-QUOTE-03]
“…BECAUSE WE’RE SO ENTRANCED BY IMITATIONS AND IDEALIZATIONS OF REALITY, LIKE DISNEYLAND FOR EXAMPLE, SYMBOLS START TAKING OVER. THE EXAGGERATIONS OF THE AMUSEMENT PARK BECOME[S] (SIC) OUR STANDARD AND WE IDENTIFY WITH THIS FANTASY WORLD MORE THAN WITH WORKADAY LIFE . . . DISNEYLAND WAS ULTIMATELY MORE AMERICAN THAN THE ACTUAL LIVES OF AMERICANS.”

B18. TO SUMMARIZE: THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW IS COMPOSED OF THE HOWLS, ECHOES, AND CHAOTIC BEAUTY OF THE DRONE AND HUM OF COGINITION AND ITS INCREASINGLY TECHNOLOGICAL CONTEXT.




C-BLOCK: THE NATURE OF NOW
 
C01. THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW CONTINUES WITH A CHANGE IN FOCUS FROM THE METAPHOR OF THE SOUNDTRACK TO THE NATURE OF TIME AND A FIRST PASS AT AN EFFORT TO GRAPPLE WITH WHAT IS ENTAILED BY THE NOTION OF “NOW,” WHICH I HAVE TRIED TO DEMONSTRATE IS AN INCREASINGLY FLUID, CONTINGENT CONCEPT.
   
	IN 1985, FOR THE INTRODUCTION TO THE 32ND PRINTING OF HIS CULTURE-BEARING CHAUTAUQUA [sheh-taw-kwa] ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE, AUTHOR ROBERT PIRSIG [PURR-SIG] REFLECTS THAT THE PERCEPTION/EXPERIENCE OF TIME HAS ITSELF CHANGED OVER TIME. PIRSIG WRITES:

[001-A-QUOTE-04]
“THIS BOOK HAS A LOT TO SAY ABOUT ANCIENT GREEK PERSPECTIVES AND THEIR MEANING BUT THERE IS ONE PERSPECTIVE IT MISSES. THAT IS THEIR VIEW OF TIME. THEY SAW THE FUTURE AS SOMETHING THAT CAME UPON THEM FROM BEHIND THEIR BACKS WITH THE PAST RECEDING AWAY BEFORE THEIR EYES.

	WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THAT'S A MORE ACCURATE METAPHOR THAN OUR PRESENT ONE. WHO REALLY CAN FACE THE FUTURE? ALL YOU CAN DO IS PROJECT FROM THE PAST, EVEN WHEN THE PAST SHOWS THAT SUCH PROJECTIONS ARE OFTEN WRONG. . . . BUT THE PAST, SPREAD OUT AHEAD, DOMINATES EVERYTHING IN SIGHT.”


C02. THIS IS AN ALMOST PRESCIENT STATEMENT IF YOU CONSIDER THE USER EXPERIENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA OF LOGGING INTO AN ACCOUNT AND SEEING THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF OUR PAST ONLINE DISCOURSE LAID OUT BEFORE US. IN FACT, THE NOTION THAT I’VE JUST INVOKED OF PRESCIENCE --- THE ABILITY TO ANTICIPATE OR FORSEE THE FUTURE --- IS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW THE FUTURE CONCEPTUALLY OVERTAKES US.

    TIME IS AN ENIGMATIC, PARADOXICAL, PRAGMATIC CONCERN FOR MOST OF HUMANITY: SCIENTISTS, DOCTORS, WRITERS, PHILOSOPHERS, HISTORIOGRAPHERS, HOROLOGISTS, MUSICIANS, JUDGES AND INMATES EACH HAVE A DIFFERENT ABIDING INTEREST IN TIME.

     FOR SCIENTISTS, TIME SERVES AS A CRITICAL VARIABLE IN EMPIRICAL INQUIRY AND AS ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF SPACE-TIME ITSELF. FOR WRITERS AND POETS, TIME IS VERB TENSE, METAPHOR, NARRATIVE ARTIFICE. FOR PHILOSOPHERS, TIME IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF METAPHYSICAL DISCOURSE. FOR JUDGES AND INMATES TIME IS A COIN WITH JUSTICE ON ONE SIDE AND PUNISHMENT UPON THE OTHER.

C03. FOR MUSICIANS AND FOR POETS, TEMPO AND RHYTHM, GROOVE AND METER, CAESURA AND FERMATA ARE FUNCTIONS OF TIME.

     THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW IS INTERESTED IN THE EXPERIENCE OF TIME FROM A SENTIENT PERSPECTIVE. ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA ONLINE OFFERS THIS CONCISE OBSERVATION IN A LENGTHY ENTRY ON THE TOPIC OF TIME:

[001-A-QUOTE-05]
“THE PHILOSOPHY OF TIME BEARS POWERFULLY ON HUMAN EMOTIONS. NOT ONLY DO INDIVIDUALS REGRET THE PAST, THEY ALSO FEAR THE FUTURE, NOT LEAST BECAUSE THE ALLEGED FLOW OF TIME SEEMS TO BE SWEEPING THEM TOWARD THEIR DEATHS, AS SWIMMERS ARE SWEPT TOWARD A WATERFALL.”

