McSplain

The Botanisant project is inherently visual. Every track here notates a graph or video to which each instrument maps. Unlike contemporary audiovisuals, in which 30% of the image may be represented musically, or vice versa, these songs approach 100%, or “fully literal,” representations of their visual origin. 

Track titles are generally 10% literal, often combinations of words or sentences that represent one or two significant aspects of the audio. Every picture is worth a thousand words, I must choose a few. 

My research aims to eventually project every song to this kind of video, which requires arranging sonic elements in geometries and animations that are not yet canon to the broader music video form. 

Eventually, viewers will be able to remove the audio, and from the graphs intuitively hear the song. Conversely listening to only the audio will create the image in the viewer’s mind. This requires developing an audiovisual language that “ties” music to visual art, with a lashing at every node, across the entirety of both domains. 

Feedback on the music helps, but more crucial to my research are your visual impressions. From skit plots to color palettes, understanding listeners’ synesthetic impressions will help make my models more universally intuitive. 

You are free to use this music in the creation of your own audiovisuals, and if you have any favorite music videos, I hope you’ll share those links with me, preferably with a rough literacy percentage attached.