Dance Magic Dance!

Writing this I'm sat on a train heading into London listening to David Bowie, why? Because I can.

Sound is obviously a key element in the making of a dance video and after the screening with Rosie at the beginning of term creating our own soundtrack seems to be the way to go. After working with sound for the last two projects I feel pretty comfortable taking on the role of sound designer however I am questioning the workflow. A common idea at the moment is the create the soundtrack from sounds the body makes but that then poses the question of do you choreograph your dance to make the music or do you make the music then choreograph the dance to it. But that's a question for another day.

Right now I'm researching styles of music, what would work with the idea and what wouldn't - I'll figure out how to make it later.

Ok so I love Troye Sivan so I'm a bit bias however I love the 'drop' in this song that occurs when it gets to the chorus, the structure of the song, the difference in the amount of instruments being played giving the illusion of a different tempo. I just love it. Something that stands out for me is the deliberate use of synthetic instruments with acoustic, a trait I hope to mix with out piece. I believe this grounds the piece but also gives it a ethereal quality, a quality that would be perfect for the moment our dancer gets so far into her dance she forgets where she is.

The same goes for Bowie, The Labyrinth is still one of my favourite films of all time and the music is simply integrated into the film to the point it's almost another character. The energy it gives the story is just amazing and it's something that I hope to use as inspiration - again the integration of acoustic instruments and synth is a good balance for me.

In Space Oddity I really love the beginning guitar and slow introduction to the more obscure sounds, again something I wish to incorporate and this paired with the first songs traits (in my head) will sound really interesting and more importantly aid the telling of our story. I'm also toying with idea of having some Jazz influences (think Oscar Peterson, Steely Dan, Sonny Rollins to name a few) to give the music a more spontaneous edge to it, pairing with our dancers improvisation however this depends heavily on our final storyboard/narrative.

Something that is decided already is that we will incorporate the sounds of the human body, more specifically the sounds of the dancer hitting the floor, clapping her hands, breathing, heart beat - as many variations as possible. This is to, again, show that the sound design isn't a separate entity from the dance. Loads of dance videos seem to get rid of diegetic sound all together and create a deliberate barrier between the two, we don't want that. Perhaps as the dance progresses and becomes more like a 'real' performance the sounds to merge into something more music based, still there with the same motif but with a more musical quality only to return to form once the performance has passed.

Here is an example that takes the sounds and uses them in a musical context - something I'm leaning towards.

Here we have a live art installation in Brighton in which the sounds of Andre Borges body is amplified and in the process triggers the lights around the room. 

Then I came across this amazing TED talk (What a shock right?) not exactly what I was looking for but if you have a spare 10 minutes - you will be blown away!

Right now I have some books that I need to read so I can fully get my head around this concept and simplify what needs to be simplified to make this concept plausible. I have my piano and Protools, plus an upcoming studio session to get in have a play around and just see what's possible. I think this project is going to be a lot of fun.