      
    HENCE THE MENACE IMPLICIT IN THE WORD: DEADLINE.


C04. IN 2005, THREE YEARS BEFORE HE TOOK HIS OWN LIFE, AUTHOR, PROFESSOR AT KENYON COLLEGE, AND POSTMODERN CRITIC DAVID FOSTER WALLACE DELIVERED A COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS ENTITLED THIS IS WATER: SOME THOUGHTS, DELIVERED ON A SIGNIFICANT OCCASION, ABOUT LIVING A COMPASSIONATE LIFE. FOSTER DECONSTRUCTS THE LIBERAL ARTS COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS IN AN EFFORT TO RE-FRAME THE IDEA THAT A COLLEGE EDUCATION MIGHT MORE PRAGMATICALLY BE ABOUT APPLIED THINKING, LEARNING TO EXERCISE SOME AGENCY OVER OUR THOUGHTS, TO MAKE ROOM FOR A PRACTICE OF COMPASSION IN THE CONTEXT OF OUR INNER LIFE.
 
    WHAT I HEAR IN THESE OBSERVATIONS BY PIRSIG AND WALLACE IS THAT TIME IS A PRE-CONDITION FOR THOUGHT. THE EXPERIENCE OF “NOW” IS A FUNCTION OF HOW TIME IS USED. I CAN CHOOSE TO ACCEPT WHAT DAVID FOSTER WALLACE CALLS THE "DEFAULT SETTING" THAT NOW IS SIMPLY ABOUT MYSELF. OR, LIKE THE OLD FISH ASKS THE YOUNGER FISH IN AN ANECDOTE CONVEYED BY WALLACE, I CAN TURN MY ATTENTION TO THE WATER IN WHICH I SWIM. (WHAT THE HELL IS WATER? ASKS THE YOUNGER FISH.) I CAN EXERCISE MY COGNITIVE AGENCY TO RE-CONTEXTUALIZE ANY GIVEN MOMENT. I CAN MAKE USE OF TIME, THAT MIGHT SEEM TO BE MINE ALONE, TO PRACTICE COMPASSION TOWARDS OTHERS.

C05. I ALSO WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE IMPORTANCE OF “FREE TIME” OR “CREATIVE TIME” IN WHICH OUR SUBCONSCIOUS MINDS CAN PROCESS. THIS EXPERIENCE OF NOW MAY GIVE RISE TO A TEMPORARY SENSE OF TIMELESSNESS. IN THE FILM AT ETERNITY'S GATE, ARTIST VINCENT VAN GOGH [FAE-INCENT FAWN KA-HOKE] IS ASKED WHY HE PAINTS. HE SMILES AND RESPONDS: "I PAINT TO STOP THINKING." THIS OF COURSE ECHOES MEDITATION PRACTICES IN ZEN BUDDHISM. FOR PEOPLE COPING WITH DIFFERING DEGREES OF EMOTIONAL OR MENTAL DISREGULATION, WHICH THE BELOVED DUTCH POST-IMPRESSIONIST CERTAINLY DID, THE ABILITY TO QUIET OR RE-DIRECT THOUGHT ITSELF IS A CRITICAL COPING STRATEGY. SADLY, IN SOME CASES, THE MENTAL DISREGULATION AT WORK MAY MANIFEST PRECISELY AS THE INABILITY TO DO THIS. I THINK THERE IS A CORRELATION BETWEEN COGNITIVE AGENCY AND THE EXPERIENCE OF TIME.

     IN THE FILM JOKER, WE WITNESS THIS CORRELATION IN THE STORY OF HOW HIS DISTURBED PAST IS PROLOGUE FOR THE ICONIC VILLAIN FROM THE BATMAN UNIVERSE. POWERFULLY PORTRAYED BY JOAQUIN PHOENIX, WRITER-DIRECTOR TODD PHILIPS AND WRITER SCOTT SILVER CAST THEIR ORIGIN STORY FOR THE JOKER IN THE CHARACTER OF ARTHER FLECK, A DOWN ON HIS LUCK CLOWN-FOR-HIRE WITH ASPIRATIONS AS A STAND-UP COMEDIAN. HE LIVES WITH AND TRIES TO CARE FOR HIS MOTHER WHO HAS BEEN DISCHARGED FROM AN ASYLUM FOLLOWING A MENTAL BREAKDOWN THAT WAS TREATED WITH EXTREME MEASURES.

