Performing Analysis, Performing Metal
Meshuggah, Edvard Hansson, and the Analytical Light Show
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4390957 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Olivia R Lucas (0000-0001-5337-9286, Louisiana State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Music Theory Online (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1067-3040 • E-ISSN: 1067-3040 |
| Publisher | Society for Music Theory (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.30535/mto.27.4.8 |
| OpenAlex | W4205444572 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 24 |
Light shows at contemporary rock concerts generally create an immersive, multi-sensory experience. In their most sophisticated forms, however, they provide a visual analysis of the music as it unfolds. This paper presents a case study of what I call the analytical light show, by examining how the intricate light shows of extreme metal band Meshuggah contribute an interpretive layer that not only promotes multi-sensory engagement, but also actively guides listeners through songs' formal structures.Meshuggah's light shows, created by lighting designer Edvard Hansson, are exhaustively synchronized to the rhythmic patterns of the guitars and drums. Meticulous use of color, brightness, directionality, placement pattern, and beam movement provide additional information about gesture, articulation, and pitch. These analytical light shows provide a three-dimensional visual score that dramatizes rhythms while guiding listeners through each riff. Through this lighting, spatial and bodily metaphors of musical movement-high and low, moving and holding still-are transmuted into visual representation. By presenting analysis and performance simultaneously and as each other, Meshuggah combines technical virtuosity with rock authenticity, and provides another example of what I have called "coercive synesthesia" (Lucas 2014), as the lighting becomes an inextricable part of the musical experience. Beyond the confines of metal culture, I study the analytical light show as an expression of vernacular musical analysis that combines specific analytical and technical expertise with the intuitive, embodied knowledge that experienced music listeners possess
Aesthetics · Art · Embodied cognition · Gesture · Musical · Perception · Rhythm · Visual arts · Computer Science · Multisensory perception and integration · Music Technology and Sound Studies · Neuroscience and Music Perception · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
Making Arguments with Images
Images, Visualization, and Representation
Listening to Noise and Silence
Total Rhythm in Three Dimensions
Playing with Something That Runs
Difficulty as heaviness
Touching Feeling
Looking Beyond the Score
So Complete in Beautiful Deformity
"Music Theory for the "Weaker Sex
Modelling the Groove
Extreme Hardcore Punk and the Analytical Challenges of Rhythm, Riffs, and Timbre in Punk Music
Schoenberg's Cinematographic Blueprint
Tactusin Performance
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |