Bora Yoon - Philosophical Approach in Composing Music
The guest for this week’s composer forum is Bora Yoon, who is an experimental electroacoustic composer/performer from South Korea.
During the forum, the things that immediately caught my attention were the Tibetan bowls, old cellphones and all kinds of bizarre objects on the table. Through Bora’s careful manipulation, it was possible to use these materials and generate a variety of interesting sound palettes.
Bora views music as series of sound signals that vibrates in air in a mathematical pattern. The art lies in how to combine these elements and come up with a narrative which the composer wants to tell.
It is what interests Bora the most, to discover the symbolic characteristics of certain instruments and repurpose them to break conventional forms.
In addition to music itself, the acoustic environment in which the music is being executed is equally as important for Bora. When she works on a site-specific music project, she would always thrive to do intense research on the space itself, whether it is from a cultural, historic standpoint or an acoustic perspective. All of these details then are taken as reference when composing the music. Accordingly, a simultaneous reality that reflects the past, present, and the future can be produced.
“Music is like weather.” she said. The capricious emotions that we feel during a music experience are just as direct as the warmth, moist or chill that touches our skin through air.
Therefore, music is extremely effective in creating empathy.
When marrying music to picture, Bora prefers a much more subtle, internal method of syncing the two mediums, blending her music with sound design and creating a textural sonic rhythm that sensually takes the audience into the core of the visual.
Seeing the films which Bora scored using this method, I feel that I am able to dive much more deeply into the world psychologically.It’s like the raindrops that trickles down your spine on a freezing day that unavoidably gives you goose bumps. This is a very breathtaking experience as I fail to describe in words what is it that made the score so emotionally attached to the visual. It is as if the music had always been there with the image as an integrated compound artwork.
What I found most interesting about Bora’s music is the deep context in which the music is produced. Rather than sticking to her instinct, Bora will have a clear concept on what she wants to convey before starting on the project. Rather than limiting herself to a specific framework, she strives to make her music statement as rich as possible, in the meantime without sacrificing the simplicity of the music.
To me, Bora is not only a musician, but a philosopher. Her metaphysical approach in composing music is enlightening, as it demonstrates an alternative possibility in communicating through music besides the conventional way which we are accustomed to.
In the end, Bora encourages us to seek for the unique sound that is deep inside us based on our blood memories. What is the voice that is larger than who we are?
Overall, it was a very fascinating lecture. I only wished we had more time.
I really like the idea of music being like weather - the weather is something that affects us all and we all respond differently to it, which like music too. It's difficult to understand why certain combinations of sounds and instruments affect us in a certain way, and yet it's impossible to have no reaction whatsoever. And therefore, just like the weather, it is indeed able to create empathy through acting as a mysterious means for expressing what cannot be expressed through words or visual.
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed the lecture and would have loved to hear more of her work. It was interesting to me to hear about her spiritual philosophies in connection with music, as well as her mathematical approach. Usually when something is very cerebral in origin when it comes to music, I'm somewhat skeptical about the result. In this case, I found her music to be deeply emotional, atmospheric and impactful, proving my suspicions wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Bora Yoon is definitely a philosopher. In every piece of music she showed us, she also talked about how sound affected people both mentally and physically. She discussed chakras and she discussed how space and sound are directly related. I would honestly love to understand far more about all of her philosophies and how she applies them to her compositions!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy her lecture as well. Her approach to music is extremely detailed, subtle and never over the top. Unlike most of the mainstream music for motion picture being right in your face and often neglects the deeper meaning the picture tries to convey. I really enjoyed the music she demonstrated in class, with the slow paced camera movement leading us into an imaginative space, her music only adds another layer of context to the picture, fulfilling or even bettering the entire experience for the audience as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree! That deeper meaning is often neglected, so I felt so intrigued and moved by the way she spoke so eloquently and poetically about her music and what she is conveying.
DeleteI think Bora is really excellent at creating immersive sound environments-- this then seems to translate seamlessly to her ability to connect with an audience. The connectivity we feel with the sonic space parallels the warmth in her presentation.
ReplyDeleteI'm always a little skeptical when musicians dive very deeply in to the symbolic meaning of their work, but in Bora's case I found her approach very fresh and relatable. Many times composers don't have the time or opportunity to compose with a very specific space in mind, but this element is essential to much of Bora's work. I think we would all do well to consider this in our compositional choices as it can expand our approach to creativity.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Shao!
