P s y c h o a c o u s t i c s

( E l e v e n S t u d i e s O n T h e U n h e a r d - o f )

O t a c í l i o M e l g a ç o

[duration 11:11] all rights reserved

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The artist Otacílio Melgaço has two official curators in the virtual world. A curator (from Latin: ´curare´, meaning ´to take care´) is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, keeper of a cultural heritage institution (e.g., gallery, museum, library or, as the present case: sound archive) is a content specialist charged with an institution's collections and, highlighting the context in force here, involved with the interpretation of personal (heritage) material. Both, Mr. Paz and Mr. Campbell, are, therefore, reviewers of the Melgacian works. To learn more about their missions, tasks, assignments and responsibilities by means of valuable informations regarding the compositional process, the performative rhizomes and other special features, just click the following link: otaciliomelgaco.wixsite.com/preamblebypsp
(O.M.Team; P r e l u d e)

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"(In Portuguese)

O n z e
E s t u d o s
S o b r e
O
I n s ó l i t o:

1 - ´Unheard-of´ in 11 possible synonyms: ´unprecedented´, ´exceptional´, ´extraordinary´, ´out of the ordinary´, ´unthought of´, ´undreamed of´, ´unbelievable´, ´inconceivable´, ´unimaginable´, ´unknown´, ´unfamiliar´;

2- ´Psychoacoustics (Eleven studies on the unheard-of)´ in 11 words:

e l e v e n
s o n i c
h a i k u
o r b i t i n g
a r o u n d
w h a t
w a s
n o t
y e t
b e e n
h e a r d;

3 - An étude (a French word meaning study). Melgaço gives up adopting the parleyvoo here and uses the term in English. An étude is an instrumental musical composition, usually short, of considerable difficulty, and designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidly growing popularity of the piano. Of the vast number of études from that era some are still used as teaching material (particularly pieces by Carl Czerny and Muzio Clementi), and a few, by major composers such as Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt and Claude Debussy, achieved a place in today's concert repertory. Études written in the 20th century include those related to traditional ones (György Ligeti) and those that require wholly unorthodox technique (John Cage). Otacílio prefers an extreme unconventional course to the point that it´s not an elected instrument to be explored but a C-o-n-c-e-p-t (such as Psychoacoustics). In consequence thereof, it´s not the difficulty in the technical sense (or of a juggling onanistic) but in fundamentally conceptual emphases (the etude of aspects conjuncturally organic). However, yes, a paradox: there´s an instrument (solely one) that goes through all the studies, the Vibraphone. Soon, we´re once again in front of a Melgacian House-of-Mirrors in which everything can be seen from the most diverse angles and distortions. No adjustment to clear paradigms none the less fragments of possibilities that inhabit a multifaceted territoriality of tactile conjectures. And so they´re brought to light, idiosyncratic and kaleidoscopic;

4 - Each vertebra has a molding of one minute and one second. The conciseness of O.M. is taken to the pinnacles. An inexorably poetic content is present in so far as the proposed syntax must be as quintessential, pivotal as possible;

5 - An example of Otacílio's expertise: One by one, the studies suggest that belong to the same vertebral column and in fact they belong. We can hear the full composition as, analogously, an unique image in snapshots. On the other hand, as small resonant architectures, can be understood as perfectly autonomous creations.

It should be noted here that Melgaço himself recommends that the album be heard in its entirety in the original sequence as well as in aleatory mode. I cannot fail to make an interesting parallel with Rayuela.

