Touch the Sound
Listening to: Animal Planet
For a second weekend in a row I have seen a movie that alters my perception of ‘the
way things are’. While I would like to claim the credit for this insightful cultural
diversion… I think it would be fairer to hat-tip the missus.
Touch the Sound (imdb)
is a movie about … well, sound mainly. But more importantly it is about how we perceive
sound. The movie is a very good at investigating this because the main focus of the
movie, Evelyn Glennie, is a magnificent percussionist
who just happens to be deaf.
Glennie is this effervescent Scottish woman who has this innate ability to pick rhythm
out of any environment. It is through this that the viewer is shown a different way
of perceiving sound, a way that challenges the standard ‘I hear with my ears’ concept.
Her frustration at this limited way of thinking is shown when she describes how annoying
she finds it when people ask her how she is able to hear. Invariably, she says, if
she asks the same question she is not able to get a sufficiently insightful answer
from supposedly ‘hearing’ people.
While I found the movie was a little too ‘conceptual’ at points Glennie is great at
bringing things back down to earth. One scene involves her sitting on the floor in
a Japanese restaurant using a beer bottle, an ash tray, an empty can and a pair of
chopsticks to belt out a fantastic bit of music… it really reminded me of a line
by the The Red Hot Chili Peppers:
Music the great communicator
Use two sticks to make it in the nature
Having said that her classical training is also highlighted as, in the same restaurant,
she plays a magically moving piece with a glockenspiel accompanied by a piano.
If you get a chance check it out.