C06. ARTHUR IS FUNCTIONAL, BUT ALSO STRUGGLES WITH MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL ISSUES, INCLUDING PATHOLOGICAL (INTERMITTENLY UNCONTROLLABLE) LAUGHTER --- A REAL AFFLICTION THAT PHOENIX RESEARCHED IN PREPARING FOR THIS ROLE. ARTHUR MEETS ROUTINELY WITH A SOCIAL WORKER WHO SERVES AS HIS THERAPIST. IN MEASURED WORDS, HE TELLS HER: “YOU DON’T LISTEN DO YOU? I DON’T THINK YOU EVER REALLY HEAR ME. . . . ALL I HAVE ARE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS, BUT YOU DON’T LISTEN ANYWAY.” ARTHUR HAS BEEN DIRECTED TO KEEP A DIARY OF THESE THOUGHTS, BUT UNABLE TO COMPARTMENTALIZE THEM, HE USES THE SAME NOTEBOOK TO WRITE DOWN IDEAS FOR HIS STANDUP ROUTINE. THIS SERVES AS A POWERFUL DEVICE FOR VIEWERS TO VICARIOUSLY EXPERIENCE A MENTAL STATE IN WHICH THE ABILITY TO RE-DIRECT IS ABSENT.

     FOR ME, THE MOST POIGNANT MOMENT OF THE FILM IS THE REVEAL OF ONE ENTRY THAT READS: “THE WORST PART ABOUT HAVING A MENTAL ILLNESS IS PEOPLE EXPECT YOU TO BEHAVE AS IF YOU DON’T.”

C07. IN MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM’S NOVEL THE HOURS, AND SUBSEQUENT 2002 FILM DIRECTED BY STEPHEN DALTRY, THE STORIES OF THREE WOMEN (ONE OF WHOM IS THE BRITISH AUTHOR VIRGINIA WOOLF) ARE BRILLIANTLY INTERWOVEN IN A NEXUS OF TIME AND EXISTENTIAL CRISIS. BUT IT IS A FOURTH CHARACTER, A CELEBRATED WRITER NAMED RICHARD WHO IS SUFFERING FROM THE EFFECTS OF AIDS-RELATED ILLNESS , WHO IS GIVEN THE CRUCIAL LINE AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE PLOT’S DENOUEMENT: “BUT THERE ARE STILL THE HOURS, AREN’T THERE?” RICHARD ASKS CLARISSA. “ONE AND THEN ANOTHER, AND YOU GET THROUGH THAT ONE AND THEN, MY GOD, THERE’S ANOTHER.”

     BOTH RICHARD AND ARTHUR GIVE WITNESS TO THE WORDS PENNED BY POET DELMORE SCHWARTZ WHEN HE WROTE: “TIME IS THE FIRE IN WHICH WE BURN.” RICHARD EXTINGUISHES THE FLAMES BY PLUNGING TO HIS DEATH FROM HIS APARTMENT WINDOW. ARTHUR RISES FROM THE ASHES A FULLY FLEDGED PSYCHOPATHIC KILLER. 

C08. IN REAL WORLD ASSERTIONS THAT “WHAT IS PAST IS PROLOGUE,” IT IS THE INEVITABILITY AND IMPLICIT CAUSATION LOADING THE PHRASE THAT ARE PROBLEMATIC. A PRETENSE OF DESIGN OR IGNORANCE OF CIRCUMSTANCE HAS JUSTIFIED SOME OF THE DARKEST CHAPTERS OF HISTORY. THESE INCLUDE: CHATTLE SLAVERY (RATIONALIZED BY A RACIST BIOLOGICAL DETERMINISM), THE CONCEPT OF MANIFEST DESTINY (BASED ON A BELIEF THAT GOD, OR AN HISTORICAL INEVITABILITY, FORESAW THE SETTLEMENT OF TERRITORY “FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA” BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT), AND THE ARRAY OF HISTORICAL AND PRESENT DAY TENSIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST (WHOSE ORIGINS MUST INCLUDE COMPETING RELIGIOUS CLAIMS REGARDING THE PRE-DESTINATION OF VARIOUS TERRITORIES).

     THE WORDS “WHAT IS PAST IS PROLOGUE” ARE PLACED AS POSTSCRIPT TO OLIVER STONE'S FILM J.F.K. AND ARE BAKED INTO NATIONALIST ESSENTIALISM AND TRIBALISM. THESE ARE PERENNIALLY CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS AND ARE SYMPTOMS OF TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT. INVOKING THE PAST AS PROLOGUE IS A VARIANT OF MAGICAL THINKING THAT TENDS TO ELIDE INCONVENIENT TRUTHS. 

C09. POSTSTRUCTURALIST ROLAND BARTHES ONCE SAID: "ALL HISTORY WITH AN END-POINT IS A MYTH." (BROWN, 171) BOWDOIN PROFESSOR OF HISTORY PATRICK RAEL [RAIL] HAS MORE RECENTLY WRITTEN IN AN ESSAY ENTITLED 'THE PAST KEEPS CHANGING':

[001-A-QUOTE-06]
“TIME TRANSFIGURES THE SCRAPS OF HISTORY WE RETAIN. THE AGES TURN, AND WITH THEM THE CONTEXTS THAT GIVE THE PAST MEANING. ULTIMATELY, IF NOTHING ELSE DOES, THE MERE PASSAGE OF TIME RENDERS UNTRUE THAT WHICH WE SEEK TO PRESERVE.”

