Skateboarding and Composition
The Artistic Research, Exploration And Development Of An Ongoing Idea
Supported By The Arts Council of Ireland’s Covid 19 Crisis Response Award 2020
The Birth Of Skateboarding
Skateboarding is a young art form. It was born in the 1950s, inspired by surfing. (Photo credit: Bruce Brown Films)
The Conditions Involved In The Creation Of The Skateboard
During dry periods when there were no waves, surfers got creative and found a way to surf on concrete. (Photo credit: Bruce Brown Films)
The Skateboard
Inspired by the surfboard, the skateboard is smaller in length and had clay wheels at first. (Photo credit: Bruce Brown Films)
An Evolution Of Surfing
Inspired youths imitated movements in surfing, making one art form into another. (Photo credit: Bruce Brown Films)
Understanding Synchronisation In Skateboarding Videos
When skateboarding videos have music, sometimes the video editor will synchronise the accents in a song to when the skateboarder lands. Just like in orchestration when percussive sounds colour the music, the skateboard sounds give the music and added percussive element.
‘Grey Area’ With Crash Ensemble
The first exploration into the blending together of skateboarding and composing was when the unique opportunity arose to take this idea of synchronisation a lot further in a collaboration with Crash Ensemble. The result was a poetic 20-minute composition / film in which all of the skateboarding sounds of are made by instruments. The skateboarder embarks on a nocturnal journey coloured only by real instruments. (‘Grey Area’ was commissioned by Engage Arts Festival for Crash Ensemble and supported by The Arts Council of Ireland.)
Notation Of Skateboarding
A unique kind of notation emerged from transcribing the sounds, rhythms and colours of skateboarding. The music is highly synchronised with the skateboarding. In the piece there are no sounds from the film part, only instruments. It is fascinating seeing how the sounds and rhythms of real skateboarding look on paper. In the image we see the part of the score in which the skateboarder descends all of the large steps, seen in the above video.
Further Potential Of Idea
The poetry of this first work was there for me, and it was stunning to hear live. The birth of these new ideas and their initial results led me to feeling that there was more going on here than meets the eye. It required further, serious artistic exploration. (Photo: Crash Ensemble performing ‘Grey Area’ at Musica Nova Festival - Helsinki, Finland)
Further Exploration Paths
Potential paths for exploration and development led me to two different focal points. The first was the idea of exploring what would be involved in the making of a skate-sculpture-percussion-instrument, and any satellite paths connected to this. The second idea involved examining the potential in composing a piece for a group of skateboarders. The fascinating thing about experimentation is that new paths are found along the way. (Photo: Work by French artist and eventual collaborator, ‘Les planches de ROM’)
Clash Of Worlds
Understanding what I had already uncovered in the original project with Crash Ensemble was a key. Crash Ensemble had organised for me to give them a skate lesson before one of the performances of ’Grey Area’. Seeing how these world-class musicians move on a skateboard for the first time was a great experience but it also enhanced the performance afterward. It is like they gained a deeper insight into the music itself. I reflected on other ways I could incorporate this type of forward-thinking collaboration, as part of my initial thought experiments.
The Nitty-Gritty Of Exploring The Skateboard-Sculpture-Instrument
Imagine a skatepark with instrumental sculptures that you can skate and make sounds with, or an instrument that you can skate. Research led me to finding an artist who replaces the wooden deck of the skateboard with an old electric guitar neck and body, making a skateboard-instrument hybrid. I carried out many, many initial experiments combining skateboards and skateboard parts with different instruments, with varying results.
Skateboard-Making Workshop
I took part in a skateboard-making workshop with an artist based in Lyon, France. This artist, Les planches de ROM, specialises in making skateboards and skate art. In taking this valuable step back, I had realised that I needed to go to the source. This step back was invaluable for me in gaining perspective. This was especially important in the latter stages of development related to the “skateboard-sculpture-score”, which will be discussed below. (Photo: ‘Les planches de ROM’)
The Sounds Of The Constituent Parts Of A Skateboard
I decided to do many different experiments seeing what sounds can be made from the different parts of a skateboard: the wooden board, the metal trucks, the urethane wheels, and the sandpaper-like grip-tape made from glass.
Expanding The Sound Palette For A Percussionist
I used lots of different types of percussion mallets to explore the different sounds possible with the constituent parts of a skateboard. I found it challenging searching for sounds. This step was slow, but led to some interesting discoveries. The loudest sounds generally came from the sandpaper-like glass of the grip-tape and wood of the skateboard, though the metal of the truck with certain mallets yielded certain results. The combination of which mallets I used with which material was key. The importance of what surface the skateboarder rides is also key.
