T R A N S C R I P T THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW: A SOJOURN IN SOUND™ CHAPTER TWO: THE DISQUIETING BEGINS. WRITTEN, PRODUCED, AND HOSTED BY CHRISTINE BUSH PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: MARCH 28, 2020 (CC-BY-SA 4.0) [LICENSING DECLARATION] OPENING HAIKU (J. CHANCE) WOODEN FACES WATCH THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY DRIP LIKE MELTING TIME. A-BLOCK: PROGRAM UPDATES A1. GREETINGS. THIS IS CHAPTER TWO OF THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW: A SOJOURN IN SOUND (TM). I'M CHRISTINE BUSH. A2. THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC PROVIDES DRAMATIC AND EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH TO BE LAUNCHING A NEW AUDIO PROGRAM. MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE BEING ASKED (AT A MINIMUM) TO PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING. WE ARE TRYING TO LIVE AND WORK AS BEST WE CAN WHILE SHELTERING IN PLACE. ECONOMIES ARE BEING PUMMELED BY UNPRECEDENTED VOLATILITY. UNTOLD NUMBERS OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LAID OFF. GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD ARE CONFRONTED WITH THE GREATEST CHALLENGES SINCE WORLD WAR TWO AND HAVE DIFFERING LEVELS OF PREPAREDNESS. A3. IN THIS CONTEXT, I HUMBLY EXTEND MY PROFOUND APPRECIATION TO EVERYONE WHO HAS LISTENED TO CHAPTER ONE DURING THE EMERGENCE OF THIS CATASTROPHE. PLEASE KNOW THAT MY THOUGHTS ARE WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU ARE LISTENING AND I URGE YOU TO TAKE WHATEVER STEPS ARE APPROPRIATE TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR LOVED ONES AT THIS TIME. A4. IN THIS CHAPTER OF THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW: A SOJOURN IN SOUND, I WILL BE SHARING AN EARLY MIX OF THE FIRST MOVEMENT OF A NEW WORK ENTITLED THE DISQUIETING. A5. I WANT TO ENCOURAGE YOU, IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO, TO LISTEN TO CHAPTER ONE. IT IS A SPECIAL HOUR-LONG PROGRAM THAT PROVIDES A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR ALL THE CHAPTERS THAT FOLLOW, INCLUDING THIS ONE. HERE ARE SOME OF THE MAIN IDEAS FROM CHAPTER ONE. A6.1 EACH MONTH I WILL PRESENT TWO CHAPTERS. THE FIRST IS AN ESSAY-DRIVEN SOUNDSCAPE THAT PRESENTS A THEME AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE LIBERAL ARTS AND SOUND STUDIES. THE SECOND CHAPTER WILL PRESENT AN ORIGINAL WORK IN PROGRESS OF SOUND ART OR MUSIC THAT RESONATES WITH IDEAS OR ASPECTS FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER. A6.2 THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW IS A COGNITIVE MEMOIR INTENDED TO DOCUMENT HOW I THINK. IT EXTENDS THE IDEA OF A SOUNDTRACK FROM ITS ORIGINS IN CINEMA BEYOND ITS USAGE AS A CULTURAL METAPHOR FOR SHARED LISTENING EXPERIENCES AND SEEKS TO RE-IMAGINE IT AS A WAY TO ENCODE THE LIFE OF THE MIND AS IT PROCESSES BOTH OUR PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE STREAMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS. A6.3 THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW DERIVES FROM THE THEORY OF LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY THE PROPOSITION THAT THINKING IS A WAY OF LISTENING AND CONVERSELY THAT LISTENING IS A WAY OF THINKING. A6.4 IN CHAPTER ONE I OFFERED SOME EXAMPLES OF HOW WE EXPERIENCE