RAEL CONCLUDES, WITH REGARD TO EVOLVING ATTITUDES ABOUT THE LEGACY OF THE CONFEDERACY IN THE UNITED STATES, THAT "THE PAST KEEPS CHANGING. THANK GOODNESS."

C10. IN HIS 2019 BOOK FALTER, BILL MCKIBBEN MENTIONS A REPORT FROM 2014 ABOUT THE HUMAN AND NATURE DYNAMICS (OR, HANDY) PROGRAM THAT PRODUCED A MODEL SEEKING TO EXPLAIN THE CAUSES OF FAILURE FOR SEVERAL HISTORICAL EMPIRES. MCKIBBEN NOTES THAT “ONE OF THE GREATEST DANGERS CAME FROM ELITES WHO ARGUED AGAINST STRUCTURAL CHANGE ON THE GROUNDS THAT ‘SO FAR’ THINGS WERE WORKING OUT.” TAKING THE PAST AS PROLOGUE HAS PERVERSELY BEEN A REPEATED HISTORICAL MISTAKE.

     ON JANUARY 16, 2020, JUST BEFORE THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE SENATE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF PRESIDENT TRUMP, HARVARD CONSTITUTIONAL LAW SCHOLAR, PROFESSOR LAWRENCE TRIBE, TOLD MSNBC HOST LAWRENCE O’DONNELL THE FOLLOWING:

[001-A-QUOTE-07]
“I MAY BE AN ETERNAL OPTIMIST, BUT I WANT TO BELIEVE THAT EVEN SOME OF THESE SENATORS WHO THINK THEY’VE MADE UP THEIR MINDS, WHO THINK THAT THEY’VE GOT TO VOTE A CERTAIN WAY IF THEY WANT TO GET RE-ELECTED, WILL REALIZE THAT THERE ARE SOMETIMES MORE IMPORTANT THINGS THAN THEIR IMMEDIATE POLITICAL FUTURE. THEY HAVE A FUTURE IN HISTORY TO WORRY ABOUT.”

THIS IS A WONDERFULLY CONCISE EXAMPLE OF TEMPORAL DYNAMICS. HISTORY, IT TURNS OUT, USUALLY HAPPENS IN THE FUTURE.

C11. OUR EXPERIENCE OF TIME, THEREFORE, IS SUBJECTIVE AND CONTINGENT. THE PAST IS FLUID, A TEXT THAT IS DE-CENTERED THROUGH RETROSPECTIVE, CRITICAL EVALUATION AND ONE THAT IS ALSO SUBJECT TO THE WHIMS OF UNRELIABLE MEMORY. THE PRESENT IS FLUID BECASE TIME IS A PRE-CONDITION FOR THOUGHT AND IS HOPELESSLY EPHEMERAL; BECAUSE TECHNOLOGY INCREASINGLY ALLOWS US TO CURATE WHEN ONE HAS CERTAIN EXPERIENCES; AND BECAUSE IT IS SUBJECT TO EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL AGENCY. THE FUTURE IS FLUID, ARRIVING FROM BEHIND OUR TEMPORAL EYES, TRANSMUTED, FILTERED, PERHAPS UNWITNESSED OR UNNOTICED BY A SUBSEQUENT PRESENT.
 
[001-A-QUOTE-08]
“TIME PRESENT AND TIME PAST
ARE BOTH PERHAPS PRESENT IN TIME FUTURE,
AND TIME FUTURE CONTAINED IN TIME PAST.
IF ALL TIME IS ETERNALLY PRESENT
ALL TIME IS UNREDEEMABLE.”
T.S. ELIOT, FROM “THE FOUR QUARTETS: BURNT NORTON”
      
     
C12. THIS IS WATER.




D-BLOCK: MUSIC DECLARES
 
D01. ERNEST HEMINGWAY IS WIDELY QUOTED AS HAVING WRITTEN OR SAID: "REMEMBER TO GET THE WEATHER IN YOUR DAMN BOOK--WEATHER IS VERY IMPORTANT." WEATHER IS AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE. AS HEMINGWAY ALSO ADVISED WRITERS TO "SHOW THE READERS EVERYTHING, TELL THEM NOTHING" ONE CAN INFER THAT A WELL-WRITTEN SCENE WILL STIMULATE ALL FIVE SENSES, INCLUDING THE SOUND OF THE WEATHER. 

