Music to enhance taste of the sea

Heston Blumenthal is celebrated for creating increasingly unusual dishes
Diners have been given MP3 players at a top restaurant to enhance a dish.
Chef Heston Blumenthal, famous for his scientific approach to food, said the recording of breaking waves heightened the flavour of dish "Sound of the Sea".

The owner of award-winning Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire, said research carried out with Oxford University revealed sound can boost taste.

"We ate an oyster while listening to the sea and it tasted stronger and saltier", Mr Blumenthal said.

Mr Blumenthal told Square Meal magazine that the tests carried out with Charles Spence at Oxford University "revealed that sound can really enhance the sense of taste".

Sound of the Sea, on the menu of the three-Michelin-starred Fat Duck restaurant, features seafood and edible seaweed on a bed of sand-like tapioca - all washed down with the sound of breaking waves.

Ruth Penycate, who sampled the dish as part of the restaurant's taster menu, said she was not expecting the musical accompaniment.

She said: "The people on the next table must have had the same menu - I'd just thought the guy was being incredibly rude listening to his iPod through the meal.

"The waiting staff bring iPod shuffles and invite you to put them on, and after a couple of minutes bring in the dish, which looks like a seashore and even smells briny.

"It definitely adds to the experience - the whole thing sets your senses going."

The restaurant has also planned whiskey flavour sweet gums served on a map of Scotland and edible crystallised rose petals adorning a silver rosebush sculpture for its menu.

Source: BBC.co.uk

Sonic Chav Deterrent

An oldie, but worth a post.

The Mosquito ultrasonic teenage deterrent is the solution to the eternal problem of unwanted gatherings of youths and teenagers in shopping areas, housing estates, car parks and anywhere else they are causing problems. The presence of these teenagers discourages genuine customers from going into shops, affecting turnover and profits. Anti-social behavior has become the biggest threat to private property over the last decade and there has been no effective deterrent until now.

Police and local authorities have hailed the device as the most effective tool in the fight against teenage anti-social behaviour, and those who have tested and bought the device have reported that police call outs to trouble spots were reduced by 80-100%.
MosquitoByteam website

Music as torture

Report by Suzanne G Cusick

Abstract
One of the most startling aspects of musical culture in the post-Cold War United States is the systematic use of music as a weapon of war. First coming to mainstream attention in 1989, when US troops blared loud music in an effort to induce Panamanian president Manuel Norriega’s surrender, the use of “acoustic bombardment” has become standard practice on the battlefields of Iraq, and specifically musical bombardment has joined sensory deprivation and sexual humiliation as among the non-lethal means by which prisoners from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo may be coerced to yield their secrets without violating US law.

The very idea that music could be an instrument of torture confronts us with a novel—and disturbing—perspective on contemporary musicality in the United States. What is it that we in the United States might know about ourselves by contemplating this perspective? What does our government’s use of music in the “war on terror” tell us (and our antagonists) about ourselves?

This paper is a first attempt to understand the military and cultural logics on which the contemporary use of music as a weapon in torture and war is based. After briefly tracing the development of acoustic weapons in the late 20th century, and their deployment at the second battle of Falluja in November, 2004, I summarize what can be known about the theory and practice of using music to torture detainees in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo. I contemplate some aspects of late 20th-century musical culture in the civilian US that resonate with the US security community’s conception of music as a weapon, and survey the way musical torture is discussed in the virtual world known as the blogosphere. Finally, I sketch some questions for further research and analysis.

Source/more info: Cusick's article

Clamor by Allora & Calzadilla

Clamor, 2006, a new work by leading artists Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla exploring the relationship between sound, music and war, has its European premiere at the Serpentine Gallery.

A large sculptural chamber, which the artists have described as ‘resembling a bunker, a ruin, a cave, and a sound booth’, hosts live performance events from a musical archive of moments when music has been used in military and political conflict.

For the live performances, held during the opening evening and regularly throughout the course of the exhibition, duelling musicians hidden inside the work itself will play historic military songs creating a monstrous montage of war music, somewhere between a symphony and cacophony.

The artists have created a pre-recorded 40-minute soundtrack, which will be broadcast from within Clamor during the course of the exhibition. It samples music from the Janissary bands of the Ottoman Empire, the resistance hymns of the Viet Cong, the ballads of the October Revolution, as well as contemporary popular music such as Twisted Sister’s ‘We’re not gonna take it’ used by American forces during the Panama invasion in 1989. Clamor stages a musical and corporeal investigation into the nature of these songs in the context of today’s global wars.

