I've just finished an online course with berkleemusic.com. However, I don't feel that my work was ever quite complete. In fact, I don't think it ever will. But perhaps that's what I need right now: A work in progress!
So here's a little explanation about what I'm doing. I call it the Yockanookany Project. The Yockanookany River runs near Carthage, MS, a town only a few short miles from my childhood home. I've always been fascinated by that river--maybe because of the name, who knows? I looked around on the web to figure out what the name means, but no one seems to know for sure. One translation (I like it) is "catfish land." Another translation that seems to closer resemble Choctaw words is "Look! Come get me!"
The Yockanookany River flows into the Pearl River (which is actually closer to where I grew up) and from there runs to the Gulf of Mexico.
So here I am thinking about this river with simple, modest beginnings, is part of something greater than itself, reaches out to the rest of the world, and exclaims "Look! Come get me!" Isn't that what many of us are all about? Especially in music and sound--we want to be part of something meaningful. We want to be heard. We want to be noticed. We want attention. We want to move.
That's what the Yockanookany Sound project is all about. My goal, quite simply, is to design sound.
So where do we begin this journey?
First, I'm starting small and simple with projects meant just as much to help me better learn the tools of sound design and build my skills as they are to create something musically useful. These aren't complicated sound effects or that new awesome miracle pad that shows up on the next big radio hit. They won't sell millions of records. They're just basic synthesizer sounds that we've all heard a million times. Nothing special other than that I made them. The only unique thing about these patches is that they result from how I hear the musical world around me. We all hear and perceive sounds differently, so I'm sure my signature and personality will be somehow evident in these sounds. But I'm not trying to be a salesman, and I'm not trying make any big hits. I'm just designing sounds.
Second, I'll work on variations of these sounds to develop a collection of good workable sounds I'd like to hear on a hit record. Yes, I know the reality of this is hit-and-miss. But the idea is to ask myself, "What would Kyle Beckham like to hear on the radio?" or "If Kyle Beckham were going to buy a CD or download a song or watch a movie, what would it sound like?" To put it another way, I want to actively join in on the musical conversation of synthesizer sounds. I want these libraries to reflect my ideas of what synthesizers should sound like. That's not to say other synthesists and sound designers are necessarily "wrong" or that I'm "better." I just believe that my ideas are valuable, too. I also have a gut feeling that odds are in favor of new sound designers. Given the number of keyboardists and composers "out there" who may or may not be any good at what they do, there will always be SOMEONE with a shared vision. Wishful thinking? Maybe. But a river never reaches the gulf without a source. The common source of all sound and music is at least one person's idea of what should be heard. This second phase is where I hope to decide not what to sound like, but what I SHOULD sound like.
Third, I want to collect these patches into more complex ideas--evolving pads, sound effects, sequences, sweeps, washes, and so on. And not necessarily sound effects per se, but sounds that go beyond simple articulations. We're talking about layers here, and lots of them! Not just sounds that "sound good," but sounds that PERFORM.
Eventually they have to GO somewhere, and that does mean selling a product. For the time being, however, I just want to focus on having a product to sell! We'll worry about the other stuff later.
So let's get to work...
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