	BEETHOVEN, AHEAD OF HIS TIME IN SO MANY WAYS, ALSO MADE SURE TO INCLUDE THE WEATHER. IN THE FOURTH AND FIFTH MOVEMENTS OF HIS SIXTH PASTORALE SYMPHONY HE DOES NOT TELL BUT SHOWS US THE WEATHER THROUGH THE SOUND OF A TEMPEST. IT IS ONE OF THE MOST BELOVED MOMENTS IN SYMPHONIC CONCERT MUSIC, BUT THANKS TO THE ANIMATED MASTERPIECE FANTASIA, ALSO ONE OF THE MOST BELOVED SCENES IN CINEMA.

 
D02. FOLLOWING HEMINGWAY’S ADVICE AND BEETHOVEN'S MODEL, I DON'T WANT TO FORGET TO INCLUDE THE WEATHER IN THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW. MORE SPECIFICALLY, I DON’T WANT TO OVERLOOK THE CHANGING CLIMATE OF OUR PLANET IN THIS PROGRAM. IN ADDITION TO ESSAYS ON SOUND, I WANT TO USE SOUND AND MUSIC TO DESCRIBE, MAKE VISCERAL, AND COMMENT UPON THE FACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
     
     HEGEL SCHOLAR, PSYCHOANALYST OF FILM, AND INTERNET CELEBRITY SLOVAJ ZIZECK HAS WRITTEN PROVOCATIVELY ABOUT ECOLOGY THROUGH THE LENS OF IDEOLOGY. I LOOK FORWARD IN FUTURE CHAPTERS TO ENCODING SOME OF HIS INSIGHTS INTO THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW. TO SHARE JUST ONE, ZIZECK HAS DRAWN ATTENTION TO THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL SCHEMA THAT INCLUDES THE KNOWN KNOWN (ACTIVE KNOWLEDGE), THE KNOWN UNKNOWN (CONSCIOUS GAPS IN KNOWLEDGE), AND THE UNKNOWN UNKNOWN (IGNORANCE OF MISSING KNOWLEDGE: “FAILURES OF IMAGINATION”). THE CRUCIAL ELEMENT IN THE SCHEMA, HOWEVER, IS SOMETIMES OVERLOOKED. THIS IS THE UNKNOWN KNOWN: THAT WHICH WE KNOW BUT HAVE FORGOTTEN, DENY, OR HIDE FROM OURSELVES.

D03. ONE AFTERNOON ON A DAY IN EARLY JANUARY HERE IN CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA WHEN THE TEMPERATURE WAS APPROACHING 70 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, I ENCOUNTERED A STRANGER WHO GREETED ME IN A PARKING LOT SAYING, “WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!” HER REPORTED EXPERIENCE OF THE WEATHER WAS BOTH SUBJECTIVELY AUTHENTIC AND WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE, THE UNKNOWN KNOWN OF OUR CHANGING CLIMATE UNACKNOWLEDGED BUT IN PLAIN SIGHT.
     
     ZIZECK HAS SPOKEN AND WRITTEN ON HOW THE UNKNOWN KNOWN AFFECTS OUR EXPERIENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE. AS A FILM AFFICIANADO PAR EXCELLENCE, I HOPE HE MIGHT APPROVE IF I SUMMARIZE SOME OF HIS WORK IN THIS AREA BY PARAPHRASING ARTHUR FLECK FROM THE FILM JOKER: THE WORST PART ABOUT LIVING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE IS PEOPLE EXPECT US TO BEHAVE AS IF WE ARE NOT.

D04. SEVERAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO MAKING THE FACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE AN UNKNOWN KNOWN. FIRST IS THE PLANETARY SCALE AT WHICH IT IS NOW HAPPENING. AS I HAVE ALREADY DISCUSSED WITH REGARD TO TIME, WHEN SOMETHING IS (OR BECOMES) UBIQUITOUS IT OPERATES ON A SUBCONSCIOUS LEVEL. 

	A SECOND FACTOR IS THE RATE OF CHANGE, WHICH I THINK MOST OF US EXPERIENCE AS PERNICIOUSLY GRADUAL. THIS OBSCURES THE FACT, HOWEVER, THAT EVEN AS WE EXPERIENCE CLIMATE CHANGE AS BEING MODERATE, FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF GEOLOGIC TIME SCALES, THEY HAVE BEEN RAPID. (MORE ON THIS IN A FUTURE CHAPTER.)

	A THIRD FACTOR IS GEOGRAPHY. THE INITIAL SIGNALS OF CATASTROPHIC CLIMATE CHANGE HAVE OCCURRED AT A DISTANCE FROM POPULATION CENTERS.

	UNTIL RECENTLY, THESE FACTORS --- PLANETARY SCALE, RATE OF CHANGE, AND GEOGRAPHY --- TAKEN TOGETHER, HAVE COMBINED TO MAKE THE REALITY OF CLIMATE CHANGE EASY FOR MANY TO DISREGARD, DISCOUNT, OR IGNORE.
 