Allora & Calzadilla have been collaborating since 1995 and their photographs, videos, sculptures, installations and performative works address the challenging and conflicting effects of globalisation. The artists live in Puerto Rico.

Source: http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2007/01/forthcoming_allora_calzadilla_1.html

Your Experiences Part 2

Thanks for all the posts on the 'Your Experiences' section of this blog. It has now been six weeks since my initial post and there has been a really good response. However, 25 posts is not enough and I am still looking for more comments from you!

We all experience musical environments for at least 3 hours of our day.. that means you all must encounter good and badly designed music on a daily basis. Take a moment to think what sounds you heard today, and the effect they might have had on you..
and please post a comment! If you need some inspiration, the previous 'Your Experiences' section is here:
Your Experiences Part 1
Some really interesting, funny and disturbing comments so far..
thanks!

Spaces Speak by Barry Blesser & Linda-Ruth Salter

This is a great book recently released by MIT press. It covers a wide range of topics on the subject of Aural Architecture..Here is an excerpt.

We experience spaces not only by seeing but also by listening. We can navigate a room in the dark, and "hear" the emptiness of a house without furniture. Our experience of music in a concert hall depends on whether we sit in the front row or under the balcony. The unique acoustics of religious spaces acquire symbolic meaning. Social relationships are strongly influenced by the way that space changes sound. In Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?, Barry Blesser and Linda-Ruth Salter examine auditory spatial awareness: experiencing space by attentive listening. Every environment has an aural architecture.

Social Spatiality
When we think of architecture, we immediately visualize the properties of the space that can be seen, especially boundaries that influence movement and the legal rights of access. Walls and surfaces are tangible and readily apparent. In contrast, because sound flows through even the smallest opening, aural architecture has aural boundaries. Hogarth, in the picture below, portrays the dismay of a musician who finds that his private music room and the hubbub of the street are in fact a single aural space. The open window destroys the aural boundary because sound flows freely through it. Opening the window changes the aural architecture, and the person who opened the window was an aural architect.


Hogarth's Enraged Musician.
Courtesy of Graphic Arts Collection, Princeton University.

other major components of aural architecture include musical, navigations, aesthetic, and symbolic. From these, I would say that the easiest to manipulate in existing spaces would be their 'musical spatiality' and therefore by implementing a process of 'musical design', we can create better aural architecture in our built environments.
The source for this article, more information and how to purchase the book can be found at www.SpacesSpeak.com
Thanks to Barry Blesser for his previous comments to Two Open Ears!

Live Noise!

“Modern man is beginning to inhabit a world with an acoustic environment radically different from any he has previously known. These new sounds, which differ in quality and intensity from those in the past alert us to the indiscriminate and imperialistic spread of more and larger sounds into every corner of man’s life.
Noise pollution is now a world problem.
The world soundscape has reached an apex of vulgarity in our time…. Universal deafness is the ultimate consequence.”
R. Murray Schafer, The Soundscape, 1977.

NOISES 2 min demo video

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This is a live audio visual performance that I am working on in collaboration with visual artist and film maker Ling Lee. We will hopefully be touring around the UK with this show in 2007/8. I will post more when I have details, in the meantime you can watch out 2 min promo video above. Any comments welcome, here is a bit of background -

Sound designer and music producer Brian Harvey (stage name Brian d’Souza) in collaboration with visual artist and filmmaker Ling Lee present ‘Noises’, an improvised audiovisual performance. Using a mixture of live found sound recording, instrumentation, innovative visuals and cross media improvisation techniques, the performance highlights the exponential rise of auditory and visual noise in our world today.

More info at Underkonstrukt or Noises Myspace

New York plans iPod ban on city streets

New Yorkers who blithely cross the street listening to an iPod or talking on a cell phone could soon face a $100 fine.
New York State Senator Carl Kruger says he will introduce a new legislation to ban the use of gadgets such as iPod, PSP, and Blackberry devices while crossing the street in major New York cities, such as New York City, Buffalo, and Albany.

"Government has an obligation to protect its citizenry. This electronic gadgetry is reaching the point where it's becoming not only endemic but it's creating an atmosphere where we have a major public safety crisis at hand," Kruger told Reuters. "If you're so involved in your electronic device that you can't see or hear a car coming, this is indicative of a larger problem that requires some sort of enforcement beyond the application of common sense," he added.

