People with synaesthesia experience the automatic, involuntary linking of one sense with another, for example they might see music as colours.
Brisbane-based music group, Argo, have recreated this phenomenon for their audience in their new show 'Saturation', with thoughtful results.
Argo’s 'Saturation' combined classical music with electronic beats, choreographed to a light show. But that is a flat, pale description of what the musicians have achieved.
The show opened with a piccolo, pulsing on one note, and merging in and out of an electronic echo of the same note. It gradually expanded, drawing in other instruments as the light show changed from what could be Saturn’s landscapes to pin pricks of light in the darkness.
The flute and piccolo are two of the core instruments, both wielded by triple-Grammy-winning flautist Tim Munro. The other main instrument is the piano, driven by Brisbane piano prodigy Liam Viney. Driven is more apt than played, because of the unconventional uses Viney finds for his instrument. The keys are played, yes, but so are the wires on the inside of the piano. He plucked at them with his fingers, with metal combs and even raps the piano like a drum. This unexpected innovation added to the charm of the performance.
Many audience members experienced the performance with their eyes closed. In this way, you were not distracted by a guy hitting his piano, for example, and could concentrate purely on the music. The light show was bright enough that you could still see it with your eyes closed, and with other senses heightened, you could feel the music too. This really highlighted the synaesthesia element of the performance.
As the show progressed, more performers joined in with their instruments. The music moved from experimental, to having more of a melody, or cohesive thread running through it. What seemed to be a repetitive refrain gradually shifted over time to become a completely different piece of music, without the listener being able to say exactly when it changed.
While this is not a piece to be downloaded from iTunes so you can bop around the house to it, it was a really unusual and wonderful performance. It allowed the audience to experience music in a totally new way.
