Tonight I'm doing a little bit of an experiment. But please bear with me for just a minute here, I have to rant for a minute or two (or most of the night). During this Mono to Stereo transformation I've become really intimidated by music. I'll tell you why. I've been hearing a significant portion of music that few understand. I don't fully grasp it myself, and have only recently been able to articulate my new feelings of awkwardness towards music caused by stereo. The first reaction that presented itself was a complete sense of insecurity and humiliation in a section of myself that I'd never dreamed penetrable. The songs that were the scores to my memories, safe places in my mind that hold the melodies which fuel my ambitions have been hiding things from me. Now, in full stereo, my 'heart songs' have a place where they can shine in new powerful forms that can control the listener and sometimes effect emotion. The sound dances. It runs from side to side, up and down and in many other unexplainable directional feats that add suspense and flavor. When I found stereo I felt left out. Ditched. Honestly, It was an overwhelming downer that opened a lot of doors to all these trains of thought. After a few weeks of total confusion I thought that maybe a debate could simplify all of this conflict (for me anyhow). My problem comes down to Quality. And yet, Melody still found its way into my heart and interest. So here goes nothing.
Quality Vs Melody
Even though my ears are busted why have I constantly turned to music as a main focus of interest? If the quality of sound that I've been dealt is poor, does this mean that melody is what drives my desire to play instruments learn more about music?
I want to learn why and maybe even show you how broken music spoke to my heart and still managed to fascinate me as much as it does now and will always continue to do so as long as my time will allow.
To show you what is happening in stereo on a more visual platform I've taken a small screen shot of what an actual audio file looks like. I've imported a song into Protools where I can manipulate the audio later on to hopefully show you how I hear now naturally. But first let's take a quick look at the facts. There they are below, a few bars of stereo audio.
The top row represents the channel for the right speaker, and the bottom is the channel for the left speaker (the 'left and right' could be the other way around, it's pretty late and I think you get the idea). If you compare the difference between the two you will notice different shapes in each channel. That is because different sounds are coming out of each channel. I think that some of these sounds can only be heard in the combination of the two channels together. This is where SSD (single sided deafness) works it's horrors and it's magic all at the same time.
..........{ a few solid hours of trying to get this right with Protools } ...
It's now 3:42 am and I've been switching back from stereo to mono on Menomena's "Water" from Under an Hour. Having SSD, I'm starting to understand that I don't even hear in full mono. Actually, now that I think about it, I mostly hear the right channel. I do the majority of my listening to music in headphones, so yeah I mostly hear the right channel. I listen to the right side a couple times and switch the headphones around and check out the left side when I'd get bored of the right. I could feel things happening (vibrations) in my left ear, so I'd piece it together from memory or if it was really cool I'd crank it up in the car (my favorite place for listening).
Now, in stereo, it seems like albums become a projected atmosphere in the environment of the listener. I've noticed that in panning techniques (how sound develops a sense of arrangement or direction) it can feel like you are sitting at the drum kit when each drum is carefully placed in the left to right spectrum. I can kind of understand how left and right channels work but how is an element of front and back formed, is it volume and reverb that creates spatial definition? I have so many questions. Reverb used to be just an echo-ish effect. Now reverb moves notes around, often on the sly, giving new meaning to placement of the instruments all together.
4:55 Mental Note:
I've been doing all of my listening tonight with a crazy series of gadgets, not my natural right ear only default setting. I have something called a 'Boostaroo,' and yes, it has a picture of a kangaroo on it. This little guy is sort of a router for sound. You plug the little Roo into your ipod or any audio direct line out. It has three headphone output jacks on it that amplify the music by near twice the decible amount. I wear three different types of headphones (hang on I'll take a photo). It's sort of funny, so many wires.
First, I put on Bone Conduction Headphones. They go on like any pair of wrap-around-the-back-of-the-head-and-over-the-ears kind of headphone except the speakers do no do cover the ear, they rest on on your temple right before the opening of the ear. Then I put a pair of ear buds in. Finally, I clamp on a huge pair of DJ headphones, this not only adds extra bump, but it holds the other two pairs of headphones in place. The only way to explain the quality of the sound by wearing all of this is to describe it as the clarity of thought. The Bone Conductors launch sounds through the bones in your head, not your ears. There is only a skin barrier from the sound to the bone. It's like your skull structure acts as symphony hall or opera house. Those rooms are built for sound and it seems only natural that the bone structure of the skull could have been designed accordingly. At this point, with the amplification of the mighty Boosteroo, sound vibrations from the conductors over the temples bypass the ear drum and resonate in the skull and are heard by the middle ear. Music becomes far more personal. It's closer somehow. Feel free to be consumed by any sound of your choice at your leisure. Personally, I can't do over two albums in a day. My head swirls. I'm still developing a sense of direction maybe. I have also been noticing that my awareness of sound is heightened in general by listening this way regularly. It comparable to the frustration of learning to write with your non-dominant hand. This can be intense psychologically and spatially. It has easily generated numerous emotions, uncontrollable tears, fright (this apparatus must be unearthed), and few to several near car accidents. I don't know if what I'm doing is healthy or safe, but it's fun.
...ok, back to the study. I picked two songs. I've picked a clip from each one. I bounced out a Stereo version, one with just the right channel, and one in mono. It's not quite as clear as an example as I'd like to present. A lot of things come into play with what I hear depending on distance, which direction my ear is facing, and many other factors. Maybe this will at least show you a little bit of how I've lived for the past twenty-nine years. Maybe I won't figure it out tonight but I will find out why all my guitar pedals sound different and why I could never hear a talk box the right way until I put these headphones on.
Here are the clips.
The first group of three clips are from the song "Water" on Menomena's; Under an Hour which was released in 2005.
The second group of three clips are from the song "Cut That City" on The Mar's Volta's; Tremulant EP released on April 2, 2002
Earlier I brought out the debate of Melody Vs Quality. Melody sings to the heart. Quality is in the ear of the beholder. What you hear in song is yours entirely. It isn't necessarily what the next person hears. Melody drives the imagination and sound guides life. Own what you hear. Enjoy sound. It's important.
Besides, all of these questions and investigations can only keep me occupied for so long, somewhere around seventy days from now I'll hear sound totally differently and from a whole new perspective. One that isn't broken and one that doesn't involve conventional hearing or even human ears for that matter. How long can/should I dig up my audio-past and tear it apart? Who knows how long that will remain purposeful? Presently, I have a titanium rod in my skull mending with bone as we speak. It's gonna do even more to sound than I can imagine. Stick around.
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