THE SOUNDSCORE TO heartBEAT: A NARRATIVE-FORM MUSIC ...

8
Presentational Level
On a third level, the work concerns the medium of television. Suggestive at limes
of such broadcast conventions as newscasts, dramatic series, gameshows and
advertisements, heartBEAT communicates through the symbols and conventions of
television. These elements range from specific programming and presentational cliches to
the textural aspects of the medium. Texture is observable in television as the rhythmic
effect generated by interuptions in television programming by advertisements, and
includes the rapid editing styles of newscasts, advertisements, sports broadcasts and
music videos. Graphic elements, such as window inserts and character generation, play a
definitive role in the look and tone of television. Even the remote control device has
contributed significantly to the textural aspect of the medium by encouraging
programming changes by the viewer. By rapidly scanning through available
programming, the viewer participates in a significant presentational aspect of television.
Defamiliarization
All of these features represent the "television-ness" of the medium. As a work of
television art, heartBEAT utilizes and exploits the presentational aspects of television.
Both the plot-narrative and the psychological levels of the work are communicated
through the conventions and inherent qualities of the television medium. These
presentational devices are rarely used in a literal way, but are defamiharized through a
variety of structural techniques. Drawing various contextual relationships between
familiar symbols is an important defamiliarizing device used in heartBEAT. Graphics
crawl across the bottom of the screen in the manner of a severe weather bulletin, yet they
read "YOU SPEND 2/3 OF YOUR LIFE IN UNDERWEAR." Larger interplays of
context and convention are incorporated as well. Near the end of the piece, a man (the
Ring Announcer) sits by a music stand, strumming the teetii of a handsaw as if it were a
musical instrument. We hear the strumming of a microionally-tuned harp, while a \ oice
reads:
VOICE
Turn out the lights.
The party's over.
All good things must end.
But, tomorrow...
(chuckle)
The game starts again.