Mutation 2 by Telepathic Being/Cobi van Tonder

For long I have been wanting to ‘visualise’ sound waves by devising a method of 3 dimensional steam projection, to visualise in three dimensions the actual sound waves as they interfere and bounce around a room. Mutation 2, is a tactile alternative: when played at loud enough level, one can move through the room and experience the vibrations of the standing waves and nodes with one’s head and body.

They key material in Mutation 2 is again micro intervals from my own scales, to create beatings. The difference here lies in the execution: it is realised by a Nord Modular 2x synthesizer and therefore the microtonal pitch values have a certain precision that human players cannot achieve. The synthetic sounds are presented at a relatively loud level, so that the glossy sound completely penetrates the space and body.

When played at a decent level through loudspeakers (this effect obviously won't work through headphones), the undeniable physicality of the sounds are tangible. They contain so much energy and the listener can move through the room and literally explore the waves. From turning the head to the sides, left right the sound changes dramatically. Moving slightly forward or backwards, one can step into a ‘hotspot’ of pulsing beats. One more step and the effect is completely gone, one only hears the two tones.

At some points during the progression of the piece, I can feel my inner ear react to the sound. I feel a vibration in the eardrum area, a kind of sympathic resonance. Something prior to otoacoustic emissions. At a louder volume full otoacoustic emission happens on some of the microtonal clusters.

The oscillating pulsing sounds can be compared to visual flickering or strobe lights at different tempos. It has a disorienting, hallucinatory effect (when played at loud enough level), at once putting the listeners in a kind of isolation that may feel subliminal. This also has a powerful effect of being in the absolute ‘now’ or present – there is no tempo insinuated, only the constant bombardment of flickering rhythms. When played at softer levels, it still has some of the effect and an austere presence that I would compare to a David Lynch slow camera movement through a dark corridor with red curtains at the end. I say this because it feels to me as if the music completely lacks emotional content and it makes it slightly eerie. The response I feel is as if I experience my body without the soul in it, as if in a dream.