Spirit journey : a multimedia work

The purpose of this study is to examine the multimedia work Spirit Journey for solutions to the problem of integrating visuals and music into a balanced medium. Visuals used in this work are hand-painted slides; the music is digitally synthesized. The integration of these elements required the use of a programmable dissolve unit and the production of slides that complement the music's textures and timbres.

To best serve this study, five multimedia works will be examined in view of the current state of the art multimedia techniques:

1) Like Waking Dreams, composed by Byron Tate

2) Voyages, composed by Maggie Payne

3) Global Morality, composed by Gilbert Trythall

4) Four Butterflies, composed by Morton Subotnick

5) Winter Strategy, composed by Kenneth Jacobs

The primary means used in data assembly for this study involved analysis of the five multimedia works and analysis of compositional procedures in Spirit Journey. All the information used was compiled from texts on multimedia forms and from my personal observations.

The conclusion is that the problem of achieving a balanced medium is best solved by giving equal technical and developmental considerations to each media element incorporated in the multimedia work. As interest increases in multimedia forms, composers of such works are asked to integrate different elements into one balanced medium. Failures may result from inadequate integration of media elements. Synchronization errors between slides and music can upset the intended flow of the composition. This usually results from slide changes that are left up to manual operations based on time or arbitrary sequences. Other failures result from poorly correlated slides. Images that have no relationship to the music may distract from the compositional intent of the multimedia work.

Thus, Spirit Journey is seen as a solution to the problem of integrating visuals and music into a balanced medium. Synchronization errors are eliminated by slide projector automation, and elemental integration is perpetuated with slides that complement the music's textures and timbres.