Jason Snell

For summer, I want to:

• Do some quick tests with the PPG heart rate sensor on 2 Muse headsets, where each person’s heart is amplified through its own speaker and see what creates synchrony. Does one heart need to “lead” by being louder? Can they synchronize if they are at an equal volume?

• Transform my sound kit into something noisier and test a “peak” / stimulating biofeedback loop. I’m chatting with Imogen Heap about a noise EEG performance and this would be the first steps towards that. This would also include more intense flashing lights, similar to Ryoji Ikeda.

• I’ve been documenting all my soundbaths and need to make a summary video of this work. This process of making and editing down the video also helps me distill the most important parts, which will help my thesis slides too. I make these videos often, so they don’t take long (1-2 days).

• Update my thesis slides for the final presentation.

In response to Liz’s comment about getting deeper into the videos, could I play one of the videos for a full minute? RIght after the beginning slide, so people FEEL what I’m working on.

Curious to see two students feel a religious vibe to the project. I understand that, it does evoke similar themes of transcendence, going to a physical space in order to feel something different. In that way, raves and DJs could also be a religious experience / ritual. Going inward is also a similar theme.

Seeing people describe the project in ways I’m not intended is helping me clean up my cover slide. Mentioning ‘making music from the mind’ is a nice pitch, but isn’t the focus of this work. It’s the tech used, but not the focus.

In response to Sarah’s comments, I need to mention “On Repeat” a book that was key to my fall studies.

If I had unlimited resources, I’d be doing what I’m doing now. I ask myself that routinely and am spending my time doing the thing I want to do: researching, creating, performing, and following that path as it unfolds.

As for the why, I’ve thought about deeper answers to that. I grew up in an abusive neighborhood, so being in my head, in my imagination, in my music in my head, was often safer than being in the world. It’s the root of why I am comfortable and sought out meditation, altered states, dreams, and music as an adult. It’s the root of why I “like” those things. Is there a different way to answer Why?

We looked at some promotion materials for the 4/20 sound bath and compared it to the footage of the event, and examined the discrepancy. This is something I’ve also been discussing with the promoters – why is the event page not conveying the richness of the in-person experience?

1) Is this work about my biometric data, the amplification of my body, overpowering or dominating the biological systems of the other people in the room? Could audience members be informed of that to better understand what is happening as they go in? Knowing me makes that more comfortable, or a sense of trust in the brand or community or space? They are surrendering to a processes that hijacks / overtakes / dominates / synchronizes their biological system

(Noah Dixon is here as I write this, and he attended the soundbath, so I asked him “how would you describe this event to someone in Utah (his home state) who had no experience with this world?”)

Meditation, single facilitator leading a group meditation, using biofeedback, used my heartbeat and the amplification of my heartbeat to sync, a “captive portal for meditation”, something he stepped into willing, he was pulled into a new realm, out of his control, being led and facilitated. Dom situation: Noah chose to sync up his heart? Made the choice to sync up.

2) Are these performances about the virtuoso or the abilities of the technological system? How is that conveyed? Why not just use a pre-recorded set, either from Ableton or a previous soundbath? For me, it makes me feel more vulnerable to have it live, but that is my experience, not the experience of the audience. What if heart rate sensors are on audience members that (as previously brainstormed) influence the sound, or, trigger a small light on them, so they rate and synchrony can be perceived visually by others or on the video recording. Or multiple sensors, even just one more person helps people witness the live / interactive nature of the piece. If it’s just me, it’s harder for others to perceive the live nature of the sensors, because if the sound or light changes, how does the audience know it’s real? If they look at me and I’m still just sitting meditating with my eyes closed, there is no perceivable change to confirm the change in the media output.

Last meeting of the full cohort. Coming to terms with certain stressors outside of the program are impact my ability to keep up with the emails, as I put my slide together as we were presenting rather than before. I need to put some boundaries up in my life so I can focus better on the program this last month of spring semester and through the summer semester.

I had questions about whether I should be working on my build or my slide deck and got clarity that build is the priority and slide deck can happen in Shanghai. I feel like I’m making good progress on my prototypes and testing and that my focus is really coalescing around theta work, and not the other states I spontaneously experienced during my 2019 tour (like ecstasy). I’ve made appointments at the MARL lab for 2 rehearsals and my final performance on May 11, 4-7pm. Working on that sound kit directly and considering ways to utilize the 50 speaker spatial sound in that room.

Reflecting on the Time class and how much I enjoy it, and perhaps it would have been easier to do in the first half of the semester when more topics were being explored, then have 50 days of making the second half, which could directly support daily thesis work.

Second format chat with Marina, covered some of the updates of my project (sound baths, theta soundscapes, avoiding triggering beta stimulation. Discussed the presentation of my project and the feedback I got from Zoe and Kat, and how to make my work more accessible. The idea of 2 decks came up, one for beginners / public and one for superusers / meditators / neuroscientists / psychonauts. We ended with a frank, useful conversation with how I present (meaning, what associations do people have about me based on how I talk, how I look, what I wear, my tone, etc…) and how to be cognizant that the decisions I make impacts the context which my work is presented. Spoke some about my past, and dangerous environments I grew up in that led to me feeling safer and more comfortable with being in my imagination, in my head, in meditation, and how that preference has led to this work.