Kruger, who represents the 27th district of New York, says that three pedestrians in his Brooklyn district have been killed since September upon stepping into traffic while distracted by an electronic device, including a case where a 23-year-old man was run down because he ignored warnings not to cross while listening to his iPod.
Noah Budnick, deputy director of advocacy for transportation alternatives in New York City, has come out against the proposal. He said that that iPods don't kill pedestrians; reckless driving does. So...

source: http://www.filter27.com/archives/2007/02/new_york_plans_ipod_ban.php#more

Brian Eno pioneering audiovisual innovation in retail

Luminous is Brian Eno’s first large-scale installation of 77 Million Paintings in Selfridges, London and is his latest work from over 30 years as a visual artist.

It uses multiple monitors to display a constantly evolving painting, generated from handmade images, randomly combined by computers, creating an ever-changing ‘painting’ consisting of hand-made elements that evolve into almost countless variations.

Watch all 77 million possibilities and listen as layers if this trademark ambient audio mean that you never hear the same thing twice. This is a true marriage of sound and image.

Exhibition takes place on 27 January - 11 March in the Ultra Lounge - Lower Ground Floor - Oxford Street.

This exhibit shows how Selfridges are leading the way for how retail can use audio and visual to create immersive experiences for their customers. The ability to create sensory experiences will be the main way in which the high-street can compete with internet shopping sites.

Your Experiences

I am starting to compile a comprehensive guide to places and spaces with good or bad 'music design'. We have all been in places which sound totally awful, with bad music played at loud volumes or the clatter of cutlery ruining our experience. Likewise, we have been in places which sound good, where we feel relaxed and comfortable. If you have any memories or comments from such experiences and would like to share them, please post them below and we can build a guide to musical environments around the world.

Please post the following details:
Name of Location,
Place of Location,
Your experience - good or bad music design, what it made you do, how it could be better.

Music Design: The Definition

I have been trying to formulate the definition for what exactly 'music design' is. So here goes -

Music Design is the selection of music to fit in with the characteristics of a particular space in which it is played. The process of music design occurs when the activity of listening to music is considered to be secondary behind a more important task being done at that time. This is a relatively new phenomena introduced with the popularity of recording media and the ubiquityu of music through loudspeakers several decades ago. Before this time, music design did not really exist as music was heard either in concert halls (symphonies for the privileged few) or as part of a live communication within sections of society (tribal music, folk music) where 'listening' was always the primary activity.

There are lots of examples of music design in our world today, such as:

1. Music design for a car journey (e.g. music selected as 'driving music' which fits the journey and passengers, but is secondary to the primary activity of driving the car'.)
2. Music design for a dinner party (e.g. background music to fit the primary activity of eating and socialising that fits the type of guest attending).
3. Music design for background music in a commerical premises (e.g. Muzak, in-store radio, Open Ear where music is secondary to shopping, eating or drinking).
4. Music design for film (selection of existing music tracks to fit the environment created by scenes in the film)
5. Music design for advertisments. i.e. selection of existing music to fit a TV or radio advert
6. Music design for bars usually selected by a DJ but always secondary to drinking and socialising (NB. this is not the same as listening to a DJ in a club which I would class as being the primary activity of a club-goer and in the last 20 years has been accepted as a 'performance'.)
7. Listening to music on a walkman or iPod (although a bit of a grey area). The best example of this at the moment is LCD soundsystems composition of a track designed to be used for Joggers with Nike shoes and an iPod.

This is NOT to be confused with these which are not music design
1. As stated above, DJs in a club
2. Listening to music at home (primary activity is listening)
3. Going to a concert
4. Sometimes listening to music on a walkman or iPod

The reason I believe the term 'music design' must be accepted as a credible practice is because it is an extremely valuable skill for those who are good at it. In much the same way as interior designers gain credit for their ability to create inhabitable spaces, 'music designers' should exist and be given credit for their ability to expertly design music to fit in with its surroundings, including the style and visual design of the space, the people who use the space and the brand or business which owns the space. The same can be said of 'music designers' in film and TV who are not composers or producers, but rather use different skills altogether to source and select existing music which fits perfectly with a scene or represents a product perfectly.

Good music design for commerical premises can helped generate much more business for that space by helping create an atmosphere that makes people stay longer, enjoy the experience, spend more and be more likely to return. On a much more personal level, good music design for activities such as jogging can help keep one more motivated, and good music design at a dinner party can make conversation easier as the atmosphere is more relaxed. Bad music design has the opposite effect and has a serious detrimental effect on mood, behaviour and motivation.

