Familiarity as an Instrument

These topics are essentially what I have boiled my dissertation down to. In my research recently, I have begun to take the idea of familiarity into consideration in where and how I work. For example, I have been attempting to answer questions like, what would/could music or instrumentation geared towards neurodivergence look or sound like? My point of inspiration comes from the exhausting minimalism that sound art sometimes contains. Looking at things like euro-racks and most electronic hardware; there is an instant disconnect of invitation or over-stimulation at first glance from say a dyslexic or dyspraxic perspective. From a personal standpoint; I find most instruments, electronic or not, overwhelming and uninviting; why is that? If familiarity becomes a trigger point of invitation, how can you embody that physically or sonically within sound arts?

Taking this existing knowledge, how could you create music & instruments that are inviting and accessible? In my recent experimentation using familiarity as a tool; I began to think of how you could use this sense of familiarity to create instruments. Yes, you can look at familiar objects as already existing instruments for the fact that everything is a sound source, but how can I crank this to a maximalist perspective? Taking these familiar objects and making them sound different; inviting and completely separate from the original sound.

If I were to pick an existing genre that is “neuro-friendly”, it would be ambient sound and music for its’ proposal of rest from focus and analyzation. What is it about ambient sound that allows this respite and relaxation? Ocean of Sound by David Toop describes the genre of ambient sound extensively and how it creates an otherworldly feeling of familiarity, “…ambient music was born, in its present definition at least; music that we hear but don’t hear; sounds that enable us better to hear silence; a sound which rests us from the intense compulsion to focus, to analyze, to categorize, to isolate.” (Toop, 2018) Ambient sound utilizes environmental sounds that create an atmosphere where you can almost see and hear the exact scene set. To me, ambient sound is almost like painting, it is actively capturing and communicating an environment. From this, the expectation to keep up and understand the rhythmic patterns and potentially harsh technology becomes much less of a demand rather than simply trying to paint a picture in your head with preexisting or synthesized sounds provided.

By using familiarity as a tool with neurodivergence, how does this manifest in sound arts and music?

Familiarity as an Instrument: an Enabled Perspective of Sound

Audio Paper Chapters-

*Introduction & Abstract*

-Neurodivergence & Sound

Explanation of the spectrum of neurodivergence; the reactivity & interactivity pertaining to sound

-Familiarity as a Language

Covering these identifiable traits in sound that could be considered familiar and accessible (field recordings, samples)

*Interview*

-Anti-Virtuoso, Anti-Minimalist

Covering the approachability of instruments, music, and sound breaking down ableist expectations to make music or play instruments. Looking at examples like euro-racks and their visual intimidation, understanding what and how sound can be “enabled” –> Noise music contains an anti-virtuoso nature in its’ practice, looking at the spectrum of sound pertaining to noise, how could silence hold the same movement of anti-virtuosity, in my mind that answer is ambience.

-Ableised Ambience

Using the last chapters’ knowledge and learning how to communicate through the brackets of ambient sound; its’ tools and its’ histories. (providing examples of other artists as well)

-Familiarity as an Instrument

*Interview*

*Conclusion*