      
D05. RECENT RESEARCH HAS CONFIRMED THAT SEEKING AND IDENTIFYING PATTERNS IS AN IMPORTANT STRATEGY FOR LEARNING. IN A SENSE, PATTERN SEEKING IS PROLOGUE FOR US. BECAUSE OF THIS, ARGUMENTS FROM DESIGN, ARGUMENTS THAT INVOKE OR RELY ON AN ANCIENT OR FAMILIAR PATTERN, ARE VERY SEDUCTIVE.

     SCIENCE IS CONCERNED WITH PATTERNS THAT HAVE A PARTICULAR TRAIT: THEY ARE METHODOLOGICALLY SOUND, DERIVED FROM CONTROLLED OBSERVATION AND INTERPRETED BY APPLYING INDUCTIVE AND DEDUCTIVE REASONING, ANALYZING DATA. THIS OBJECTIVITY IS CELEBRATED BY THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY, BUT IT CAN BE ALIENATING TO PEOPLE BEYOND THE LAB.

D06. IN THE LATER DECADES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSERVATION MOVEMENTS OFFERED A PARADIGM THAT INCLUDED SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY AS PART OF THE SOLUTION WHEN ADDRESSING PROBLEMS IN THE NATURAL WORLD. BUT WHEN THE SCOPE OF THE CHALLENGES WIDENED FROM ADDRESSING IMBALANCES IN SPECIFIC ECOSYSTEMS TO PLANETARY PHENOMENA, CULTURAL FISSURES BECAME SCHISMS.

	TODAY THERE IS INTERNATIONAL, OVERWHELMING SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS AS TO WHAT IS DRIVING CLIMATE CHANGE. THE MARKETPLACE IS BEING RESPONSIVE, BUT SOME POLITICAL ACTORS HAVE CYNICALLY IDENTIFIED HUMAN-CAUSED CLIMATE CHANGE AS A POWERFUL WEDGE ISSUE. SOME EXPLICITLY DENY IT. OTHERS ACTIVELY CENSOR IT. THE GOAL IS THE SAME: TO MINIMIZE AWARENESS BY AS MANY VOTERS AS POSSIBLE TO THE IMPLICATIONS OF CHANGES IN THE PATTERN OF EARTH’S CLIMATE.

D07. REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THIS INVOCATION OF PAST CLIMATE PATTERNS AS PROLOGUE IS IMPLICIT OR EXPLICIT, IT IS NOT A SUSTAINABLE STRATEGY. HERE IS THE EMERGING PATTERN OF THE ANTHROPOCENE (THE FIRST GEOLOGIC ERA WROUGHT BY A SINGLE SPECIES, IN WHICH HOMO SAPIENS ARE THE DOMINANT ECOLOGICAL PLANETARY FORCE). WINTERS ARE BECOMING MILDER. SUMMERS ARE BECOMING HOTTER. LARGE SCALE FIRE EVENTS ARE MORE FREQUENT AND MORE DEVASTATING. FLOODS AND HURRICANES ARE MORE FREQUENT AND MORE DESTRUCTIVE. A MASS EXTINCTION IS OCCURING.

	THESE EVENTS WERE NOT INEVITABLE. WE DID NOT PLAN THE ANTHROPOCENE. THESE ARE NOT FAILURES OF IMAGINATION. THEY ARE A CONSEQUENCE OF THAT TO WHICH WE HAVE BEEN LISTENING, OR OF THAT TO WHICH WE HAVE NOT BEEN LISTENING. GRETHA THUNBERG IS RIGHT: THE FAIRY TALES OF ENDLESS ECONOMIC GROWTH ARE THE SONGS OF SIRENS.
           
D08. THE GIFT OF ARTISTS IS TO PRODUCE A SPECIAL KIND OF PATTERN. PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, WRITERS, AND MUSICIANS EACH USE PATTERNS THAT TEND TO HAVE THE CHARACTERISTIC OF IMMEDIACY, THE ABILITY TO INSPIRE NON-SPECIALISTS IN A WAY RAW SCIENTIFIC OR ECONOMIC DATA OFTEN DOES NOT.
     
     I THINK THIS IS BECAUSE ART WAS OUR FIRST EXPRESSION AS A SPECIES. ART EXPRESSES, RESONATES, AMPLIFIES SOMETHING ALREADY IN US SIMPLY THROUGH OUR ENCOUNTER WITH IT. ART IS OUR OLDEST AND MOST PROFOUND PRACTICE OF PATTERN SEEKING. IT IS PATTERN SEEKING THROUGH PATTERN MAKING. MYTHS BECOME METAPHORS.
     
     HUMANS HAVE BECOME QUITE ADEPT AT POLITICAL OUTRAGE. NEXT WE NEED ART TO TAKE US BEYOND THE INCONVENIENT TRUTHS, TO MAKE UNEQUIVOCAL THAT THE CLIMATE IS: THE WATER IN WHICH WE SWIM, THE FIRES IN WHICH WE BURN, THE AIR THAT WE BREATHE, THE FOOD THAT WE EAT, THE WATER WE DRINK. HOW CAN THIS BE ACCOMPLISHED?