One of the reasons I feel that music design is not properly valued at this point is because of the overwhelming preference we have for visual stimuli in our lives. Sound is much more of a subconscious thing and not immediately obvious unless you train yourself to focus on aural stimuli. However, many studies show just how important sound is in effecting our behaviour, mood and mental health.

To take a parallel example, film studies always explains that sound is of equal importance to visuals. This is one of the reasons the cinema industry still exists as one has the opportunity to experience hi-fidelity sound on a 10.2 (or larger) surround sound set up. When asked, your average cinema goer would attribute their love of cinema down to the larger screen, but I believe it is an equal combination of the large screen and sound which creates the experience and makes going to the cinema attractive.

To sum up, I believe the ability to design music to fit in with a certain activity or space is a very important and much undervalued skill. With the term 'music design', I hope to introduce to a wider audience the importance of good music design in the aural environments that we all live.

Bad to Good Music Design

Ok, I have been extremely busy and been unable to post in the blog. However, I will endeavour in 2007 to post on a weekly basis. I have been continuing my search to find places and spaces with good music design. With my company Open Ear, we have been doing a trial at Chow Restaurant in Glasgow. This was a modern, young, hip and sophisticated Chinese restaurant located in the heart of the trendy Westend of Glasgow which was characterised by extremely poor music design. Music such as the greatest hits of those loveable divas Shania Twain, Mariah Carey and Britney Spears created a musical identity more akin to McDonalds than to a trendy restaurant.

With Open Ear, we trialed a new music design for Chow which has been working to great effect. We compiled music ranging from cutting edge folk/electronica, understated jazz and authentic oriental music from South Korea to create an atmosphere that was most conducive to its surroundings. Direct from the assistant managers mouth - "Using music selected by Open Ear has helped us create a more relaxed and welcoming environment that fits perfectly in our surroundings. We immediately noticed that customers have been more likely to stay for a coffee at the end of their meal, which has to be a good thing."

Good Music Design

I am starting a new series of spaces that I have experienced that have especially good or especially bad music design - either by accident or design. If you are reading this and want to add your experience of good or bad music design please post a comment!

1. CCA Restaurant, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow.
I know they play CDs that are selected by the staff, but in my experience the music affords a certain elegance and escapism to a great space. Although quite a difficult space acoustically, with high ceilings and hard surfaces everywhere, they tend to play music at a suitable volume and of suitable style that helps create a perfect ambience for the clientele. Typical music I have heard here include Vashti Bunyan's latest album 'Lookingafter' and Susumu Yokota's classic Sakura album. The usual problems of using CDs creates the problem of pauses between albums, not much variation and a potentially random music selection, but in my experience the CCA is a fitting example of good music design.

Into Great Silence.

A new film is being screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival called Into Great Silence. It is a soundless film by Philip Groening focusing on life at one of the strictest monastic orders in Christendom. It exists in true contrast to the noise filled environments of our cities. These monk only talk when absolutely necessary and seem all the better for that. It is being screened on Sunday 20th August (2pm) and Tuesday August 22nd (8.30pm) at Cineworld, Dundee Street, Edinburgh.

http://www.diegrossestille.de/english/
from the website:
"The Grande Chartreuse, the mother house of the legendary Carthusian Order, is based in the French Alps. “Into Great Silence” will be the first film ever about life inside the Grande Chartreuse.

Silence. Repitition. Rhythm. The film is an austere, next to silent meditation on monastic life in a very pure form. No music except the chants in the monastery, no interviews, no commentaries, no extra material.

Changing of time, seasons, and the ever repeated elements of the day, of the prayer. A film to become a monastery, rather than depict one. A film about awareness, absolute presence, and the life of men who devoted their lifetimes to god in the purest form. Contemplation.
An object in time."

Lord Beaumont direct response to Open Ear

Lord Beaumont got back to my letter that addressed his proposed 'Ban on Public Music Bill'. I advocate a better music design in public spaces to help people be conscious of the noise we create, rather than a total ban of music in public. Beaumont however, does not agree as he stated in his letter:
"Thank you for your interesting letter. My Bill will get through the Lords and then die for want of government support and time in this session. I am however hoping to introduce it again early in the next session, but in a truncated form, concentrating only on health issues. And in so far as our paths cross I am concerned only that listening to broadcast music be a strictly voluntary affair, no matter how well chosen and well-intentioned. Wishing you well on your endeavours."
I appreciate the reply and accpet his view point. I too believe that music should be a voluntary affair. However, in this day and age, it is completely unfeasible considering the amount of music that is currently played. This is the main reason for my viewpoint that if we can't ban background music altogether, it should at least be more tailored to the environment and space that it can be heard in.

