Years ago I found myself wondering what it would sound and feel like to be standing or walking in the middle of a road with fast and loud vehicles speeding by me on all sides. I imagined closing my eyes, feeling the slipstream air whip my hair around as vehicles of all shapes and sizes passed by me.
Because this would be hazardous to experience in real life, I set my sights on creating a digital audio work that could represent this phenomenon. Fast-Paced World is the result, an atmospheric work aimed at transporting the listener into what would be a dangerous sonic environment made safe and meditative by transforming the sounds into a peaceful virtual soundscape.
Since its completion, Fast-Paced World has also served as a launching point for a larger collaborative project of audio, video, and live dancers currently in development. The project, titled Through the Sonic Glass, will explore other sonic phenomena recontextualized in an artful space.
The full production of Fast-Paced World was world premiered on May 25-26th, 2023 with Versipel New Music.
Audio and Video by Mendel Lee – choreography by Jakki Kalogridis
All audio samples used were obtained from freesound.org under a Creative Commons license. Full attributions (“sample title” – username):
- “Passing cars 2” – yngwiem
- “Full Take – Car Approach and Pass By” – Wikusv
- “Footsteps” – crooner
- “London Car Bys – 04 – Feb 2013” – Carivus
- “passing cars” – saphe
All video samples used were obtained from YouTube under a Creative Commons license. Full attributions (“Video Title” by username):
- “Walking in Bluefield, West Virginia – Downtown” by James East
- “Racing Car Stock Footage – Racing Car Free Stock Videos – Racing Car No Copyright Videos” by PexBell – Free Stock Video Footage
- “Race Car Drive By – FREE Stock Footage” by Free Stock Footage
The audio track for Fast-Paced World is purchasable on my BandCamp site.