by Michael Oxman
Collaborator: Jonathan Oxman  

Diary:

First Reactions:
Initially, I wanted to locate the sounds I was hearing.  I wanted context, imagining that if only I could recognize the source, then yes, I would have something to work with.  At the same time, I appreciated the wide variety of source material I was given to work with.  My fear was that I would be given a homogenous sounds source to work with – a monotonous drone or a collection of bird calls.  I knew that a wide variety of source material would facilitate my job even if I could not locate the source of the sounds.

Upon Further Listening:
As I listened to the source material, I would hear patterns emerging – sounds that could fit together, sounds that I could manipulate to elicit certain tones and sensations.  The more I listened, the more I realized that while some of the material was quite harsh and unnerving, hidden within the cacophony were moments of sublime beauty.  I began to recognize that it would be important to juxtapose those two extremes, while at the same time giving space to some of the more ambiguous sounds.

Challenges:
One may well speculate that no matter how we attempt to deconstruct a sound, there is always something deeper there, a sense of order and structure that harkens back to more traditional forms of songcraft.  I found that even though I was attempting to sculpt a sound experience, more traditional ideas and tonalities continued to find their way into my work.  While trying to avoid clichés, I still ended up crafting particular sounds into patterns resembling a musical pulses that would not be out of place in IDM or glitch electronic pieces; likewise, I manipulated another sound pattern into something resembling a melody (which was then mostly sublimated under a wash of harsher tones).  While one alternative method may be to forego traditional forms altogether, what I think has become more common is the process of subverting conventional forms by incorporating process oriented techniques into traditional songcraft (which goes back at least as far as Spike Jones, though one may see this legacy today in the music of Matthew Herbert, Matmos or even Radiohead).

Residual Comments:
The status of collaborative art is in a state of flux.  On one hand, affordable laptop technology makes it ever easier to create pocket symphonies in the privacy and isolation of one’s bedroom; however, the rise of online musical collaboration networks has drastically expanded the possibilities of audio collaboration.  Of course there has always been tension between the view of the artist as a creature of solitary genius and one who enlivens her work with the spirit and ethos of her community.  Whether the increasing influence of online communities alters this dynamic remains to be seen.

Michael Oxman is originally from Alberta, and is currently studying at the University of Victoria.  His primary working method involves looping technology and digital manipulation of sound.  He is interested in exploring the boundaries between genres and forms, in particular the increasingly porous boundary between conventional songcraft and the avant-garde, in addition to the narrative potential of non-linear audio composition.

To comment on this site you must login. Before you login you must register with a valid email address.