Hopscotch (Spanish: Rayuela) is a novel by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar. Written in Paris, it was published in Spanish in 1963 and in English in 1966. For the first U.S. edition, translator Gregory Rabassa split the inaugural National Book Award in the translation category. Hopscotch is a stream-of-consciousness novel which can be read according to two different sequences of chapters. This novel is often referred to as a counter-novel, as it was by Cortázar himself. Written in an episodic, snapshot manner, the novel has 155 chapters, the last 99 designated as ´expendable´. Some of these ´expendable´ chapters fill in gaps that occur in the main storyline, while others add information about the characters or record the aesthetic or literary speculations of a writer named Morelli who makes a brief appearance in the narrative. Some of the ´expendable´ chapters at first seem like random musings, but upon closer inspection solve questions that arise during the reading of the first two parts of the book. An author's note suggests that the book would best be read in one of two possible ways, either progressively from chapters 1 to 56 or by ´hopscotching´ through the entire set of 155 chapters according to a ´Table of Instructions´ designated by the author. Cortázar also leaves the reader the option of choosing a unique path through the narrative.

Otacílio embraces the same prism that makes the listener a kind of cocomposer, allowing him the complete autonomy to assemble the ´sonic puzzle´ as he sees fit (if he wants to extrapolate the primal sequel), either by altering the order on his own or by letting chance do so (it´s not by coincidence: sound systems and softers that play music have a device that allows them to program tracks randomly);

6 - A highlight that I emphasize from the sound Piece: the physicality of sound. Another, in direct consequence: a ´pilgrimage´ (the eleven steps) to multiple auditory sensations;

7 - Being perhaps more prone to current theoretical perspectives, O.M. tends to lead us on paths that indicate an ´interdependence´ between sensations. We can certainly think of connotations for ´interdependence´ as ´synergy´, ´complementarity´,
´symphonization´ et cetera;

8 - Therefore, the focused sound work also aims at an epistemological dimension. Thus, artistic fruition lost nothing (due to the mastery of the composer/arranger) and this conjunction, say, ´scientific-aesthetic´, only valued even more each of the eleven particles;

9 - It´s important to put the cover of the album under our glasses. The contrast amidst the colors inserted by Melgaço in Michelangelo's drawing is not random. So there´s a 3D effect (evidently, viewing from a good quality screen and with a larger ratio, is ideal) that catapults the words in the direction of our gaze while the traits of the Italian genius remain at the bottom. An imagetic translation that Otacílio found for the whole rich context embraced. The human figure, by the way, is out of frame. The upper cut is exactly in his e-a-r. Our epicenter. Plus: The surface on which his body finds support was originally horizontal, O.M. alters this detail and verticalizes it. Layers and layers of ´unheardability';

[10 - Topic reserved for the unusual of the unusual:

Probably the choice of how many studies would be ... reports us to some secrets & witticisms. I think of the artist's surname initial: ´M´. In science, eleven is the number of spacetime dimensions in
M-theory. (...) Allow me a more clerihew note. Coming to the niche of mere curiosity (or trivia), I observe the final duration which are (coincidentally?) eleven minutes and eleven seconds. Numerologists believe that events linked to the time 11:11 appear more often than can be explained by chance or coincidence. This belief is related to the concept of synchronicity. Some authors claim that seeing 11:11 on a clock is an auspicious sign. Others claim that 11:11 signals a spirit presence. Yes, Melgaço has indeed a free spirit. (...) Maybe right now is adequate the popular saying: ´Yo no creo en brujas, pero que las hay, las hay / Witches don't exist until you bump into them´.

Through this specific matter, my message, in short, is: there´s a charming mystique around the progenies of this Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist, and, although this is not the nucleus of his legacy or our comments, it´s worth discovering how much orbital questions (in their particular mythologies) can be fascinating and thought-provoking to all of us; if Art loses this facet, a little of its soul fades too. I´ll be a slightly politically incorrect now: (evoking Fernando Pessoa: ´Everything is worthwhile if the soul is not small´) Contemporaneity has proven to be quite effective as the den of people with Lilliputian souls. I´m led to imagine that this happens partially because life loses its enchantment, as I said above: its ´mystique´ (a delightful aura of mystery surrounding someone or something) and ´mythology´ (´traditional´ stories, especially concerning the early history of a people - here, of an artistic career - and explaining its natural or social or ... phenomenon). About such
u-n-s-o-u-l: definitely, and this is a privilege to us, it´s not the case of Melgaço and certainly, Ladies and Gentlemen, not of the ones who find consonance with his offsprings. And why?

