March 16, 2005
incus, malleus, and stapes
3/16/05
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I went to the Ulrich Schnauss show at Rothko last night with my brother Kent, and although the audience might have found his down-tempo thrashy techno a bit on the fruity side, I was awash in his songs. It was so loud that the music enveloped you whole; you needed earplugs to take away the highs and lows, and you were left with your ribcage rattling in time.
I think I've got the concept of "stochastic resonance" wrong, but apparently it's the idea that very low "white noise" can trigger much louder noises and even physical phenomena. The low sound of the Earth moving, in other words, contributed to the Ice Ages. Also, some researchers believe that a white noise machine - like the ones at Sharper Image - actually stimulates brain cells and makes your kids smarter.
I think I experienced something like that tonight: as the music swelled to an unbelievable crescendo for about ten minutes, I found my brain to be acutely at ease and working at a fast, intense clip. You could no longer hear yourself breathe, you could hear nobody in the room, and you could barely pick out individual notes in the songs, but - to destroy the cliché - you could hear yourself think.
I got more quiet idea-making and planning done in those ten minutes that I have all week. It was as if the music, or noise, stimulated a beta state in my own head, and allowed me to think through the next few months (which, if you've been reading this blog, you know will not be all that easy).
There are other songs that will get you there: "Nothing Natural" by Lush or anything off "Loveless" by My Bloody Valentine come to mind. I encourage all of you to go to a show, something ambient and electronic, and stand by the speakers with earplugs in. I really think you'll get some shit done.
Posted by Ian Williams at March 16, 2005 11:22 PMI have noted that my workplace productivity and focus increases substantially when listening to songs by Ulrich Schnauss. I think you're on to something here.
i think ya mean "stochastic" resonance
Dr. McMichaels speaks truth; I fixed it.
I've been a fan of electronica since Orbital II (1992). "Halcyon" still gives me goose bumps.
I'd like to hear more Ulrich Schnauss. My favorite song of his is probably "On My Own." Would you recommend anything else specific?
Whenever I explain to someone what I like about electronica, I mention beta waves.
Although I've often felt the calming, mind-quieting you talk about, I've never experienced (or at least noticed) an actual increase in good ideas. Like a lot of altered states of consciousness, the tangible benefits of the electronially-induced trance state are hard to define. But, I'd say, very real nonetheless.
I feel like sometimes I almost have to apologize for liking this music! I'm glad you get it, and that you've put your finger on some specific reasons.
I'd love to hear Kent's take on this, and perhaps some more artist/album/song recommendations?
Oh, and I hope you were in the beta state when you made your tourney pics....
Not so fast about the positive brain development :
I was kind of underwhelmed by Ulrich Schnauss live; his album "A Strangely Isolated Place" is really nice, and more varied; this performance was kinda just a big wash without a lot of definition, and the beats were monotonous. There were points in it where it seemed to really build to something cool, but then the next track would be the same thing again, with a slightly different chord progression.
He kind of forgot the lesson of Frank Zappa: "Loud, soft. That's entertainment."
Montag, who opened, played a much more varied set with the vocals & violin and such making it seem a bit more like a performance. At the same time it was kinda slack and hippy-dippy in a way that wasn't really connecting with the audience, but on reflection it was more satisfying than Schnauss's set.
Oh and Bud, to recommend other kind of melodic electronic music -- Lusine is always good and has an excellent album out recently on Ghostly International. Jan Jellinek's "Loop Finding Jazz" is really good, and the stuff on the ~scape label -- there is a series of VA comps called staedtizism that are all pretty good -- http://scape-music.de