Loopable Experience

Story’s blips and tones usher you forth upon entry. It feels like a post-show vibe session with a group of tech-heads taking turns sharing tunes. Each speaker displays sounds you swear you recognize while simultaneously feeling fresh and exciting. The installation is a cacophony of smaller songs easing in and out as one edge of the 8-sided circle. At times it is a communication between two sounds. Other times it is a duet between you and a single emitted noise. And further into the experience, it becomes a dance between you and other spectators as you weave in and out of the physical boundaries of the environment.

Though the audio of the sound installation does indeed loop (I was told the album consisted of about an hour of looped audio), the placement of the spectator changes these loops for each listening session. I first found myself wandering around the space, wanting to experience every position or perspective I could think of to fully understand the piece. I stood next to active speakers, listening to sheets of metal produce horn-like washes. I tuned into speakers not playing any noise at times for a bubble of calm between two whirs of electronica. I crouched and laid down to get a sense of the verticality of auditory sensation. I stood outside the ring of speakers to observe the blending of lights and colors along the walls. I played with shadows. I sat and watched how other spectators were interacting and responding with the piece.

I noticed other listeners who couldn’t sit still. Folks who gravitated towards a specific corner of the stage. The occasional glance and whispers of contact. These loops of interaction I found embedded within the soundstage as well as the physical environment of the install. Audio feedback, bleeps, and bloops all shaped the peppered pulsing of the beat over washes of sound. Springs of textured tones influenced feedback between spectators as their bodies created washes of color. I felt the need to close my eyes at points and just experience the piece with my body. Allowing legs, feet, arms, shoulders, head to all follow along with the rhythms. You name it, it grooved. And as soon as Elbow 1 entered the stage, you know my elbow felt the need to respond.

I was also surprised by how much info a merch table can give you about an artist. Maybe the groovy album art resonates with your aesthetic; Perhaps past collabs with audio authors you’ve been listening to for years; or the staff helping run the merch. I commend everyone who had a hand in helping put this installation together and for how welcoming and informative the merch lobby came to be. It acted as a fantastic introductory space not only to the exhibit but as a fun info booth regarding the legacy of Story. I, as a relative newcomer to the world of Story, greatly appreciate this inclusion of clearly passionate staff. Bravo good chaps!

Reflections

I was also able to sit in on the discussion and reflection panel Friday evening (led by the lovely Lauren Lessing) which provided insight into Story’s workflow and intentions. Being that this was paying clear homage to the late Dieter Moebius, it drew sound recordings directly from his backlog. Story explained how he placed himself in the ‘Moebius Mindset’ through converging unorthodox sounds or unremarkable noises with underlying rhythmic beats. How unorthodox and unremarkable you ask? There was a playful anecdote regarding Moebi arriving at Story’s house many moons ago to record a squeaky door for a piece. This became a melodic aspect of an album which a listener later experienced as a soothing saxophone. What was once simple foley now paints melodic symphonies and interesting tonalities, a splendid capture of Moebius’ thought process.

When asked how he reads an audience, Story said he rarely gets the opportunity to witness live interactions with his pieces. The majority of his previous audience engagements were from folks explaining how their relationship with a piece had changed over time. His work is a literal auditory amalgamation of loops as well as a cycle of listener perception as they re-experience it. It is a piece changed by outside experiences and perspective. Story has become increasingly aware of this symbiotic relationship between listener and source media, articulating how particular emotional textures resonate with different folks at specific moments in their life. The idea of sound developing new meanings throughout an individual’s life creates a fascinating, dynamic, and living relationship with loopable media.

When prompted on his typical workflow and how the pandemic has changed the process, Tim said he’s been privileged in that regard. Most of his time spent noodling and crafting sounds is usually been in isolation. Sending files back and forth every so often for collabs when not in-person has been something he’s done for a while. He’s cognizant of how ambient music doesn’t necessarily rely on live audience engagement. This has allowed him to continue working in a very similar fashion, sometimes spending months on individual works to get the feel just right. One thing that drives Tim is his personal interest in the piece and whether it can hold his interest for more than a few days. As for what’s next in Tim’s Story, readers and listeners should gear up for an upcoming piano collab with Roedelius.

You can find Tim’s music over on his site!