For those who appreciate the artist (regardless of those who have heard most of his albums or only some because the cream is in all), they already know that this is not the case, but even so, why? Accordingly, to all who have not yet heard O.M., I could bring up endless arguments (the most primordial would be enough: Listen to the Music!), but I´ll bring (not eleven this time but) four - based on (Austrian-British philosopher) Ludwig Wittgenstein, if you permit:

´A confession has to be part of your new life.´ >> The work of O.M. is deeply confessional;

´The limits of my language means the limits of my world.´ >> There are no limits to the sonic language of O.M.
Knowing his Gargantuan discography, this quickly is already ´consummate fact´ since (the same ones who, in my hypothesis, have not heard him yet) they´ll realize that his world is equally Gargantuan (in arduous sowing, miraculous germination, fabulous harvests);

´An inner process stands in need of outward criteria.´ >> The internal-external intercommunication present in the sound experiments of O.M. is extremely endowed with fluidity and transdisciplinarity and transcendence;

´Propositions show what they say: tautologies (...) show that they say nothing.´ >> The Art of O.M. is overwhelmingly propositive in contrast to the tautologies that today proliferate exponentially in many cultural niches around the world. Ephemeral, superficial niches, merely vertebrae of an industry that pasteurizes everything - who makes and who absorbs its ´product´ -.

Hence there´s a true wealth of sources to mythologies and mystiques. All to inflate (and not to make minor) the Soul of the creations of the Artist. None of this should be object of blind praise but we can not make ourselves blind to how much, if the same Contemporaneity houses a originator like Melgaço, we must observe him with detail and as open as he is ... for the construction (or conquest) of a ´Soulful´ Becoming. Now the Nietzschean pointing makes even more sense (without any fear of appearing pedantic since we´re talking about someone who deals so intently, sincerely, nakedly, invitingly, fraternally, celebratorily ... with both ´life´ and ´music´): ´Without music (such as the Melgacian), life (especially of present-day) would be a mistake.´];

11 - Picking up the Ariadne's thread, ´Psychoacoustics (Eleven studies on the unheard-of)´ makes me (for the last time; we're in the coda) quote the English Romantic poet John Keats and in heartfelt (unparalleled) metaphor: ´Heard melodies are sweet, but those
u-n-h-e-a-r-d are sweeter.´" (Pablo S. Paz; Argentinean musicologist)

"´In the preparatory work for my composition, Kontakte, I found, for the first time, ways to bring all properties of sounds (timbre, pitch, intensity and duration) under a single control.´ (Karlheinz Stockhausen)

Psychoacoustics is the scientific study of sound perception. More specifically, it´s the branch of science studying the psychological and physiological responses associated with sound (including speech and music). It can be further categorized as a branch of psychophysics. Psychoacoustics received its name from a field within psychology - i.e., recognition science - which deals with all kinds of human perceptions. It´s an interdisciplinary field of many areas, including psychology, acoustics, electronic engineering, physics, biology, physiology, and computer science. [Such circumscription could also be part of a description of the Melgacian music].

I believe the key (one of them) to deciphering these ´études´ lies at the heart of a paradox. Which has as cradle, the following:

´Unheard: not heard or listened to´.

Those who ´learn the lessons well´, will have managed to transcend this level to that of Psychoacoustics in its full meaning. Ubiquitous in empiricism. Invaginated, by Mr. Melgaço, into indelible Art." (Caio Campbell; Anglo-Brazilian semiologist and musician)

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I - Hearing is not a purely mechanical phenomenon of wave propagation, but is also a sensory and perceptual event; in other words, when a person hears something, that something arrives at the ear as a mechanical sound wave traveling through the air, but within the ear it is transformed into neural action potentials. These nerve pulses then travel to the brain where they are perceived. Hence, in many problems in acoustics, such as for audio processing, it is advantageous to take into account not just the mechanics of the environment, but also the fact that both the ear and the brain are involved in a person’s listening experience.

