Sufjan Stevens and Sound
I have never thought much about sound. I enjoy sound. I love podcasts. I enjoy listening to storytellers. I enjoy music. I love musicals. Yet have never thought deeply about it. From a technical perspective, I know very little about it. My appreciation for it lies on the surface “Is it pleasant to my ears?”.
A couple of weeks ago I went to the Sufjan Stevens Concert at Hamer Hall. I was very excited for this concert. Stevens comes from my home state of Michigan. Stevens also has a very soft voice. A voice that could very easily be overtaken by the vast amount of instruments he uses in his songs. I walked away from that concert thinking three things:
- I am so sad.
- That was the greatest concert performance I have ever been to.
- Whoever was in charge of the sound was amazing.
Even I, a person with no practical knowledge of sound, was able to appreciate how important it was in that performance. The performance was powerful. It was powerful not only from the visuals (the lights and images above), the lyrics, the amazing performance by Sufjan and company. But from the balance within the sound how each piece was managed perfectly. Not one part overwhelming another. His voice was made powerful – without losing its integrity or simply upping the volume.
This week during the lecture on sound. I could not help but think back to this concert. When we spend a lot of time thinking visually in this course it can be very easy to forget how important the other aspects of a piece can be. As well as how easily they are to screw up. I wish to learn more about this medium. A medium I love – but know little about.