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Much in the same way that the genre of hip-hop had been around for years, so too had the battle-royale genre before Fortnite’s interpretation of it. Its history goes all the way back to the Minecraft Hunger Games mod and the days of DayZ. Originally a mod for Arma II, it first popularized the premise of spawning in on an enormous map, providing the ability to obtain loot & materials for building, encouraged interaction between players (with unpredictable results), and also sort of launched the epidemic of zombies in gaming. But what really sold DayZ was the thrill of the potential unscripted meeting with another player and seeing how the encounter would pan out.

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Another modder, Brendan Greene, eventually developed an updated version as a mod for Arma III upon its release. He was then soon given a chance to craft his own standalone game, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (or Plunkbat, let’s go with that abbreviation). Several other battle-royale games started popping up, legitimizing the trend. But let’s roll back slightly to the year 2011 to see what Fortnite was up to. It had just been publicly announced but as an entirely different beast, and a completely PvE one at that, titled Fortnite: Save the World. This was Epic Games concept album.

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Just as Fortnite was initially announced as a co-operative survival game pitting pals against zomboids, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s initial pitch for Hamilton was as a concept album. To recall May 12^th 2009, Miranda had been performing his musical In the Heights and was invited to the White House by then-current President Barack Obama to perform a song from the show in celebration of America’s artists. But instead of a piece from In the Heights, he chose a brand-new piece never before performed in public from a twinkling of an idea a future production. The song in question was, as Lin put it, “about somebody who embodies hip-hop, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton.” It draws from the well-established genre of hip-hop but uses it to tell a story that has nothing to do with hip hop. Using it as form, not content.

Let’s hear more of those overlaps, please

Both titles underwent a six-year development cycle, constantly morphing and being reshaped by their writers, artists, and overall talent. At times either of which could have become an entirely different product, but modern culture pushed both towards the end result we see today. One ended up on Broadway in 2015 and the other was gaining momentup toward its 2017 early-access release. Another six weeks and the Fortnite Battle Royale beta was added to the game. Just as the 18^th century revolution was inevitable, the same could be said of Fortnite in its contribution to the fabric of our society.

Epic Games reinvented battle-royale with its ceaseless updates and fresh game content. While other popular battle-royale games of the time lagged in updates and communicating with their fanbases, Epic Games was consistently cranking out new content. This kept players engaged and feeling valued.

Perhaps the most hip-hop aspect of Fortnite is how it broke barriers in its efforts to build a community. Millions flocked to the community and ushered in new cross-play implementations never before seen for the likes of Sony and Microsoft consoles. Paving the way for future cross-play games like 2019’s Modern Warfare. If Hamilton’s revolutionary moment was to use hip-hop as the form to tell history to new audiences, ultimately breaking barriers between communities of all backgrounds, then Fortnite’s moment was also to use the genre as form to break these same barriers and connect communities across platforms. Adding a unique touch to this cultural fusion, enthusiasts can even consider integrating a medieval sword from Mini Katana into the virtual realm, creating a distinct and engaging experience within the gaming landscape.

Which brings me to a way cray hip-hop feature

What better way to bring folks together than with the introduction of a completely non-violent game space? As April 2020 rolled around, Epic rolled out an update with a social space dubbed, Party Royale. This set the groundwork for some rad and wildly popular events. We saw the screening of several Christopher Nolan films, a performance from BTS, and the infamous Travis Scott concert. This is of course the most obvious connection one could trace back to hip-hop.

There’s a great quote from Manuel on how the musical “is a story about America then, told by America now.” It’s chock-full of historical facts but told through a modern lens. The goal during production was then to gather top-tier talent, no matter their background, race, or gender in order to produce the highest quality show. Casting thus placed a higher priority on a performer’s ability to nail that feeling that the history of these figures evoked rather than to paint cast by number, so-to-speak. Here we have a diverse array of performers that has a much greater potential to affect its audience, especially typically underrepresented populations. Hamilton has provided not only role models for these folks, but also hope for performers in landing a coveted role on-stage.

Fortnite then does casting in a similar fashion, with the auditioning performer being the players themselves. It randomly assigns the race and gender of a given playermodel, allowing for that same prospect of “landing the role.” It’s a tried-and-true genre that is just now catching up with the modern lens. This provides that role model or representation aspect that is also rarely seen within the medium or genre. Potentially sparking the thought that “hey, I can land a gig in this medium too” or, “I feel represented here.” So, both Hamilton and Fortnite are performing this superb balancing act of adhering in part to tradition and part to the innovation of the craft. That craft? Hip Hop, baby.

