Music & us - present forms and future evolution. A perverted fantasy.
Essence of music
Music is possible to experience as such because of the human biological features and the laws of nature. Everything surrounding us has a frequency, the trees, the chair, colours, music, absolutely everything is possible to measure in frequencies. The human ear, because of its unique biological qualities, perceives a certain frequency range (about 20-20000Hz). Sound is transmitted by air, and perceived by our ears, and then logically characterized by our brains to how we respond to what we are hearing. Because of our different cultural backgrounds and personal opinions (not including mood swings and such) we experience music in different ways. The music we hear in our childhood is experienced as normal music in our adulthood because we already have something to measure it against. Jazz for example was extraordinary in it's time, but today considered normal music. Electronic music with all its possibilities defines the boundaries of music even more so. The music that children hear today will be totally normal to them when they grow up, because they have been schooled during their childhood to accept it. Scales, cords, instruments, tempo changes are accepted because we are used to them. Our western 4/4 or 3/4 tempos of most songs today for example are just very familiar rhythms to us, since we have heard it all our lives and gotten used to them. Our western musical 12 tone system divides an octave into 12 tones. All octaves could be redefined, redevided and totally rearranged or randomly picked each time for example. All of this can and will be changed by new habits of hearing and perceiving sounds as music. In digital format we can easily make a totally random tempo change, a random scale, invent a new scale, non audible hypersonic frequencies, new cords and harmonies, and make new and original sounds and virtual instruments. Basically in the digital domain everything is possible and music is changing its form radically now, because the possibility is there. We will definitely go very far from what we are today and what kind of music we are listening to now.
Music & evolution
Music triggers some sort of response in our mind, and makes us feel good, sad, happy, bored and so on, all because of the way we physically and mentally interpret audio. We have the need to feel something, so we go and get experiences in our lives to make us feel alive. We consume alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, music, vitamins etc. We practice sex, sports, good deeds, our jobs and activities etc. because it gives us pleasure or other sorts of feelings. We long for experiences. What if we got these pleasures in another way, more easier and controllable? Even a state of nirvana could be artificially reproduced as an experience. What makes us human? What physical form do we need to be alive and what is the essence of the human soul? What is music? Everything is an illusion just a way we perceived things and filter them in our brains. So our sense of reality and understanding is limited by our biological resources, our capacity of understanding. And since we are not infinite beings we can not understand infinity and can not ultimately satisfy ourselves because of human greed and insecurity (evolution).
This can be changed; our receiving filters can be changed in digital format once we are one with the digital system. The total fusion of Man and machine is inevitable, and therefore will speed up evolution heavily. Our symbiosis with machinery and the digital world will explode evolution into endless pieces of possibilities. Everything will no longer just be theoretically possible to calculate by mathematical means, the digital world will become our reality and our new prison – a new virtual reality within. We might be able to use this micro-cosmo technology to rule the macro-cosmos eventually, which we will surely want control of in the end.
Evolution drives us to use our abilities and to rise into our full potential. Everybody tries to do their best at some point in their lives. Our personal greed is the motor in human evolution, a result of competition and insecurity. Our capitalistic personality sees opportunity in all possibilities. We will surely want to have it all in the end, at least the experience of having it, because nothing ever seems to be enough for us. We are searching for a way to satisfy ourselves in a complete way forever. This being said, we experience music as such today, because of its state today and our capacity to understand it - in our current form in the chain of evolution. Music can be enjoyed because of this reason. However music will be completely unnecessary in the future, because of the changes that we will want to go through.
Human tools
Man has had the tendency to use tools for his work before he invented fire. Now digital Cell phones, fax, DVD, computers and such are already a part of our lives. We can not imagine living without our computers and other digital toys that we like because we like them and don't want to be left behind. Our capability to use tools in his everyday life has helped us bring us to where we are today, for better or for worse. Once we discovered the computer and the digital world everything changed even more. Now we do not only know that things are possible to reproduce artificially, but we actually have the tools to do it - the new real evolution of man has begun.
We will discover ways how to bypass our physical being, and connect directly to our fundamental existence and superego. All feelings will be transmitted by will and under control and we'll be able to leave our bodies behind. The human ego will change and everything will be artificial, yet experienced as reality and it will challenge the concept of true reality. Perfection of DNA manipulation and control of all proteins and biological matter combined with future biological machinery will ultimately create us into a perfect receiver and enable us to be one with the digital world. If things continue the way we are going we will probably take control of our own evolution if we have enough time to achieve the technology. We have just started the time where we can do changes to ourselves and modify us. Will it ultimately lead us into a digital prison, because we though that it is safer and easier inside?
A System like this is ultimately to corrupt our soul, and it will be hard to separate your being from your consuming capitalistic personality if the system is run with money. Nobody wants to be left behind in evolution (look at us now…), and he who has the newest technology is he who rules the future and everything. There will be always somebody who wants more than the others; this is the reason for our capitalistic civilisation and the game of evolution.
Future music
What place does music have in a society like this and how will it be experienced? Music will not be in its current form, but it will rather be an experience of another kind; and experience taped directly to the spectators very being. It is a perversion of nature in a way, but it seems to be a very natural way of evolution that we started and that we are already contributing to.
We can not even imagine where we are going: In math infinity is theoretically possible, so our sense of understanding things and experiencing them as reality will change and get totally new perspectives. Our imagination now, which has been created in a limited world, is not possible to measure with an imagination which has been created in an unlimited world.
There will be another path, a more spiritual one to be walked by the ones that take the journey inside of themselves. Ultimately the final form of existence is a non physical one and hopefully can be achieved through personal & collective spiritual evolution as well.
But today we can all just relax in our current physical state and experience music for what it is in its current form and celebrate life. The main thing is to be original and to contribute something new and evolving that can be enjoyed by everyone - now. The show must go on.
- Tommi Sirkia
28.9.2006, Florianopolis, Brazil.