      
D09. MUSIC DECLARES EMERGENCY, A MOVEMENT BASED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, IS ONE OF MANY AROUND THE WORLD SEEKING TO DO THIS. IN SAN FRANCISCO, THE CLIMATE MUSIC PROJECT IS LIKEWISE ENGAGED IN PROVIDING AN ALTERNATIVE DISCOURSE. THEIR WEB SITE STATES:

[001-A-QUOTE-09]
“MUSIC IS FAMILIAR, ACCESSIBLE, AND—FOR MOST PEOPLE—MUCH EASIER TO RELATE TO THAN ARTICLES OR LECTURES ABOUT THE CLIMATE CRISIS. WE CREATED THE CLIMATE MUSIC PROJECT TO HARNESS THIS UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE TO TELL THE URGENT STORY OF CLIMATE CHANGE TO BROAD AND DIVERSE AUDIENCES IN A WAY THAT RESONATES, EDUCATES, AND MOTIVATES.”

     
D10. MOZART IS REPORTED TO HAVE PRE-CONCEIVED MUCH OF HIS MUSIC BEFORE BOTHERING TO WRITE IT OUT ON PAPER. PHILIP GLASS HAS DESCRIBED MUSIC AS AN “UNDERGROUND RIVER THAT IS ALWAYS THERE.” “MUSIC,” GLASS SAYS MATTER OF FACTLY, “IS ABOUT LISTENING.” THIS MAY SEEM SELF-EVIDENT, BUT IT IS CRUCIAL TO APPRECIATE THE IMPLICATION --- THAT A COMPOSER, THE PERFORMERS OF THE WRITTEN WORK, AND THOSE HEARING A PEFORMANCE OF THE WORK ARE DOING THE SAME THING. THEY ARE LISTENING TO IT.

     WHAT DISTINGUISHES THE EXPERIENCE OF LISTENING BETWEEN THE COMPOSER, THE PERFORMER, AND THOSE WHO HEAR A PERFORMANCE IS THAT THE COMPOSER HAS SOME MEANS OF DOCUMENTING WHAT THEY HEAR. THE PERFORMER HAS A TALENT FOR INTERPRETING WHAT HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED AND IS ATTENTIVE TO GIVING VOICE TO IT. THOSE WHO HEAR THE PERFORMANCE DO NOTHING LESS THAN GIVE WITNESS TO THE FACT OF IT, AND GIVE IT A PLACE IN THEIR MINDS AND LIVES TO LIVE.

     D11. WHEN I FIRST DECIDED TO CONFESS TO ONE OF MY PIANO TEACHERS THAT I WANTED TO COMPOSE, HE GAVE ME ADVICE THAT FAR EXCEEDED THE SCOPE OF HIS FEE THAT DAY WHEN HE EXPLAINED THAT I FIRST NEEDED TO LEARN TO IMPROVISE. WHY? BECAUSE, HE SAID, COMPOSING IS THE ACT OF WRITING OUT YOUR MUSICAL IDEA. IMPROVISING IS HOW YOU DISCOVER IT.
     
     FORMER ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST AND CELEBRATED COMPOSER JOHN LUTHER ADAMS HAS FORMULATED THE TASK AT HAND FOR ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS IN THE ANTHROPOCENE IN TERMS THAT RESONATE WITH ME. IN A PRESENTATION AT THE BANFF CENTRE OF ALBERTA, CANADA, IN 2016 (THE YEAR HE WON A PULITZER PRIZE FOR HIS SEATTLE SYMPHONY COMMISSIONED WORK BECOME OCEAN), JOHN LUTHER ADAMS’ PROVIDES A PHILOSOPHICAL COUNTERPOINT TO OTHER EFFORTS SEEKING TO ENLIST MUSIC ON BEHALF OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM. HIS INSIGHT REMINDS US NOT TO CONFUSE THE MUSIC OF NATURE, OR MUSIC ABOUT NATURE, OR MUSIC TO ADVOCATE FOR NATURE…WITH THE NATURE OF MUSIC.

[001-A-QUOTE-10]
“I HAVE COME TO BELIEVE THAT FUNDAMENTALLY ART MATTERS MORE THAN POLITICS. . . .TO MY WAY OF THINKING, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, POLITICAL ART FAILS AS POLITICS AND AS ART. I BELIEVE THAT TO REACH ITS FULLEST POWER, TO BE AT ITS MOST MOVING AND MOST FULLY USEFUL TO US, ART MUST BE ITSELF. . . WHEN I’M TRUE TO THE MUSIC, WHEN I LET THE MUSIC BE WHATEVER IT WANTS TO BE, THEN EVERYTHING ELSE, INCLUDING ANY SOCIAL OR POLITICAL MEANING, WILL FOLLOW. . . .THE LAST THING THAT I WANT TO DO IS TO LIMIT THE LISTENER’S IMAGINATION. . . .IT’S ONLY THROUGH THE PRESENCE, AWARENESS, AND CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT OF THE LISTENER THAT THE MUSIC IS COMPLETE.”
 
