millsworks

I stumbled across this animated video set to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 at the AdaFruit Industries blog where the amazing Limor Fried and company design, make and share a relentless supply of inspirational DIY tech projects and other things that capture the imagination.

This animation has been described as being sort of like an orchestral Guitar Hero version of Ludwig’s big number 5. I’m reminded of Norman McLaren’s work as well as Disney’s Fantasia and some of Chuck Jones‘ more graphic experiments. For those who don’t read music notation it’s an interesting new way to perceive sound - akin to player piano rolls but with colours and blinky lights and shit.

Like any of the insane monkeys that inhabit this planet I am moved by music and there are favourite tunes and genres that get my body shifting in an overweight white man’s simulation of what might perhaps charitably be referred to as dancing. I don’t really dance. I used to and I used to be a very physical performer in my theatre days. Now I mostly just tap my fingers and bob my head - unless I’m cooking in the kitchen and no one is watching - then I become Gene Kelly in my mind and I’m sure if I ever saw video of those culinary terpsichorean antics I’d make like Brian Wilson and take to my bed forever.

Beethoven’s 5th has a lot of resonance for me - it’s impossible for anyone not to be moved by this piece. It reaches into our chests and commands us to beat our hearts together as connected beings. The opening notes were used as code to signify the beginning of the Normandy invasion of World War Two because they matched the morse code for the letter V - for victory. The 5th was also used and figured stunningly in Martin Ritt’s film Conrack. I’d love to post a clip of the pertinent scene here but damned if I can find one online. Find the film - watch the whole thing.

And just to fill out more of the page - here’s a taste of what Norman McLaren could do with music and moving pictures:

If you want to know more about him be sure to watch the NFB documentary Creative process: Norman McLaren - which isn’t available for viewing online (it had been posted on YouTube but was taken down) which is just plain bullshit. There’s a lot more to the man than anything we ever saw when they’d show these things in our classrooms.

And here’s my favourite of Chuck Jones’ musical pieces - after One Froggy Evening and Rabbit Of Seville, of course:

Now this kind of web-surf-musing brings me to thinking of Synesthesia, where the sensory pathways in our brain are linked so as to allow us to see music and taste sound - so naturally I have to include this TED Talk by Oliver Sacks about hallucinations experienced by visually impaired people - some of which are directly related to the perception of animated cartoons. As with anything Sacks has to offer it is truly fascinating shit.

No matter what you hear, see, touch or taste today, make an effort to experience it in a different way. Practice makes perfect, of course, so maybe if we all do this sort of thing every day we might gain the ability to experience each other in different ways too - and that’s the sort of music I could dance to.

And now - with the last word - here’s Chuck:

Cheers.