AugOrg Sounds

A few words from the Composer and Sound Designer Cy Gorman

The Augmented Organism Project is a diverse tapestry of field recordings, music production and sound designs from our time in Finland and Bangladesh. The scores also contain binaural entrainment frequencies that enhance the environmental resonances of each of the composition’s site specificity. Each of the chapters in the film required a different approach to composition and sound design due to the nature of their differing experiential environments—both in the making of the film and the final viewing of the film.

Finland

The Use of Binaural Tones and Sonochromatism in the Augmented Organism FINLAND Soundtracks

The sonochromatic binaural sounds relate directly to colors used in the final color grade. However, with sonochromats, color within a visual spectrum of light, denotes the pitch. In the Augmented Organism project sonochromatic tones were devised by singing pitches that were ‘felt’ and ‘embodied’ by Jaz and myself in various shooting locations. The pitches were then matched to the sonochromatic color spectrum denoted within a sonochromatic octave. These very subjectively human ‘felt’ pitches -that were translated into the language of sonochromatic color were then applied to the color lens of the viewer experiencing the film. For more about how sound and colour connects in our work please visit our partner site www.nurobodi.com

What is Sonochromatism??

“Sonochromatism or sonochromatopsia (Latin: sono-, (sound) + Greek: chromat- (colour) + Greek: -opsia (seeing)) is a neurological phenomenon in which colors are perceived as sounds. The phenomenon is created by the union between a brain and a color-to-sound software or chip. People who report such experiences are known as sonochromats. The term was coined by Neil Harbisson to differentiate his experience of color from people with chromesthesia or color-to-sound synesthesia.” - wikipedia

Harbisson's Sonochromatic Scales

“The Sonochromatic Music Scale is a microtonal and logarithmic scale with 360 notes in an octave. Each note corresponds to a specific degree of the color wheel.

Harbisson's Pure Sonochromatic Scale is a non-logarithmic scale based on the transposition of light frequencies to sound frequencies. The scale includes infrareds and ultraviolets, discards color as being part of a color wheel, and ignores musical/logarithmic perception so it can overstep the limits of human perception.” - wikipedia

Bangladesh

The relationship between symbols and sounds are particularly pertinent to the Mukta chapter of Augmented Organism projects. During pre-production Cy began researching the area of Bangladesh, where a new site specific work was to be developed, and discover the history of Mukta (pearls) in the particular region of Bangladesh (Cox’s Bazar) that the Ocean Dance Festival was to take place at. He also began researching symbolic and spiritual concepts relating to Mukta.

During their time in Cox’s Bazar Cy struck up a conversation with a friendly artisan who was selling locally and sustainably produced clothes, jewelry and other artisan items. A discussion unfolded and the friendly artisan turned out to be Anusheh Anadil, one of Bangaldesh’s most respected contemporary folk singers. The conversation honed in on a famous Bengali poem/song by Lalon Shai called “ke banailo emon rongmohol khana” which features references to Mukta as an aspect of enlightened awareness. This struck a chord and Anushe was invited to be part of the site specific performance and subsequent dance film joined by her husband and talented artist in his own right Seth Panduranga Blumberg on guitar and backing vocals. Anusheh and Seth brought a strong sense of the folk soul sounds of Bangladesh that are nestled in amongst Cy’s final lush score and sound designs.