ReplyDeleteI was also really drawn by her ability to see the musical potential of any object she comes across. I think every musician could benefit from expanding their creative radius in that way. Because even if it ends with returning to traditional instruments, one might think of new things to do with them.
Tied to this eye she has for musicalizing anything, she also had an instinct for theatricality and the visual experience of her live performances. She seems to spend lots of time considering set design, blocking, costume, mic-use, and the visuals of her actual playing. And I mean that in a positive way: even though she's a musician spending time on non-musical things, it all adds up to something that serves the auditory experience.
I think her high values with pre-production research are something to aspire to. Even if you end up with a product you can't totally explain/ put into words, I think it's important to have rigor in the putting together of it.
What particularly resonated with me was Bora Yoon's description of her process when working on a site-specific project. I think the idea of giving as much reverence to the space as to that of the music & visuals is brilliant.
ReplyDeleteIt's always great to hear the thought process from the artists themselves. The concept of music being "like weather" really resonated with me too. Her way of perceiving music and art was truly remarkable.
ReplyDeleteNice post, Shao! I was really drawn to the works of Bora Yoon, because of how well conceptualized all of her projects were. When it came to her "found sound," such as the items you mentioned, Bora considered the many ways in which the items were perceived, as well as how they can create sound...sometimes it was as simple as moving a Tibetan bowl across a soft cloth. She manages to improvise, yet have a structured approach to her pieces. One piece that stood out to me was "Semaphone Conductus," where she incorporated sounds that gave a sort of signal or energy. The heartbeat she ended up using felt like the beat to a baroque dance. I'm sure we will be seeing more of Bora Yoon's cool projects in the future.
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed her use of the megaphone as means of transforming her voice. It seemed to be a running theme, her using somewhat-everyday objects as musical tools. Her pick-up-sticks wind chime bars and use of the record player as a leslie speaker showed some great creativity in generating material.
ReplyDeleteBora Yoon mentioned the concept of certain sounds being able to put a listener into a "beta state," a term that describes the mind at a high level of alertness. I was curious as to how she went about attempting to employ this in her music. It speaks to what I understood to be Yoon's overall mission: to treat musical performance as a "visceral" experience, as opposed to something that is being "presented" from an artist to an audience. Additionally, by repurposing instruments beyond their normal use-functions, Yoon develops a more expansive vision of music and music performance. I look forward to listening and seeing more of her work.
ReplyDeleteThat discussion of the "beta state" also stuck with me - after she said that, I started thinking of much of her music as meditative and, as you said, visceral. I think that idea works interestingly with the discussion everyone else has been having about how theoretical all her work is - she's operating both in a very intellectual state but also in a very practical, visceral one.
DeleteCompletely unrelated: those two seconds where she held the walkie-talkie's up to eachother was really cool.
Haha! I am always a bit skeptical when composers dive deeply into symbolic meaning as well, but I did appreciate Yoon's approach. While, I would not necessarily dive into symbolism on this level, I did enjoy learning about her intellectual approach of music.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting lecture and I definitely will explore the use of various items and the ways in which they can create music!
Yes the Tibetan bowls really stuck with me! I really love hearing her talk about the healing and relaxation context and historical context she talked about. It was also really amazing seeing her use all different types of things like cell phones and chimes in different ways to make them musical or musical in ways they aren’t normally used. The music was very thought out and atmospheric and I really loved learning how she creates!
ReplyDeleteThe most inspired concept from Bora is that she tried to use the heartbeat as the fundamental of his composition. It sounds like the music is from the human body and it is for human beings. The heart beat is also a kind of constant groove throughout the composition, it gives the music vitality.
ReplyDeleteI too thought her musical perspectives and philosophy were incredibly interesting and unique. I applaud her ability to communicate the specifics of her philosophy effectively while remaining interesting. It was clear that she has not only thought deeply about those principles but also on how to communicate them. Her inventiveness and the way she fully immerses herself into her work, performance spaces, etc are two major takeaways for me.
ReplyDeleteMusic being compared to weather is something I hadn't heard before, but it's something that I'm sure to think about and make allusions to in the future. How else do they both affect us? I would be interested in seeing a more direct comparison.
ReplyDelete