Bang Bang | Chitty Chitty - OP AMP | ACT 1

Sonic Journeys : Through The Language Labyrinth

click on the picture to watch it on youtube

SONGLINE: Dalida ~ Bang Bang, Cartel~ Bir Oluruz, C64 ~ Neptune's Daughter

YER: Cairo, Serrastretta, Paris, Sydney CBD, Wombatistan

>>> auditory processing, audio analysis, language calibration, misheard lyrics

0083 bangbang01 | 1:18 | 3 Jun 2021

>>>chain-linked item : study series

Iinitial Attraction
I can’t quite recall what drew me to «Bang Bang»--| other than a strong calling. Not the version by Cher, but the Italian one by Dalida. I was eager to explore how the language might compare to my previous studies of Spanish.

Stumbling Blocks
Despite that calling, I found myself stumped and road blocked. I couldn’t connect the sounds to the Turkic soundscape or the English half at all. It was demoralising. I couldn’t understand why I was able to comfortably bridge the gap with Spanish but not with Italian.

The Ockham's Razor Moment
My Ockham’s Razor moment came after I set the work aside for a long break in defeat. One morning, between 3-4 AM, my brain pinged: «You need to target the English half with an accent first, then you can bridge it back to the Turkic side---through the ACCENT!» ...and it worked; I finally made progress.

Re-evaluating the Challenge
Reflecting on my experience, I realised I might’ve been working with a particularly challenging language sample. I wondered if there was something off with the original Italian signal. Questions arose: «Is this really Italian, or more like a dialect?» Learning about Dalida, a multilingual, Egyptian-born singer, helped validate my sense that something felt skewed. However, I couldn’t determine if her vocalisation carried an accent compared to a native speaker (does she have an accent? i don't know, i need help to confirm yes/no for that). My own background--| growing up outside the family yurt--| affected my voice, so it is possible--| however, I have also come across the occasional bi-lingual who is accent-fluent both ways.

Language Samples
In this sample, the Turkic version was spoken first, followed by an accented English rendition. The English carried more narrative coherence, while the Turkic half felt dense and abstract. I had to dive deeper into the dictionary for Turkic words that were foreign to me, some archaic and not commonly used.

Key Observations
* Language Resonance: Turkic carries a closer resonance with Spanish, while Italian presents a roadblock. The Turkic elements could only connect through accented English. This exercise highlighted how sound is received and spoken differently across languages.

* Rhythmic Expectations: The rhythm and timing of my sound-unit identification is untamed and compromised in a wild kind of way. This process made me realise that the rhythm & stress operates on completely different dynamics between English & Türkiyenli. It's as though some of the letters coming out of my mouth, despite sharing the same style of encoding relationship with Latin -- are not physically the same type of soundwave. This was noticed through (s) in Australian. The (s) often inserts itself like a pre-bleed that overlaps, before the previous word is finished. In the the Turkic half, (s) doesn't really exist as a beat until the vowel is vocalised. The shapes are different & they carry the beats differently.

Artistic Representation
Motifs: I envisioned the Uludağ efsane as representing the Turkic half, while icons of French, Italian, and Egyptian cultures reflected Dalida’s linguistic background. I added the Centrepoint Tower from Sydney to symbolise English. I included Neptune's Daughter, although I'm not sure why; the theme of swimming through water, despite being above ground, persisted. Additionally, my baggage-transfer-departure suitcases featured prominently.

Artwork: «Care for a Cold Vera» is inspired by the Prisoner TV series, capturing a moment of Vera peering into a cell in a notebook. I loved how the still image made me question, «Who is on the outside, looking in?»

Dream't of producing this as a duet with Arnold Schwarzhamandeggburger, by writing it in the language of his mother-tongue(s). Regrettably, it was Just'A Dream ~//

~iD-ENTiTY

Each act below oscillates between Türkiyenli & Italian English:
>>> ACT 1 - Bang Bang | Chitty Chitty - OP AMP [YOU ARE HERE]
>>> ACT 2 - Bang Bang | Chitty Chitty - OP AMP
>>> ACT 3 - Bang Bang | Chitty Chitty - NULLOR
>>> ACT 4 - Bang Bang | Chitty Chitty - NULLOR

Links to compilations, with all 4 acts woven into 1 piece, but vocalised in one language only:
>>> SUMMARY ACT 1 - ENGLISH COMPILATION
>>> SUMMARY ACT 2 - TURKISH COMPILATION

~ My Name Is Ayça, get used to it

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