Unexpected Findings: Percussion, Body Movement, Skate-Dance
Being a composer, it was a hindrance to only think of sound. This project is about the development of an idea related to skate art, through the eyes of a composer. With this in mind, what seemed to work extremely well were my experiments related to body movements and contemporary dance. I started to think much more about the visual. Focussing on this side of things helped to free my mind up and let my imagination work. It led me to imagining that I was a percussionist playing a skateboard, as an instrument, with shoes over my hands. The movements created when ‘playing’ the skateboard are beautiful and play with the real / supra-real movements of skateboarding. With the camera at a certain angle, one can do things like defy gravity while ‘playing’ the skateboard as a ‘percussionist-performer’. Imagine seeing four percussionists play a skate-related composition as in the photos below. The results were visually stunning, especially when seen with movement, something that is not captured in the images below. For example, the hands-in-shoes can hover in the air for slightly longer than would be possible in real life, creating a supra-real visual. Add to this the fact that they are playing music (skateboard sounds), synchronised to a film element, bringing many of my different ideas together.
Sound and Video Editing Experiments
I carried out a number of experiments in different video and audio editing programs with varying results. I would say that most of my video and audio experiments were failures, that is to say, they were essential in the eventual appearance of some small breakthroughs. The fact that I deepened my understanding of how these failures were in fact necessary and inevitable steps on the way to further discovery is something that I value a great deal now.
Notation Experimentation
I carried out a number of experiments in image editing programs, also with varying results. They did lead to a key breakthrough idea though: The mapping of a score for a composition onto a skateboard wheel, which in turn let to mapping a score onto a skateboard, and the eventual birth of a type of Skateboard-Score-Sculpture which the musicians would read from while performing.
Skateboard Music-Score: “The Score-Sculpture”
Key collaborators in this idea were two French skate artists: Romain Hurdequint and Les blanches de ROM. We experimented with mapping a music score onto a skateboard. I imagine the musicians reading from this score while performing. Several skateboards could be used like pages from a book and bound together to be read from. The musicians would turn the pages (skateboards) of the skateboard-score-sculpture. Here one can see the experimentation and development of various ideas.
Skate Art
This was another key facet of my research. This development period really allowed me to improve my knowledge of serious skateboard artists. A number of these had a deep influence on me and opened my eyes to unique possibilities for the development of my ideas. This research also allowed me to better understand how my work fits into the broader scheme of things in skate art. It also allowed me to have the invaluable realisation that the ideas I am exploring in blending composition with skate art have not really been explored before, making it new territory. It also helped me to realise how young skateboarding actually is. I eventually found two fantastic collaborators in France, ‘Romain Hurdequint’ and ‘Les planches de ROM’, who I will be taking my ideas further with, and a number of potential others. In particular, I found the work of ‘Lioukouma’ unique. In looking at his work below, I can envisage the creation of a genuine ‘instrument-skateboard’ being a possibility. (Photo credit: ‘Lioukouma’)
Artist: Lioukouma
A Key Step: From Percussion To Three Electric Guitars
A breakthrough came when, instead of thinking of percussionists, I started thinking of electric guitars. I started emulating skateboard sounds with an electric guitar and the results were fantastic. Contrary to what I had originally thought, that is, percussion being the obvious choice for the development of my ideas, the sounds and flexibility of the electric guitar seemed to work a lot better for me. This key point will be developed below.
Offshoot: A Piece Played By Skateboarders?
In order to investigate the potential in the idea of a piece played by skateboarders, I explored layering in an audio editing program. I imagined a ‘piece’ which many skateboarders could play together with their own skateboards. It could be a piece that is ‘played’ at a skateboard event, or at a demonstration to legalise skateboarding in a given city, for example. The aspect of community is an important facet of this idea. I carried out some valuable though experiments and compositional material was gathered.
Notation Example With New Focus: Electric Guitars
I started to separate out the different textural sound elements in a skateboarding clip: rolling, popping, sliding, grinding, landing, powersliding, environment sounds. The type of surface is a key factor in orchestrating the clip / scene. The wheels roll on the ground and create a particular type of sound. I played with using all sorts of percussion instruments in the orchestration. These experiments were confirming the discovery that electric guitars with distortion worked best for me.
Quiz For You
I would now like to ask the reader to try and guess which one of the following audio samples is real skate sounds, and which one has been orchestrated with three electric guitars.
Prototype For Larger-Scale Work
After comprehensively experimenting with the sonic possibilities of the electric guitar in orchestrating skateboarding, the culmination of my research and experimentation was this prototype. Imagine all of the other elements discussed in unison with this extract, in particular, the three guitarists performing live from three “Score-Sculptures” (see above section).
Honing My Research And Experimentation Methods As An Artist
During this period of development, I learned that failure is important and inevitable on the path to the discovery. My efficiency improved in terms of research methods, honing my ability to separate out different lines of investigation. My experimentation skills benefitted in a similar way in that I improved my ability to say “no” and to let go of ideas that are not going anywhere and clearly not working. As an artist who tends to hoard ideas, this was a difficult but necessary improvement for me as an artist that I am grateful for.
Nurturing Bridge-Building
I deeply value getting to know other artists and their work during this period. Taking the time to mindfully build meaningful connections with the right people in the development of an idea is important for an artist.
Closing Thoughts
I would like to thank The Arts Council of Ireland for having faith in me as an artist and supporting this project development opportunity. In the little-explored field of composition in skate art, a huge step in the right direction has been made in the development of my ideas. Having this dedicated time was invaluable and for this I am very grateful. I will continue to explore this exciting new territory.
