Blog 5 - The Voice of Water: Musical Responses
- Melissa Bradd
- Dec 21, 2023
- 4 min read
Time, like water is elusive: and they both appear to contain a voice. Imprints of impressions are captured in the fluidity of time that travels, and of water that flows. I have been inspired to capture, collect, and reflect upon images, video footage and sound recordings throughout my explorations of deep time, water, ancestral ways and healing. I am delighted to offer two compositional sketch-works as creative responses to these findings.
The first, ‘Elemental Time’ is a journey through the ether, where natural elements carry us through the mechanics of human time. The second, ‘Shamanic Water Song’ captures a response to ‘The Water Song’ where the melody and lyrics are used as inspiration to build shamanic sound from nature around (Sing the Water Song, 2018).
Below are some notes and recordings to present the creative process and responses for ‘Elemental Time’. Blog 7 will reflect on ‘Shamanic Water Song’.
‘Elemental Time’
My original response was to create a sea-creature from the kelp forest who would rise-up from the depths to speak to the trees in the land forest about the destruction of the planet. The sea and land trees would hold council together to discuss what must be done. We are living in ‘hu-man-made-time,’ but time exists out-with our existence, and survival. I was inspired to make a seaweed dress, but upon collecting seaweed and experiencing the process of drying, I realised it was very heavy when wet, and very brittle when dry. I decided to focus on ‘being’ in these environments and allow the creative or musical responses to unfold. Upon listening to the composition, I could feel this sea-kelp-creature in motion. Although I had not set out to capture this musically, it almost came into being through the process of listening and responding to the environment. The essence of clock time is attributed to human time, whereas time for the land, sea, sky and the ecosystem is not dependent on the survival of humans. I found it inspiring to explore ‘motions of movement’ and ‘sounds of seaweed’ where clock time almost became ethereal in comparison. I feel the use of sounds with space draw in the listening body of senses. The fifth movement in Oliver Messiaen’s Quartet for the end of time is a beautiful but tragic expression of love (Richard Harwood, 2021). Although titled is ‘Praise to the Eternity of Jesus’ I always feel and see a sunset and tears bursting from eyes at the beauty of the day gone, marvelling at the phenomenon of the existence of life. The tension and beauty in this particular movement brings the harshness of cold ending with the warmth of the sun. One of the dissonant chord piano recordings I captured reminded me of this.
While listening to some of the video recordings I collected at Siccar Point on 31 October 2023, there was one clip that sounded like the sound of knives sliding together. I considered to create a soundscape where the elements of the sea, greywacke and sandstone ‘rubbed’ together to create a new formation of sound. It almost seems like artificial intelligence creating something it may not even be aware of. Zuckerkandl refers to text in Erwin Straus’ Vom Sinn der Sinne: “The unity of music and motion is primordial, not artificial, not contrived, and not learned.” (Zuckerkandl, 1969. p. 79).
Video footage at Siccar Point 31 October 2023, taken by Melissa Bradd.
The sounds recorded in the composition:
Knife scathing against frozen grass. (00.00 in recording in Blog 6).
Knives scathing and splicing against each other in response to the sound heard at Siccar Point. Developing into rubbing the blades against each other in circular motion: This sound created a ‘metallic melody’ which can be heard in the piece. (01.42 in recording in Blog 6).
Clocks: I collected a series of clock recordings in a place I frequent. The original idea was to incorporate lots of chiming to create a sensation of timelessness within time, with the rhythm being out of synchronisation. However, I felt building an atmospheric base would allow space for time to sound. Although you can hear the ticking of clocks, the chimes themselves flutter by and fade into the ether.
Gong: Use of a violin bow to create a rustic sound with resonant ‘echo of time’. Gong wand or Flumie effects. Donging with large mallet. This captures the effect of ‘deep time’ or the submarine feeling of being deep in the depths of the ocean.
Seaweed: The seaweed collected from Keills while gazing over at Jura Island. I washed the seaweed and recorded several sounds of sploshing, shaking and cracking. These are sounds I would like to explore more with. Some of sounds are of dry seaweed. Sound Ex.
Seaweed drying by the fire.
Exploring the 'over' dried seakelp found at Siccar Point.
Exploring sloppy splodgy seaweed sounds while washing it.
Live at Keills. Listening to the sound of seaweed. Footage by Melissa Bradd.
Violin: Played with lose bow slowly. This effect creates a movement in time. Almost sounding resistant or ‘waking to movement’, like the shift of unconformity. In one section it sounds almost like a bee buzzing into the scene.
Piano with sustain pedal: Beater played on open strings. Metal object tapped/played on strings.
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References:
Richard Harwood. (2021) Louange for cello & piano - from Quartet for the End of Time. Available at: https://youtu.be/ir9DSh3j6ZE?feature=shared (Accessed: 6 December 2023).
Zuckerkandl, V (1969) Sound and Symbol. Princeton: University Press.
Sing the Water Song (2018) Sing the Water Song. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC2FHciQ0sU (Accessed: 2 November 2023).
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