Masters – CIM 406 – Creative Inquiry – WK 2 – Self-Portrait

My self-portrait for CIM 406 Creative Inquiry this week is a quick visualisation of a track called Cold Outside by one of my new sonic aliases, TEChSLo.

Both the audio and visuals reflect numerous aspects of my practitioner-self. My background, chosen tools, medium, processes and aesthetic are all to a degree illuminated.

Firstly, looking at the tools used to create the picture. The tools used are spray paint, textas, pencils, permanent markers and acrylic paints. The DIY low fidelity nature of some of these art supplies, in particular, the use of textas, reveals in my mind an aesthetic that embraces various bit rates, sample rates and fidelity in general as merely a palette option. Low fidelity is a great asset to contrast and reveal High Fidelity.

From an audio perspective, a similar aspect of my creative practitioner-self is demonstrated. The piano line, for example, was recorded with an expensive signal chain (mic, preamp, compressor), on a Yamaha C5 grand at a high-end Sydney studio, whilst some of the vocal layers were recorded using the inbuilt laptop microphone.

Moving on, the particular use of spray paint, for instance, would be correct in suggesting a background and exposure to hip hop and related art of graffiti. Through my youth, I digested a lot of hip hop, helped form Elefant Traks record label, and spent many hours producing a lot of beat based music. Some of that aesthetic is still with me. I love the dynamic nature of spray paint for example, and further have an affinity to hip hop’s slower BPM than forms of music such as House, Garage, Techno. Whilst this track has some definite attributes of Techno, it nevertheless has a much slow BPM, a tempo more in line with Hip Hop standards. For me personally, a slower BPM leads to more meditative transcendental experiences which are experiences that I value in life and within the arts.

Seconding a value in slow BPM is my alias name choice, TEChSLo. The last 3 letters can be taken to be referring to an appreciation of all things slower, or should I say “SLo”.

This focus on beats as well as the simplicity of some of the melodic lines could be argued to capture the fact that as a practitioner I am more rhythmically orientated than melodic. This could be innate or learnt. Either way, I am aiming to become a more balanced practitioner via studying more traditional music theory, harmony and engaging with free youtube piano lessons on chordal music such as jazz and soul.

The simplicity of some of the melodic lines also points to my aesthetic embrace of minimalism. Within the production process, I feel that there is a strength and benefit to the mix if minimalism is used. From a musical production and human perception angle, I believe minimalism allows each instrument or sound more room to breathe in the mix and therefore is usually perceived to be larger in the sonic picture.

Speaking of pictures, I feel that my choice of using a visualisation of a musical track is worthy of being a self-portrait for the following reasons. Firstly, it shows my love of both the sonic and visual arts. Secondly, it demonstrates that as a music producer I am attentive and drawn to details such as stereo positioning, depth of field and tone colour. Whilst this visualisation is 2D and limited by time and available materials, there can nevertheless be seen symbols of such instrumentation as the kick drum, hi hats, piano, synth, chants, bass line, reverbs, delays and general misty soundscape vibe. In my usual sonic work I find drawing out my mixes, however basically, can give me great insight into whether instrumentation is clashing and whether EQ or spatialisation should the adjusted.

Lastly, in this short self-portrait/reflection, the presented “self-portrait” can be seen to not only detail my history but also capture my present self. By this, it is meant that the presence of Techno in my creative output is directly a result of working at SAE for the past two years. The presence of multiple students who love Techno has proved infectious. Previously I had not found myself involve with or particular drawn to Techno, however, the past year has been a definite different story. Within this genre I find myself particularly drawn to Dub Techno, a sub genre who’s slower BPM and sense of spacious stereo depth particular speaks to me.

I hope you have enjoyed the music, image and possibly even the words in this short self-portrait reflection.

All the best