"The Velvet Sky" - The World

"The Velvet Sky" tells the story of a family which, for a flurry of reasons, leaves their suburban world to venture into New York City. Those of us who have experienced New York City watch as the characters experience a familiar set of locations. It's clear from the beginning, though, that we the audience experience each location through the goggles of a human mind—most notably the mind of Bethany, mother  to 13-year-old Andrew and wife to Policeman Warren, who is plagued with sleepless life since the birth of her son. Bethany's delirium manifests itself in hallucinations and scenes of skewed reality, with irregular and inconsistent jumps in time and location. The entire play is quite short, taking place in a single night, and yet the family traverses much of the island of Manhattan.

This warped world, the imminent approach of the Sandman, and the continuous presence of sleep themes suggest that perhaps our "goggled" perspective is that of a dream. In our dreams, our minds project our subconscious thoughts into worlds that our brains create. Laws of physics are secondary to structures and paradigms created by our minds. To design this unstable sonic world, I imagine that the city of New York is, in fact, a facsimile of Bethany's mind, and further that this "dream city" exists physically within her skull. In a kind of feedback loop, the world shifts, shudders, quakes, and transforms as Bethany reacts to the characters she meets in her search for Andrew. As such, the soundscape should exhibit characteristics of extreme scale, consistent motion, impressionistic surrealism and thematic clarity.

To provide some aural context, I have created a few example sounds for you to peruse:

Please listen on high quality, full-range headphones or loudspeakers, if available.

1. Inspiration: "Abendsegen"
2. The Sandman's Lullaby
3. Bethany's Cave (Sounds of Solitude)
4. Peter Pan Bus Ride
5. Cerebral Phone Call
6. A Shifting World
7. An Organic World
8. A Sandman Approaches

You can also find a Short Post about one facet of my research, including some of the images that inspired me.

Thank you for reading, and please let me know if you have questions or comments. I look forward to our upcoming discussions!

Best,
Matt