2222 (Twenty-Two Twenty-Two)
Oct 06, 2022, 07:23 PM
"In 2222 (Twenty-Two Twenty-Two) I wish to demonstrate through sound, a balanced relationship between humans, technology, and the natural world. Without this balance, true well-being is impossible. The original sound file features the ambient outdoor sounds recording in a tourist area in Stockholm, Sweden. This sound includes human voices, traffic, and bird calls—the sounds of a contemporary where humans, technology, and nature thrive together.
"Sonically, I began with the original sound, processing it to bring out the rhythmic repetition of the human voices and the birds. I then added other ambient sounds that I recorded myself, including footfalls on pavement and a soft rain turning into a thunderstorm, which was processed to follow the musical elements in the piece.
"Stylistically, this piece is closer to a "sound bath." A sound bath is (somewhat) extemporaneous or improvisatory sonic performance meant to promote a calm emotional and mental state in the listener and musician/sonic artist. It is a musical expression that is meant to promote well-being.
"The basic musical elements begin with pad synthesizers and bells playing a theme based on F, Ab, and Bb. The percussion elements are meant to emulate the sounds of heartbeats, footfalls, and wind and rain. The musical elements are very grounded around the pitch of F and are relatively stable, with slow transitions between tones. Other timbres include synthesized human voices, bowed strings, and processed pianos.
"There are also reversed, slowed-down, and re-pitched audio sections in the piece, which is meant to represent traveling in time. The piece is meant to evoke traveling to a stable future that promotes well-being for all."
Stockholm palace sounds reimagined by Janae Jean.
IMAGE: Abhijeet Vardhan, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a unique collaboration between Cities and Memory and C40, a global network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading cities collaborating to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis. The project was originally presented at the C40 Cities conference in Buenos Aires in 2022. Explore Well-Being Cities in full at https://citiesandmemory.com/wellbeing-cities/
"Sonically, I began with the original sound, processing it to bring out the rhythmic repetition of the human voices and the birds. I then added other ambient sounds that I recorded myself, including footfalls on pavement and a soft rain turning into a thunderstorm, which was processed to follow the musical elements in the piece.
"Stylistically, this piece is closer to a "sound bath." A sound bath is (somewhat) extemporaneous or improvisatory sonic performance meant to promote a calm emotional and mental state in the listener and musician/sonic artist. It is a musical expression that is meant to promote well-being.
"The basic musical elements begin with pad synthesizers and bells playing a theme based on F, Ab, and Bb. The percussion elements are meant to emulate the sounds of heartbeats, footfalls, and wind and rain. The musical elements are very grounded around the pitch of F and are relatively stable, with slow transitions between tones. Other timbres include synthesized human voices, bowed strings, and processed pianos.
"There are also reversed, slowed-down, and re-pitched audio sections in the piece, which is meant to represent traveling in time. The piece is meant to evoke traveling to a stable future that promotes well-being for all."
Stockholm palace sounds reimagined by Janae Jean.
IMAGE: Abhijeet Vardhan, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a unique collaboration between Cities and Memory and C40, a global network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading cities collaborating to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis. The project was originally presented at the C40 Cities conference in Buenos Aires in 2022. Explore Well-Being Cities in full at https://citiesandmemory.com/wellbeing-cities/