February 27, 2011
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The Whole Emersive Life as a Cinematic Soundtrack Thing
I saw my first Walkman back in 1981 while flying from Toronto to Calgary. I’d seen ads for them back when I was in Hamilton but we were all still emerging from the 8-Track Age in that part of the world. This lucky guy could play whatever tapes he’d brought with him, not the nonsense that CP Airlines felt like giving you…and his headphones actually looked…comfortable! I briefly thought about killing my fellow passenger and stealing his cool tech but there were just too many witnesses on board. Just as well really.
By 1984 I finally owned my own Walkman and the headphones were not just comfortable, they provided absolutely great sound! It made the long subway ride in from Downsview to the U of T much more bearable. In fact, it actually made the ride quite exciting sometimes because you could give your day a movie soundtrack. Play the collection of James Bond themes and you were in a spy adventure — you knew that elderly couple were really SMERSH agents waiting to shoot at you with there umbrella dart guns. Play the Virgin Records pop hits of 1983 sampler and you could emotionally regress a bit and believe you were in a John Hughes film. Play any slow classical solo piece and it was Ingmar Bergman time (that scenario tended to make the ride longer and more emotionally intense).
My favourite emersive cinematic moment was one Sunday afternoon when I was at the Metro Reference Library looking to do some research for an assignment. It was just after one in the afternoon and the place had just opened and there were hundreds of us lined up to get inside . The Reference Library has a vast atrium with broad staircases that wind their way up the different levels. It looks like one of the art deco futuristic buildings from Korda’s Things to Come.
So anyway I’m listening to Hector Berlioz’s orchestral composition Harold in Italy while the crowd and I enter the library. When the viola section starts, we’re all filing up those vast staircases. It was like we were the seekers of truth slowly ascending to the Heaven of Truth.
Technologically enhanced transformative aesthetic experiences. Gotta love ‘em.