Music Design for Life

Lord Beaumont’s recent proposed Bill to the House of Lords (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5086054.stm) suggesting that piped music should be banned in hospitals and public transport raises serious questions about the amount of sound, music and noise we are subjected to on a daily basis. Our world is saturated with music, and Beaumont thinks that the solution to this would be to simply ban it from these public places.

We live in a visual culture, but studies show our aural stimulation is equally important, effecting both our mood and behaviour. We are subjected to music at least 25% of our wakeful lives - in our homes, cars, workplaces and shops. Businesses use music without knowing how to harness it’s unique potential for creating a stimulating and positive environment. This constant misuse of music is a significant factor for Lord Beaumont’s criticisms and concerns contained in the bill and to ban music would be the ultimate consequence of this misuse. However, it is important to realise that if music playlists were designed in a noise conscious manner, and designed specifically for their target audience the perceived levels of noise pollution would dramatically decrease and this problem can be avoided.

Open Ear™ is an exciting new company set up to help offer innovative solutions to businesses using music, offering them enhanced customer experience, improved staff motivation, and better brand differentiation. Open Ear introduces the practice of ‘Music Design’ to the marketplace, utilising the disciplines of psychology, architecture, music and marketing. We know that companies use music, we know that all brands can have a ‘musical identity’, however, such is the powerful and subjective nature of music, many brands use music wrongly and this contributes to the perceived levels of noise pollution in our environment.

Open Ear suggests that greater emphasis on the design of the musical environment is crucial in today’s experience based economy. We offer a holistic service that helps provide music that fits perfectly with its context. It appeals to the customer, makes staff feel more comfortable and give s the brand a unique soundtrack that moves it ahead of it’s competitors.

Think of all the negative connotations that background music or ‘muzak’ conjure in most peoples minds. Then think of the positive effect that hearing your favourite piece or music can have on your mood. It is this subjectivity that makes Open Ear’s expert ‘music design’ service such a necessity for our built environment.
Public music has this bad reputation because it is unregulated, generic and uninspired. Every place sounds the same, but of course every place is most definitely not the same – they have different, customers with different tastes, styles and opinions.

The increasing popularity of digital music has helped diversify individuals musical taste by offering increasing amounts of choice. An example of the effect of this is the demise of Top of the Pops on BBC1. Once it was the only way people could have access to new music, now everyone has a myspace or a favourite internet download site, where they have access to millions of new releases. Public or piped music has an opportunity to embrace the digital age and reflect the new diversity in musical choice at the benefit of all parties involved.

Our overwhelmingly visual culture is reflected in the popularity of interior design in such places. The lighting, décor and layout are all immaculately designed to appeal to a particular client base. Why then, is the ‘music design’ so poor?

Open Ear is all about the right music, for the right place, at the right time. Twenty years ago, we would not expect interior designers to design everything we see but now this practice is commonplace. In the 21st century, we need Open Ear’s expert ‘music design’ team to help design music for the lives of everyone who experiences it.

25% of our wakeful lives

We are subjected to music for 25% of our wakeful lives. This is obviously a rough estimate, but I would argue that the actual percentage is far greater. Think about your daily routine: Wake up to a radio alarm (Music!), Turn the TV on whilst you have breakfast (Music!), Get in your car to go to work (Music!), At work there is a background music system (Music!), Go for a walk round the shops at lunch (Music, Music, Music), and what do you do to relax at home (no prizes for guessing the answer to this...).

We are obsessed with the visual nature of our culture, but sound plays a massive part too. It is definitely more of a subconscious phenomenon, but can have an equally powerful effect on our behavior and mood.

The marketplace is crying out for better 'Music Design'

Music Design is the process of designing the aural environment in specific spaces to suit the people who inhabit them. The process is comparable to the way that interior designers manipulate the decor, lighting and layout of a space to suit the visual aesthetic. If we assume that most public spaces have a music system in them, it is therefore critical that a better music design process is implemented. Most businesses accept that they need music, but do not understand that if they merely put on any type of music at any volume it will have a massively detrimental effect on theor customers, staff and brand image.

Open Your Ears

We live in a world saturated with sound. Music, new technologies and traffic all contribute to our daily soundscape which is getting louder year upon year. Open Your Ears is a forum set up for the good of your ears.