Since beginning this masters programme, as mentioned in former posts, my energies have been primarily focused researching cymatic frequency, Faraday waves and visualisation capabilities in contemporary discourse. There has been a limited number of music projects I have undertaken, so have I been suffering with writer’s block? My reflection on that led me to think that I needed to stop, step back, breathe and reset. A short trip to Paris with fellow creative friends seems to have been the tonic I needed to reignite my creative workflow, amid scientific research and technological perspective.

Paris gave me the opportunity to pick up my camera, wander around the streets and interesting sites to replenish my creative eye towards the visual perspective in music I love. So why do I need to do this? Like a soundtrack to a film, I can imagine musical moods complimenting the quant streets, climbing the Eiffel Tower and travelling around the city on the metro. Being with photographer friends was a joy in itself and enabled me to return with some great memories, new footage and the artistic flare I had been missing.

Returning home and opening up my DAW led me down some interesting paths, trying things that I would not typically pursue in my ‘comfort-zone’ workflow. Being a fan of the Parisian techno scene, I took inspiration from reminiscing with some of my favourite producers and DJs before embarking on a new project. Throwing away my typical workflow, I loaded up a synth patch in Reason, connected my MIDI keyboard, switched on the Roland TR-8, hit record and decided to freestyle. The short clip below is an unmixed, raw section where I am still getting my key timings correct. Is this a good recording? With some more work would people dance to it? Naturally I am sceptical, but perhaps.

(Jones, 2017a)

Utilising the experiment I completed before with the Cymascope App with one of my tracks, I subsequently reverse engineered some footage I recorded while travelling up the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Why do this? As a plan to experiment with intuitive cymatic formations and reverse engineered visuals, I figured it might create a hybridity of effective dynamic suited to the music. From my perspective, these do not blend well together using the technology I have at my disposal, but it gives a good indication of what one can do.

(Jones, 2017b)

As I conclude my final post, what has this process taught me and how has it helped? Reflecting on the last two months and documenting my research has given me a fresh perspective on how I approach my work. As a creative practitioner embarking on a particularly technical route within audio engineering, posting a blog has brought structure and greater balance to my workflow. It has given me greater precedence to record my thoughts, ideas and discoveries as I have progressed over time and enabled me to focus responsibility on specific objectives and subsequent outcomes. Additionally, this process has taught me to explore beyond my creative comfort zone and take inspiration from a broader perspective, to reach a more refined focal point in action. Researching cymatic frequency and Faraday waves has enlightened me significantly and inspired me towards further research and experimentation.

So where do I go from here? My plans are to continue regularly filming new footage in interesting locations to reverse engineer together with cymatic formations overlayed in real-time, for proposed future visual work. I will also continue producing techno and other sub-styles of electronic music with the intention of presenting music and cymatic visuals together in live performance events. Perhaps for my final major project. However, this will all depend on having access to a CymaScope and the necessary equipment to combine the two visual feeds. Finally, I intend to maintain a regular blog to document my future creative progress and reflect on the way I work, taking responsibility for my ideas, actions and their relevance in my discipline.

References:
Jones, C. (2017a) Sejon – J’adore Paris (1st Bounce Unmixed WIP) [online] Available at: https://soundcloud.com/chris-jones/jadore-paris-1st-bounce-unmixed-wip/s-yiiqy [Accessed: 02 December 2017]
Jones, C. (2017b) Sejon – Peace Out (CymaScope Interpretation + Visuals) [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/7_iGcEtm8YM [Accessed: 04 December 2017]

#Reflection