USAR02: Music and Technology

Claude Young at Zouk

Jervais, Choo Soon Heng. USAR02 ["Music And Technology"], University Scholars Programme, National University Of Singapore.

I stood around at Zouk for slightly over an hour -- and no, I wasn't dancing because I'm really not into techno music. Nonetheless, after a few drinks, everything starts to sound just around the same I guess. The event is Claude Young, a DJ of some international renown, and techno-lovers will probably attest to his brilliance. My motives however were rather different: I was interested in the technicalities of his performance, and more specifically, how music and technology come together to make this performance possible. Ok, so maybe it's a little difficult to be objectively detached and academic after a few drinks, but I'll give it my best shot -- pun intended!

It's first of all obvious that this genre of music would not even exist without the aid of technology -- thus the term "techno". It uses computer generated beats, rhythms and tunes (can you really call them tunes?) to form a collage of sorts created from a myriad backdrop of sounds. What makes it unique from artiste to artiste is the style and technique with which the DJ blends and mixes the sounds together. Claude Young for instance uses three decks to mix -- in other words, he controls three different tracks/LPs and manipulates them together with the rhythm to create his personal style. This form of performance might not be what many consider to be a truly musical one, but rather a technical one. Admittedly, it is difficult to conceive of a musical performance without musical instruments. Techno and computer music in general bends the rules a little. The DJ manipulates sounds, as does a musician such as a pianist. Through mixing those sounds to form a melody, a pianist creates music. Similarly, a DJ is able to create and invent his own tracks through a manipulation of sounds. Although I'm no expert, and an even lesser admirer of techno, Claude Young does this extremely well. The transitions are seamless and the rhythms take on the textures that he wishes them to without appearing at all awkward.

The one word that I would use to describe techno would be "incessant". All right, so its obvious that I'm not really a fan, but it appeared to me that the music seemed determined to drum itself into my head. Strangely though, the rhythms do manage to illicit some response from my protesting body as it attempts to "get into the groove" of things, but that didn't last very long. I gave up trying to physically appreciate it, and started to concentrate on the in-crowd moving to the beat. A scary thought flashed into my mind, and that's the control that music has on us. Is this what one means by technology taking over our minds, our bodies and even our souls? The zombie like Ah-bengs moving in time to the rhythms strikes me as profoundly disturbing, and "Matrix"-like visions of computer dominance flash across my already numb mind. Perhaps this does represent the future of music and the fall of Man!

The truth is that music does indeed have the ability to control our actions. The type of music that one plays can very much determine the mood we fall into, and the actions that we would be inclined towards. I watched in abject horror, as Claude Young appeared to control the crowd as a puppeteer does his puppets, and realise the dominance that the DJ holds, not only on the records he spins, but also the people he hurls around the room. The intricate relationship between the DJ and his console, both working together in frightening symmetry, presented itself to me parallels of how a conductor orchestrates. Where the orchestra relies on the conductor to give it life, so too does the tracks rely on the DJ. In the place of the orchestra we have mixes and blends made possible by technology. The dystopian image that comes to mind however is this: how soon before the music no longer needs a conductor? Looking at the spaced out faces of the trance-induced crowd, I suddenly felt the need to get out of the place!