Alone in my bedroom, I frequently find myself enveloped in a sensory onslaught. I live situated on the third-floor apartment above a popular Brooklyn bar patio. In addition, a musician living next door blasts their powerful bass and beats constantly, frequently at odd hours of the night and early morning. I hear a constant and clear stream of conversation from rowdy bargoers in tandem with alternating and powerful beats from my musician neighbors on top of the perpetual backdrop of New York City’s soundscape. Oftentime, my room reverberates with the animated sounds surrounding me from all sides. Even the sanctuary of noise-canceling headphones cannot protect me against the sounds spilling into my room.
One Sunday, as I attempted to concentrate on work after being jolted awake by my neighbor’s heartbeat-like rhythm, I decided that all the sounds in my room could become a weapon similar to Muscha’s 1984 film, Decoder. The film’s main character, FM Einheit, employs vast collections of sounds, noises, and sonic frequencies so extreme that it induces violence, chaos, and action for the listeners. He used this method of disruption as a means of taking back power and control against oppressive forces. Einheit’s approach resonated deeply with me as a means to challenge and transform my narrative of powerlessness imposed by my apartment’s relentless auditory qualities. I channeled the constant, inescapable, and expansive auditory barrage into this creative project that is deeply meaningful to me.
In addition to the sounds of talking, laughing, singing, and the base of the music, I quickly became drawn to the potential of more subtle sounds resonating within my own space. I then began capturing and integrating these noises. Some of these sounds included the beep from my fan, the clashing of various personal objects, the squeak of my chair, an enigmatic faint buzzing, and so much more, all within my room. My exploration ignited searches well into the depths of online archives and digital audio. I layered, cut, and melded countless sounds and GarageBand beats at alternating times within the composition, keeping Decorder’s avant-garde, cyberpunk, and industrial noise in mind. I adjusted panning, pitch, tempo, percussion, ambiance, reverb, and countless other settings to craft a composition that portrayed the diverse sonic texture I desired.
I dedicated over fifteen hours to capturing, constructing, and refining my sonic project in GarageBand. Dubbed “Symphony of Chaos,” my sound weapon spans a concise minute and a half. I recommend experiencing “Symphony of Chaos” through headphones for optimal immersion, allowing the layered complexities to unfold with depth and clarity.