The inner ear, for example, does significant signal processing in converting sound waveforms into neural stimuli, so certain differences between waveforms may be imperceptible. Data compression techniques, such as MP3, make use of this fact. In addition, the ear has a nonlinear response to sounds of different intensity levels; this nonlinear response is called loudness. Telephone networks and audio noise reduction systems make use of this fact by nonlinearly compressing data samples before transmission, and then expanding them for playback. Another effect of the ear's nonlinear response is that sounds that are close in frequency produce phantom beat notes, or intermodulation distortion products.

The term "psychoacoustics" also arises in discussions about cognitive psychology and the effects that personal expectations, prejudices, and predispositions may have on listeners' relative evaluations and comparisons of sonic aesthetics and acuity and on listeners' varying determinations about the relative qualities of various musical instruments and performers. The expression that one "hears what one wants (or expects) to hear" may pertain in such discussions;

II - Psychoacoustics includes topics and studies that are relevant to music psychology and music therapy. Theorists such as Benjamin Boretz consider some of the results of psychoacoustics to be meaningful only in a musical context.

Irv Teibel's Environments series LPs (1969–79) are an early example of commercially available sounds released expressly for enhancing psychological abilities.

...for purposes of pragmatism and clear exegesis,
quotes have Wikipedia as a source...

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Between two parentheses...
(Atonalism, Twelve-Tone, Serialism, Musique Concrète... Acousmatic. Eletroacoustic. Magnetic Tape. Expressionism, New Objectivity, Hyperrealism, Abstractionism, Neoclassicism, Neobarbarism, Futurism, Mythic Method. Electronic...Computer Music, Spectral, Polystylism, Neoromanticism, Minimalism and Post-Minimalism...are addressed by Melgaço. Paradoxically New Simplicity and New Complexity also.
Art Rock, Free Jazz, Ethnic Dialects, Street Sounds are occasional syntax elements.
All the possibilities mentioned above and others that were not mentioned are the usual accoutrements of the composer/instrumentalist to establish his ´babelic´ glossary. We can prove this in a short passage of a single composition up along the entirety of a conceptual phonograph album. All distributed over a career and idiosyncratic records. Have we a universe before us and I propose to see it through a telescope, not a microscope.
I propose not handle very specialized topics here. Otherwise would be, with the exception of musicians and scholars, all hostages of a hermetic jargon. Because more important is to present Otacílio Melgaço to the general public and not to a segment of specialists. Faction of experts not need presentations, depart for the enjoyment beforehand. For this reason there is no niche here for intellectual onanism and encrypted musical terminology. The reason for these parentheses is to establish such elucidation. The non-adoption of technicalities leads to more panoramic, amplifier reviews. Are You always welcome. Those who do not dominate contemporary music and are introduced to the world of ubiquitous O.M. [autodidact and independent artist who, being more specific, does not belong to schools or doctrines; artist who makes Music and that´s enough; music devoid of labels or stylistic, chronological, historical paradigms or trends] and Those who belong to the métier and turn to enjoy propositions they know and also delving into advanced Melgacian sound cosmogonies...
I conclude poetically. ´Certeza/Certainty´ by Octavio Paz. ´Si es real la luz blanca De esta lámpara, real La mano que escribe, ¿son reales
Los ojos que miran lo escrito? De una palabra a la otra Lo que digo se desvanece. Yo sé que estoy vivo Entre dos paréntesis.´ If it is real the white light from this lamp, real the writing hand, are they real, the eyes looking at what I write? From one word to the other what I say vanishes. I know that I am alive between two parentheses.
We´re all more and more a-l-i-v-e now.)
- P.S.P.