D12. SOME QUESTIONS: IS THE WORK OF AN ARTIST IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT THAN IT HAS BEEN IN THE PAST? WILL MUSIC THAT DECLARES AN EMERGENCY BE MORE OR LESS EFFECTIVE IN EXPLICITLY DOING SO? DO I NEED TO DISCOVER, OR CONTRIVE, A PATTERN THAT WILL MOTIVATE CHANGE, OR DO I TRUST THE MUSIC I WANT TO WRITE TO DO SO?  DO I WANT TO TRANSCRIBE OR DESCRIBE?
 
     DO I WANT TO WORK EKPHRASTICALLY (TAKING AN NON-MUSICAL WORK OF ART AS A REERENCE OR INSPIRATION)? DO I WANT TO WORK ALGORITHMICALLY OR STOCHASTICALLY (IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE LATE JOHN CAGE)? DO I WORK GENERATIVELY (TAKING CLIMATE DATA AND CONVERTING IT INTO SOUND THROUGH A SERIES OF PROCESSES AND TREATMENTS)?

D13. WITH THESE QUESTIONS I RETURN TO WHERE I BEGAN. ARE PAST MUSICAL APPROACHES PROLOGUE TO MY OWN? TO WHOM, OR TO WHAT, DO I LISTEN WHEN I CREATE MUSIC AND SOUND?
     
     JOIN ME NEXT TIME ON THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW FOR CHAPTER TWO, MY NEXT SOJOURN IN SOUND, FEATURING MY FIRST REALIZATION OF A NEW WORK ENTITLED THE DISQUIETING.



END CREDITS

EC01. CHAPTER ONE OF THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW: A SOJOURN IN SOUND (TM) FEATURES WORK SHARED THROUGH THE CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSING FRAMEWORK. MATERIAL HEARD IN THIS CHAPTER WAS SOURCED FROM: FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE, CCMIXTER, MUSOPEN, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, AND BANDCAMP.

EC02. MY SINCERE THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING MUSICIANS AND SOUND ARTISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD FOR SHARING THEIR INSPIRING AND DIVERSE TALENTS:
KIMIKO ISHIZAKA, JULIE LICATA, MID-AIR MACHINE, MONPLAISIR, SCOTT BUCKLEY, KARA SQUARE FEATURING SPINNING MERKBA, KAI ENGEL, THE PANGOLINS, LEE ROSEVERE, NORA ROGERS, MUSOPEN SYMPHONY, SKIDMORE COLLEGE ORCHESTRA, GILMAN MOM, ASFANDYAR KHAN, AND THE BAND PUBLIC SYMPHONY.

ADDITIONAL SOUND ELEMENTS ARE LICENSED FOR USE COURTESY OF:
POND 5, PRESONUS, NATIVE ELEMENTS, RUMBLEFISH, AND PERCHANCE MUSIC & DIGITAL MEDIA. 

SYNTHETIC VOICES RENDERED BY POLLY, FROM: AMAZON WEB SERVICES.

EC04. ALL QUOTED MATERIAL IS INCLUDED UNDER FAIR USE GUIDELINES FOR COMMENTARY AND CRITICISM.

EC05. FOR COMPLETE ATTRIBUTION AND LINKS TO ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND PRODUCTION RESOURCES, PLEASE VISIT THE SHOW NOTES PAGE FOR THIS EPISODE AT PATREON.COM/PERCHANCE. YOU CAN ALSO VISIT THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW ONLINE AT NOW.PERCHANCEMUSIC.COM TO FIND LINKS TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOW ON ALL MAJOR PODCASTING PORTALS.

EC06. ASK YOUR SMART SPEAKER TO PLAY OR TALK TO THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW.

CLOSE

EC07. KUDOS TO MY SISTER, DIANA, FOR HER EDITORIAL WISDOM AND ENCOURAGEMENT; TO MY FRIEND, ROBIN, IN HILLSBOROUGH, NC, WHO WILL FOREVER HAVE THE DISTINCTION OF BEING THIS PROGRAM’S VERY FIRST PATREON MEMBER; AND TO MY SPOUSE, JUDITH, FOR HER SUPPORT, PATIENCE, AND FEEDBACK ON COUNTLESS DRAFTS OF THIS CHAPTER.

    I HOPE YOU’VE ENJOYED CHAPTER ONE WHICH WAS WRITTEN, PRODUCED AND HOSTED BY YOURS TRULY. ANY MISTAKES, INACCURACIES, OR EDITORIAL FAILURES --- IN CONTENT OR PRODUCTION --- ARE UNINTENDED AND ARE ENTIRELY MINE.

    I’M CHRISTINE BUSH. THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW CONTINUES. KEEP LISTENING.