indiscipline

Last week, I went to see indiscipline, a music-science collaboration concert performed by Charlottesville’s very own musicians and scientists. The first thing that struck me was how well the concert’s title reflected the artists’ overall theme: that of branching outside their own disciplines and into others’ as a way to deepen the audience understanding of their lives’ works. Held at The Haven, the humble, wooden performance space was oddly fitting given the artists’ desire to share their knowledge with one and all—a desire made clear via free tickets to the event. I briefly share my experiences with a few of the pieces below.

The first piece, “shs,” explores how facial expressions of people with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects communication between individuals. The composer, Sarah O’Halloran, uses video footage of artist Johanna Valentine drawing the facial expressions that were the focus of research conducted by psychologist Matthew Lerner as the backdrop for her musical score. The music includes the use of non-instruments as percussion (such as a plastic to-go box for food and a wine bottle) as well as staccato vocal sounds that perhaps were meant to imitate the facial expressions aforementioned while exploiting the natural sounds available via the resonant cavities in the face. Interestingly, the performers seem to tackle the same communication issues faced by people with ASD (specifically, how social knowledge contributes to social performance) as the use of non-routine instruments and sounds added to the difficulty of the rehearsal and performance processes.

“Lullaby for Newborn Stars” is an algorithmic composition as it takes Bill Dirienzo’s research on areas of star formation in the Milky Way and maps it using electronic sounds—the location of each area determines sequence and pitch of the sound, the size of each area determines the sound’s duration, and the intensity of each region determines sound dynamics. The result was a cacophony of buzzing noise punctuated by music played on the clarinet (meant to metaphorically be an astronomer exploring and commenting on the stellar information).

Likewise, “North Fork Dry Run in Shaver Hollow. Shenandoah National Park. Winter 2011.” is inspired by natural elements. It is an ecological soundscape that draws from recordings around Lambert Cabin in Shenandoah National Park and uses instruments to mimic sounds of forest life. Specifically, percussion instruments were used to create water droplet sounds over the recording of a forest stream. Sustained tones were held by other instruments to add continuity. Lastly, the lyrics of the ballad calls attention to the pleasures of forest life that the soundscape attempts to draw the audience into.

All in all, the concert did its title justice. From the three pieces discussed above, one can gather the large array of information presented in a variety of forms. A word by the author of “Coral Attraction,” the concert’s finale, sums up the experience nicely: the concert was ultimately a celebration of the “fact that acoustic vibrations draw living things together.” And celebrate I did.

Posted is one of the funnier pieces performed, an ironic (or unironic) commentary on Triscuits' marketing.