TIME AS SENTIENT CREATURES AND WHY THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE ARE FLUID AND INTERCONNECTED. OUR ABILITY TO SELF-REFLECT AND EXERCISE AGENCY OVER OUR THOUGHTS AFFECTS HOW WE EXPERIENCE TIME. A6.5 ART IS CONSIDERED BY AN ANCIENT AND PROFOUND FORM OF PATTERN SEEKING THROUGH PATTERN MAKING. A6.6 IN PARTICULAR, THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW IS INTERESTED IN BALANCING THE SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSE ON THE FACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE WITH A NON-VERBAL SOJOURN IN SOUND AS A WAY OF INVESTIGATING AND DOCUMENTING THE EMERGENCE OF THE GEOLOGICAL ERA WE HAVE NAMED THE ANTHROPOCENE. A7. THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW CONTINUES… B-BLOCK: THE DISQUIETING BEGINS B1. LET'S CONSIDER A NEW WORK IN PROGRESS. B2. THE DISQUIETING FINDS ITS ORIGINS IN A VISUAL WORK OF ART THAT HAS LONG FASCINATED ME: DE CHIRICO'S PAINTING THE DISQUIETING MUSES (1916). THIS WILL BE A MULTI-MOVEMENT WORK EXPLORING VARIOUS THEMATIC FACETS OF THE CONTEMPORARY EXPERIENCE, A SERIES OF MOVEMENTS FOR UNCANNY, EERIE, AND DISTURBING TIMES THAT ARE OFTEN ATTRIBUTED WITH THE SHORTHAND OF BEING "SURREAL." BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? B3. TO EXPERIENCE THE SURREAL IS TO ENCOUNTER AN UNEXPECTED JUXTAPOSITION TO WHICH OUR MINDS ASSIGN MEANING. SURREALISM IS ENTANGLED WITH CATASTROPHE, WORLD WAR ONE TO BE SPECIFIC, AND ITS AFTERMATH. IT ALSO CELEBRATES REVOLUTION AND HAS A KEEN INTEREST IN THE IRRATIONAL. THE WORK OF FREUD AND EINSTEIN INFORMED THE ORIGINAL PROPONENTS OF SURREALISM, BOTH VISUAL AND LITERARY, WHOSE PRIMARY GOAL WAS TO UNLEASH THE UNCONSCIOUS AND LIBERATE THE IMAGINATION, FOR EXAMPLE, BY DEPICTING DREAMS USING INCONGRUOUS ELEMENTS, BIZARRE PERSPECTIVES, EXAGGERATED SCALES, OR THE ABSENCE OF EXPECTED ELEMENTS. B4. THE FIRST MOVEMENT, "MELTING TIME" IS A MEDITATION ON THE INTERSECTION OF SALVADOR DALÍ'S THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY (1931) AND THE EXPERIENCE OF GLACIAL DEATH. IN 2014, THE FIRST OF ICELAND'S 400 GLACIERS, KNOWN AS OKJÖKULL [AUK-YOU-KULKT] (OR OK [AUK] GLACIER, THE GLACIER ON THE VOLCANO OK) WAS DECLARED TO HAVE SUFFERED SUFFICIENT MELT RESULTING FROM GLOBAL WARMING TO NO LONGER BE CONSIDERED A GLACIER. B5. GLACIERS ARE SIGNIFICANT FOR SEVERAL REASONS. THEY ARE MAJOR RESERVOIRS OF FRESH WATER. THEY ARE IMPORTANT RECORDS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. AND THEY ARE CULTURAL ICONS. SO WHEN A GLACIER DIES, WE ARE LOSING SEVERAL IMPORTANT THINGS: WATER, DATA, AND REVERED GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES. IN 2018, A FIRST OF ITS KIND MEMORIAL PLAQUE WAS PLACED ON THE MOUNTAIN OK TO DOCUMENT THE DEMISE OF ITS GLACIER. THE PLAQUE READS: B6. “A LETTER TO THE FUTURE: OK IS THE FIRST ICELANDIC GLACIER TO LOSE ITS STATUS AS A GLACIER. IN THE NEXT 200 YEARS ALL OUR GLACIERS ARE EXPECTED TO FOLLOW THE SAME PATH. THIS MONUMENT IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. ONLY YOU KNOW IF WE DID IT.” B7. I WANT TO SHARE THIS MUSIC AS A WAY TO REMEMBER A GLACIER, NOW LOST, DURING THIS MELTING TIME. IN HIS NOVEL THERE, THERE TOMMY ORANGE REMINDS THE READER OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE OFTEN-MISUNDERSTOOD PHRASE COINED BY GERTRUDE STEIN