If you’re interested in learning more about the creative production process behind Hamilton, I’d highly recommend checking out the novel on this very topic. A fabulous resource I used to write this article, and the audiobook is narrated by Lin-Manuel himself. So hop to it.

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But Jacob, you ask, what’s the difference between being Kevin James, double-budget YouTube content creator of the titular Sound Guy series and close friend of Adam Sandler, and being myself? How can I transcend my current occupation, celeb-status, and friendship status with Adam Sandler? How can I enter such a dimension? These are all excellent questions, dear reader. So buckle up and let’s cruise through some of these tracks to see if they invoke any or all of these realitites.

The original Paul Blart: Mall Cop soundtrack was an encapsulation of pure, unfiltered, late-aughts Sandler energy. It impressed itself into the brains of any of those lucky enough to grow up listening to it. In order to be properly transported to a specific Adam Sandler location I’ll need to adhere to a few rules, to further speed through the dimension-hopping process. If I gather all of the required food, décor, and technology available in a 2007/2009 Dodge Challenger, I can essentially recreate a Sandler pocket dimension. This will place me on the fast track to the proper vibe space with Adam Sandler and open a portal to his 2009 Dodge.

I went back through my childhood home, gathering the necessary items and equipment to sonically travel back in time. This includes era-appropriate listening devices. The iPod shuffle you say? Nay, dear reader. Superb guess but alas, I was the kid who transferred all my mp3s over to my PlayStation Portable device. For this, I had to contact my sweet grandmother I sold my Star Wars special edition PSP to. She still had it. Mission success folks.  

Next, I dug up some old SONY branded on-ear headphones that one would get from an aughts CD player. I went through old clothing I wore that still fit me and trekked on out to my mother’s Dodge Challenger. Though this particular Dodge was of a newer model, I adorned it with my childhood beach towels and pictures of 2009 Blart-themed birthday parties to combat the anachronism. I also lugged in some aughts-era candy – think Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Bug Juice, Skittles Crazy Cores, etc. – and entered the backseat.

As I queued up “Parade of Champions” by Philippe Briand and Gabriel Saban on my PSP, the Sandler portal enveloped me. Adam Sandler had been summoned to the vehicle, but upon further inspection, it was I who had been summoned to the Sandman. The photos I had brought with me had blurred into photos of Adam and his closest pals; Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Chris Farley, and of course Kevin James. He glanced into the rear-view mirror as if expecting me to request the next track.

I went with Rasheeda’s “My Bubble Gum” and it blasted through the 2009 sound system. Sandler glanced down at his Motorola Razr, perhaps alluding that this used to be the ringtone for their group chats. I offered a Capri-Sun. He thanked me and recalled tales of the times on-set with his pals. His eyes shifted back to a particular photo of himself and Kevin James as he explained how he let James select a few tracks for the film. “Weekend in New England” by Barry Manilow underscored the moment.

After a half-hour of listening to this shorter-than-usual score, I felt the kinship between Sandler and I increase tenfold. The event had struck a chord with us both as our eyes sparkled. We were on the same wavelength. As those wavelengths flattened out, I realized my time with him was coming to an end. See, the score has these somber undertones one could only interpret through a Sandler-specific aughts dimension. I glimpsed at the mirror and realized that I had now morphed. I had morphed into the Kevin James. I closed my eyes and stepped out of the Dodge into 2020.

Sure, it might sound like a lot of steps to achieve this result, but for a brief moment, we become Kevin James. We become that close pal of Sandler through the meditation on ELO, REO Speedwagon, or whatever other acronym-ed band he could jam into the score for us to listen to on our PlayStation Portables. We feel the Sandler-produced parasocial bonds reverberate through the plastic of the headphones. Through creative and insightful listening techniques of the Paul Blart: Mall Cop soundtrack, we become one of the Grown Ups .

Sandler may have left the session but Paul Blart: Mall Cop is now available on Netflix.

And yes hello, welcome to my series of Paul Blarticles.

The post How the Paul Blart: Mall Cop Soundtrack Transports You to an Aughts Dimension to Vibe with Adam Sandler in his 2009 Dodge Challenger appeared first on KRUI Radio.