Explore II: Embodied Resonance – First draft

A live performance where the body’s movement and physiological responses interact with real-time, 3D soundscapes, creating an auditory and sensory experience that embodies the physical and emotional states associated with trauma, stress, or panic.

Core Elements

1. Live Movement and Performance:
   • Physical Expression: Expressive body movements are used to convey states of stress, panic, and tension. Movements could be choreographed or improvised, incorporating controlled gestures, sudden shifts, and spasmodic motions that mirror the body’s natural reactions to trauma.
   • Sensor Integration: The performer will be equipped with wearable sensors (e.g., accelerometers, heart rate monitors, muscle tension sensors) to capture real-time data that triggers sound changes.
2. Sound Design and Biofeedback:
   • Real-time Data to Sound Mapping: The data from the sensors can be mapped to sound parameters such as volume, pitch, and spatial positioning. 
   • Spatial Audio (Ambisonics): the 3D sound environment where the sound moves with the performer, simulating the feeling of being surrounded by or caught in an experience of panic.
   • Sound Layers and Textures: Layer sounds that range from chaotic, dissonant clusters to more open, calming tones, symbolizing shifts between heightened panic and brief moments of relief.
3. Interactive Performance Dynamics:
   • Feedback Loops: The performer’s movements could influence sound parameters, and changes in sound could, in turn, affect how the performer responds (e.g., sudden loud or abrupt sounds causing physical shifts).
   • Immersive Auditory Space: Spatial audio setup will immerse the audience, making them feel as though they are within the performance’s sonic realm or inside the performer’s body.
4. Choreography and Movement Techniques:
   • Imitating Panic and Stress:
     • Breath Control: Rapid, shallow breathing or uneven breathing patterns to simulate panic.
     • Body Tension and Release: Show how different areas of the body can tense up and release in response to imagined threats.
     • Sudden, Erratic Movements: Imitate fight-or-flight reactions through jerky, uncoordinated gestures.
   • Movement Scores: Create a set of movement phrases that can be triggered by specific sound cues, with each phase representing a different level of intensity or emotional state.

Implementation Steps:

1. Initial Research and Movement Exploration:
   • Spend time exploring how the body naturally responds to stress through dance or physical theatre techniques.
   • Record and analyze your body’s response to various stimuli to understand how to replicate these in a performance context.
2. Tech Setup and Testing:
   • Choose sensors capable of tracking movement and vital signs, such as wearable accelerometers and heart rate monitors.
   • Connect the sensors to real-time audio processing software (e.g., Max/MSP, Pure Data) to create dynamic sound generation based on data input.
   • Experiment with one biofeedback sensor (e.g., heartbeat or EMG) and connect it to sound manipulation software.
   • Test simple ambisonic setups to understand spatial audio placement.
3. Sound Design:
   • Use ambisonics to experiment with how sounds can be positioned and moved in 3D space.
   • Create a palette of sound elements that represent different stress levels, such as soft background noise, mechanical sounds, distorted human voices, and deep bass thuds.
4. Rehearsals and Iteration:
   • Conduct rehearsals where you practice the movement and sound interaction, making adjustments to the data-to-sound mappings to achieve the desired response.
   • Test with different inputs to refine the sonic representation of the body’s signals.
   • Refine the performance flow by timing the intensity of movements and sound shifts to ensure coherence and emotional impact.

Resources

Body and Trauma

1. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
2. Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter Levine

Sound Design and Technology

1. Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema by David Sonnenschein
2. Immersive Sound: The Art and Science of Binaural and Multi-Channel Audio edited by Agnieszka Roginska and Paul Geluso

Tools and Tutorials

1. Ambisonic Toolkit (ATK)
2. Cycling ’74 Max/MSP Tutorials

Artistic and Conceptual References

1. Janet Cardiff – Known for immersive sound installations, especially her 40-Part Motet.
2. Meredith Monk – Combines movement and sound to explore human experience.
3. Christine Sun Kim – Explores sound and silence through the lens of the body and perception.

Academic Research in Sound and Perception

1. Music, Cognition, and Computerized Sound: An Introduction to Psychoacoustics by Perry Cook