ABOUT THE SURREAL EXPERIENCE ENTAILED BY THE LOSS OF PLACE, A DEFINING EXPERIENCE FOR NATIVE AMERICANS. IN HER BOOK EVERYBODY'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, STEIN CONVEYS HOW THE OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA OF HER CHILDHOOD HAD BECOME SO DEVELOPED THAT THERE WAS NO THERE, THERE ANYMORE. THE WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION OF THE PERSISTENCE OF HER MEMORY OF IT IS ALL THAT REMAINS. B8. MUSICALLY, THIS MOVEMENT INTERROGATES THE NATURE OF TONALITY BY EXPLORING THE MIXOLYDIAN FLAT-6 MODE, A HYBRID MAJOR/MINOR SCALE. FOR EXAMPLE, A-B-C#-D-E-F NATURAL- G NATURAL-A. IN COMPOSING THIS MOVEMENT I WAS OBLIGED TO CONSIDER WHAT RULES OF MODULATION APPLY TO A SCALE THAT IS TRANS-TONAL? MY WORKING THESIS IS THAT BY ASKING "WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?" MUSICALLY MIGHT OFFER SOME METAPHYSICAL SOLACE AS THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW SEEKS TO INTEGRATE OUR FRAUGHT PANDEMIC-INDUCED NORMAL. B9. THE COVID-19 CRISIS SO DOMINATES THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW THAT I WANTED TO USE A COMPOSITION METHODOLOGY THAT IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CLASH BETWEEN THE RATIONAL AND THE IRRATIONAL [EAR RATIONAL] AT PLAY IN THIS GLOBAL MOMENT. TO THAT END, THIS MOVEMENT IS A MONTAGE OF AD HOC MOTIFS, SEQUENCED SAMPLES, HAUNTED CHORAL MANIPULATIONS, AND PERCUSSIVE COLLAPSE. C-BLOCK: MELTING TIME C1. YOU'RE LISTENING TO THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW: A SOJOURN IN SOUND. THIS IS MOVEMENT ONE, "MELTING TIME," FROM THE DISQUIETING BY JONATHA CHANCE, PERFORMED BY CHANCE ENCOUNTERS ENSEMBLE. [MUSIC] C2. "MELTING TIME" FROM THE DISQUIETING BY JONATHA CHANCE CAN ALSO BE FOUND ONLINE AT THIS PROGRAM'S WEBSITE AT: NOW DOT PERCHANCEMUSIC DOT COM. END NOTES AND PRODUCTION CREDITS EC1. GEORGIO DE CHIRICO ONCE WROTE: "ALTHOUGH THE DREAM IS A VERY STRANGE PHENOMENON AND AN INEXPLICABLE MYSTERY, FAR MORE INEXPLICABLE IS THE MYSTERY AND ASPECT OUR MINDS CONFER ON CERTAIN OBJECTS AND ASPECTS OF LIFE." IN MARCH 2020 WHEN THIS CHAPTER IS BEING PRODUCED, WE FIND OURSELVES IN A SURREAL MOMENT, AS MANY COMMENTATORS ARE OBSERVING. OUR ATTENTIONS ARE BEING DIRECTED TOWARD MASKS, UNSEEN CONTAGION, AND PUBLIC SPACES DEVOID OF FAMILIAR SIGHTS AND SOUNDS. THESE ARE IMAGES IMBUED WITH ANCIENT, MYTHOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE. THEY ACTIVATE TYPICALLY LATENT FEARS. BUT THIS IS NEITHER A DREAM NOR A HOAX. LISTEN CRITICALLY. BEHAVE RESPONSIBLY. KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON. EC2. I INVITE YOU TO JOIN ME NEXT TIME FOR CHAPTER THREE, WHEN I WILL INVESTIGATE THE QUESTION: WHY DOES IT SOMETIMES FEEL LIKE TIME STOPS? TIMELESSNESS...NEXT TIME ON THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW: A SOJOURN IN SOUND. THE OPENING THEME MUSIC (J.S. BACH FROM "THE ART OF FUGUE") WAS PERFORMED BY KIMIKO ISHIZAKA. OUR CLOSING GROOVE IS THE BAND: PUBLIC SYMPHONY. [PRODUCTION NOTES READ BY AWS POLLY] ALL QUOTED MATERIAL IS INCLUDED UNDER FAIR USE GUIDELINES FOR COMMENTARY AND CRITICISM. 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 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. EC3. I HOPE YOU’VE ENJOYED CHAPTER TWO 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.