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Statement:
For my project, I decided to interpret
my DNA sequence through the medium of electronic music. I have always
been interested in the dance music scene, mostly in the genres of
house and garage. I am a bedroom DJ and I also like to create my
own tracks with the help of a computer program called Fruityloops
3. It simulates a professional studio and allows me to select from
a wide variety of sounds and sequence them to turn them into songs.
This foundation in sequencing and patterns lends the medium of electronic
music a structure similar to DNA. More similarities between DNA
and electronic music are their recent historical emergences and
reliance on technology.
I used a different sound to represent each
of the four DNA bases. The sounds for A and C come out of the left
speaker while the sounds for T and G come out of the right speaker,
so that the bases that pair come out of opposite speakers. Before
I input the sequences into the tracks, I constructed the tracks
on their own with a concept in mind of how I wanted them to sound.
To make a track, I first selected the sounds, e.g. kick drum, snare
drum, bass, etc. I wanted to use and put them on my sequencer. Then
I was able to select where in a single loop I wanted each sound
to be played. A song is a collection of loops, each set to be played
at certain points in the song. After I finished the tracks, I input
the DNA sequences, not at regular intervals but keeping with the
rhythms of the song.
“Blue Genes (original mix)” is
an interpretation of the original section of DNA.
It is a straight-ahead song, always building, with new sounds entering
every 8 bars. The driving nature of the song emphasizes the normality
of the original DNA sequence.
“Blue Genes (Oops I Dropped It, Now
I Can’t Find it mix)” is an interpretation of the mutated
section of DNA, which I created by duplicating a section from the
original sequence several times. I “mutated” the sounds
representing A, T, G, and C by twiddling the effects knobs in Fruityloops.
The remix starts out as a combination of “Jera,” an
African tribal war song, and “Grindin’,” a recent
hip hop hit by the Clipse. This merge of old and new recalls the
nearly identical DNA in every human being through history. The remix
progresses with variations on the beats, and features syncopated,
stuttering rhythms. These rhythms contrast the straight ahead rhythms
in the original mix, showing how a mutated sequence can cause a
major change in the organism as a whole and force it to lead a different,
probably more difficult life.
The act of inputting the DNA base sounds
into my songs was art in itself, or at least, a metaphor in itself.
The task was tedious, and I felt like a DNA researcher working on
a big sequencing project. I also felt like DNA polymerase, since
I had to match up the bases on the screen with the ones from the
sequences on my paper. And, even though I input virtually all of
the bases correctly, I made a few mistakes, which is a metaphor
for how some mutations are the result of missing one base.
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