Yesterday Shyamala, Ravi, Loren and I met to mix the sound for our Cyber Manifesto soundtrack. It took quite awhile to align the backbeat, so we didn't quite finish laying down everything - the group dialogue after Shy's solo, ending with the multiplicity of yes's, is not there, which means it sounds like there is extra backbeat at the end. We also haven't started adding additional sounds -- something Ravi plays/creates, the sound of my tatkar, the Skype ring throughout. There's also a lot of clean-up - lessening background noise, balancing the mix, and tweaking Sandra's solo to make it align better - that has not been done yet.
Hope this is useful as we record our additional video footage! The sound file is also in our Dropbox folder, should you wish to download it.
Hope this is useful as we record our additional video footage! The sound file is also in our Dropbox folder, should you wish to download it.
FEEDBACK QUESTIONS:
1. What do you feel about the musical arc of the soundtrack? What would you like to change, if anything?
2. How do you feel about the current order of the sections? Would you change anything?
3. What additional sounds would you like, if any, and when?
4. Currently we've laid in the different solos taking into consideration the pulse but not always being true to the taal structure. Does this bother you? What adjustments, if any, would you make?
5. Other comments or ideas?
Re: the arc, I feel the beginning builds up nicely, with each of us adding in to establish the backbeat; it then continues to build and peaks with my solo. It then drops off a bit energetically with Babli's and plateaus with Shy's solo. As a listener, I feel like I'm "with" the sound until about 2/3 of the way through Babli's solo, say till around 3:45 or so, then I lose my focus and stop understanding the text. To mitigate this, I wonder whether we might consider slightly shortening Babli's solo (in a musical way) and moving Shy's solo to the beginning, so that it serves as an introduction rather than a summary to the collective. Or, because it's the longest solo, to cut sections of it with Anj's solo and/or the first "Yes. Yes to process..." section? For instance:
ReplyDelete"BACKBEAT"
"WE ARE A COLLECTIVE
we are not a company
we are not about one monolithic vision, position, or approach
we listen with care, we dream wild, we live process, and we create.... magic"
"Yes.
Yes to process.
Yes to complexity.
Rooted in the local --
Rocking the global."
"Anj: We collect our many voices to create and translate choreography,writings, and art across distant boundaries, overseas, here and there,everywhere that dance happens in the “liminal” space between Classical and Contemporary. Constructing, reconstructing, and deconstructing, we grapple with South Asian aesthetics, in dialogue with each other and informed by the space where our lives and art intersect."
BACKBEAT
"we create that unique magic that comes from the unexpected unity of our virtual variety
we share, we learn, we grapple with difference –and we don’t gloss it over
our open-sourced voices echo across continents in harmony and sometimes in dissonance
we embrace change and our roots are deep
in sharing our responsibilities we multiply our reach, our resources, our enthusiasm, our possibilities
to create... change"
followed by "Yes...communalism" section, Cyn's solo, Babli's solo, into the group dialogue. Because Babli's solo is drawn from the "Yes" text, and thus more open, I think it would transition smoothly into the ending section.
Alternately, if people feel that we should keep the current order, we could add in extra elements (say, my tatkar) underneath Shy's solo to prevent the music from dropping off too much. I notice there is some repetition of thematic content between Anj's and Shy's solos (especially when you put them next to each other), so if there's concern about the soundtrack being too long, perhaps we could consider cutting a bit of Shy's solo?
I would still love to put in the Skype ring as a recurring motif throughout.
Another random thought I had: this manifesto is pretty English-centric. Would it be cool to have the ending yes's in multiple languages? Or would that be too inconsistent or confusing b/c the rest of it is in English?