Minimalism in sound & liminal spaces
Image by sanfengshan from Pixabay
Minimalism and Liminal Spaces.
Recently through sheer lack of mental bandwidth with a lot of other things going on I have found myself pulling back from my more ambitious and complicated projects into concentrating on creating Ambient ‘music’ (I use that term in its loosest form), and the creation of soundbeds for free non-commercial use. This isn’t to say that either Ambient music or soundbeds are simple, it is more that I am not relying on parts being recorded and being sent back to me and a massive amount of sound editing both of those parts and everything else that goes into making an audio drama. Ambient pieces and soundbeds are both things that I can do as a sole enterprise and at my own pace.
I love exploring sound and without really thinking about it the majority of my own podcast listening is based in the horror genre – either actual plays or series. My favourites however firmly sit in the more physiological horror where it is not so much about a horrific creature but more that ‘something’ isn’t quite right. A feeling of being out of place, or that other elements are out of place in an environment that is ninety-nine percent familiar.
This is where I think the liminal spaces come in. The idea of backrooms and liminal spaces, the space in between and the call of the void are nothing new and seemingly saw something of an upsurge in popularity post lockdown in 2020. A lot of the podcasts also started around that time. The best kind of horrors for my tastes are also quite minimal with just enough or just little enough to cause a sense of unease drawing me in
There is something fascinating about things that for whatever reason just don’t seem right or create a definite sense of place. Many years ago, I lived next to the coast, and a few things stand out to me from then. The first was a very long section of covered walkway, walled on one side, roofed with fluorescent strip lights, and on the roadside a line of concrete pillars that with the striplights faded into a vanishing point. Its use I have no idea. Nothing was above it and from memory on the face of it, it served no real purpose – although I am sure it did. However it is more about the experience, a structure that seemingly held no purpose and the visual presentation of the narrowing structure as you walked through it. It led from pavement to more pavement. It was a space between sections of pavement. A space where you seemingly for a few minutes exited the outside (while still being outside) and then exited into the outside, which in truth you never left.
The second from the same location was the seafront and the beach. I always found standing on the edge of the sea comforting. It was a line, an end. You couldn’t go any further forward - everything was behind you. It was always a peaceful space even when there was a storm blowing. There was something reassuring or comforting in knowing that you couldn’t go any further. Your choices were simple. Stay there or go back. There was no forward. The coast has always also had something of a Call of the Void for me and especially cliffs. Whenever I find myself atop a clip with rocks and waves below, I find myself at the same time both drawn to the edge and repelled by it. Repelled because somewhere in me there is an urge to stand right on the edge and to learn forward and to look down. It is a feeling that sits right in the pit of the stomach where somehow something calls me to that edge while my brain tells me not to and all the things that could go wrong – a lost footing, a sudden gust of wind. But it is there every time, the call to go and look over the edge as close as I can.
Many years later I used to drive a lot around the country and often late into evening. One service station had entrances in both directions for fuel but the rest of the facilities only on the one side. A long set of steps led to an enclosed walkway traversing the hard shoulders and six lanes of motorway. A long featureless walkway with high windows (I presume for safety) that ended as it started with a blind corner and steps out of sight. When deserted in the evening a space that held its own feeling of ‘somewhere else’ or ‘nowhere’. A space with the sole purpose of being a bridge (literally and figuratively) from where you were to where you wanted to be. You entered one side and appeared on the other side, while you were in there it was almost limbo. Neither here nor there, a place where imagination reigns.
I think with the masses of communication that we now have with mobile phones and constant access to the internet, notifications pinging, a plethora of apps vying for our attention which bring with them a cacophony of information, misinformation - subscribe to this, buy that, you need, and constant noise, the call of the liminal is there beckoning and promising a quieter place. A place that allows a short time to step out of the noise and complicated nature of modern existence, a place that offers a simpler quieter experience with a smattering of uncertainty thrown in for good measure. Nothing frightening just a space between spaces where you can take a breath. Neither here, nor there. A stillness where imagination can stretch free.
So that is where I am at. With all the noise, information and everyday concerns, I am finding myself drawn to create something that sits in the territory of as few sounds as possible and in the creation of spaces that sit outside of everyday experience. Sounds that are familiar but warped just enough to be not entirely recognisable and notes that swell and fall in that space without every really resolving into anything complicated or anything at all. Even the spaces themselves familiar but unexperienced.
It’s an interesting journey as it is more about what isn’t included rather than what is included. It is an exercise in restraint, in minimalism – the opposite of how the ‘real’ world feels. It is an exercise in restraint and quite, even if a quiet that is a little disconcerting – the opposite of modern life which wants familiarity and more of everything. A lot of it is sheer exploration of sound and not something readily listenable to being more aimed at being able to be used for games and podcasts where the intention maybe to build those feelings.
For now, this is my space.
More information can be found on the music page along with the opportunity to ‘buy me a coffee’ on Ko-fi if you like, want to see more or use any of the music or soundbeds.
Until next time...
If you are interest in talking about sound design and music requirement for a project, please contact me at blackcreekpodcasts@gmail.com
Free to use music and soundbeds can be found on my SoundCloud Artistspage.
