Week 1: Jessica Ekomane

Haunting & mystifying – Jessica Ekomane personifies catharsis, purgation and a beautifully intrinsic sense of stupor throughout her works. Solid of Revolution –  One I was particularly intrigued by – uses panning, tempo and synthesis to create a deep atmosphere of ‘trance’.  As said on her website  “she creates situations where the sound acts as a transformative element for the space and the audience”. When asked what she would like the audience to imagine from listening to one of her pieces, she mentions she would like to leave it up to interpretation, however consciously makes the decision to create a “trance-like environment.”

Her exploration of quadraphonic pieces such as Solid of Revolution further enhances the ‘ audience experience ‘ through a piece and surround sound installation that is required to listen to the music in the way it was originally intended. This also piques my interest in her use of psychoacoustics and how her pieces can be used to affect audiences in different ways to develop a certain physical and psychological response. I am interested in how people interpret certain sound – what makes a piece of music ‘cathartic’ to one person and not to another? Why do audiences interpret sounds in a certain way? Her music seems to continually ask questions about the relationship between individual perception and collective dynamics.

How much influence the artist truly have in the listener’s experience of their piece of work? Playing Solid of Revolution again it is clear it is a piece with multiple layers. Her perception of rhythmic structures is what seems to drive a physical experimentation element to her music wherein space, timing and texture are crucial to the piece’s development. This introduction to the concept of human perception in sound is fascinating – and one I have given thought to in the past though not to this scale. The manipulation of audio by the producer to create music that every individual listening to will perceive in a different way sonically is something I’m looking forward to exploring further. 

I really find the Berlin electronic music scene something so unique and interesting. The trance like nature of electronic music found in Berlin is probably something Jessica was influenced by as she was based in Berlin. It just goes to show how much a persons environment influences their art as well as the way in which their artistic narrative takes its turns. 

Response Piece: 

A short experiment – I began by choosing a synth in alchemy – a very unusual basis instrument for me, having been so used to starting with the drums. I tried to keep the raw simplicity of Jessica’s piece which only uses the sole synth. I also tried to create the advancement of the texture of the pieces and feel. I took the semitones B additive Tune by 8 semitones creating a lighter undertone. I also added a small amount of reverb to create a similar echo sound that appears in solid of revolution. Creating this piece definitely allowed me to gain a wider understanding of synthesis and its use outside of something typically musical.