Discussed:

• specifics of my theta soundscape mapping, avoiding Beta triggers
• subjective reporting of soundbath attendees
• role of distraction in meditation experiences
• concern with using the word “dream” and what term can be used to accurately describe Theta. “hypnotic” also has it’s associations and limitations
• usefulness of system in neurotherapy and PTSD treatment
• Womb sounds, the audio level of blood flow for the fetus is like a motorcycle engine
• Conor at BCI
• Can people use system without me?
• Feeling of synchrony may happen after the soundbath or synchrony experience

https://www.notion.so/jasonjsnell/2023-04-18-Dan-O-Sullivan-7878058a4e2b4cefa7cfd487fde32b5d?pvs=4

Met with Zoe and Kat to discuss our thesis projects. Since we’ve had the opportunity to build a foundation of friendship over the year, I think we all felt more comfortable with more direct critiques of each other’s work, pushing each other to grow in a way we wouldn’t with other classmates.

I felt like my core concept hasn’t been challenged in the last few weeks and asked them to challenge it. I got the feedback I’d been looking for – why am I doing this work? Who is my pitch for? Challenges to my core concept. The combination of the friendships plus that they aren’t already interested in my topic became a catalyst for a strong skeptical view of my work, delivered in a good way.

Zoe asked what am I getting from the thesis process if this is something I’d be doing outside of NYU regardless. I reflected that I’ve learned a lot from the Critical Experiences perspective. I always made art based on tools, not research or concepts. Often the concept was just an afterthought, a name of a track after it’s done and I’m sussing out its vibe. To be deliberate, to research, to document, to have moments of clarity where I see all the ingredients that make up these experiences, that’s of real value and new for me.

Zoe questioned the name of the project, is it too loaded? I’ve gotten this feedback from some folks in the immersive experience industry as well, from that angle. So I’ve often not used the term electropsychedelic to talk about the work. It works great for psychonauts, if that’s my audience. I used this name for the Examined Life conference and that landed very well. But ITP thesis is a different audience, of creative technologist and faculty and related networks. For Zoe, the name is a turn off. Same with the phrase “consciousness expanding” – it’s meaningless to her. Perhaps for skeptics like her, the next step is IRB style scientific validation studies. Even at the sound baths, can I collect surveys afterwards?

Also thinking of future steps as I was explaining the project to her, what is special about putting sensors on more people? For me, it’s the experience of emergent phenomenon, murmuration, flocking behavior, co-authorship, action without an authority. I had an experience in 2008 during a flood crisis in my hometown that led to seeing the power and efficiency and wonder of emergent behavior and it was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.

Kat felt my pitch was too technical and felt like a sales pitch. I was first to admit that the incubator program I’m in at Tandon (Innovention) has shaped the way I present my ITP thesis. But Tandon is different. That is a pitch to investors for funds to commericialize a very specific version of my EEG software. That’s a turn off for Kat. She feels my pitch has no emotional connection in it. What’s the point? Why would anyone care about this project? Theta, brainwaves, EEG, etc etc.. too technical. We didn’t have time (our meeting was 2 hours) but I thought of the many ways I’ve presenting this work in the past, before I understood or was studying the more scientific aspects. I thought about my work with AI, the dancers and motion sensors and seeing how empowering biofeedback loops were for them. Then my lucid dream, getting my first EEG, my eureka moment, my profound experiences during performances, watching Gina hear her brain for the first time – those all were powerful experiences and perhaps the emotional tone that’s been stripped out.

Met with Yuqing, Wentao, and Hakani today. Discussed alternate narratives than starting with my background or bio and trying a new order to my slides. Hakani suggested reviewing Beth Fileti and YG’s videos from previous years. Also discussed Sehmon’s idea of doing a guide or zine or website to hand out at shows.

I presented my updated Thesis slides (after I saw the flow of my presentation wasn’t working during Show a Thing)

Sarah suggested a change in the order, to present the project earlier, then the background and narrative later.

I’m struggling to figure this out, feels like a jigsaw puzzle or wack-a-mole, where do I explain the basics first so people understand the technology first (making music from the mind with an EEG software) or jump into the thesis exploration first, but when I’ve done that, people have told me they felt lost because they just wanted to know how the tools worked first – when saying “can this system reproduce psychedelic experiences?” people first wonder ‘wait, what is the system?’ and what is it i experienced using it.

I can see move the Background section later, but I find it’s useful to explain how I got to making the EEG software in the first place, because that question usually comes up early when I present my work. I can shorten in, but also feel a tension to explain my background because of my conversations with Rothberg and Zurkow about identity and audiences won’t know by looking at me that I have prior experience in these various fields.

Not sure how to sort all this out.

Perhaps mentioning authorship opens up another can a worms and I can just focus on replicability of the experiences I had?

Exploring new sequences (written as outlines) on my notion page:

https://www.notion.so/jasonjsnell/2023-06-04-3ba2d573da204dcdb7f7b5a906d2a92b?pvs=4

Met with 5 reviewers this morning (afternoon Berlin time) so presented back to back 4 times, short break, then a fourth. I’m used to intensity in performance and presentation (I’ve also done 2 NYU incubators this semester with a lot of pitching). I recorded each session and took pertinent notes. I’ll record some of the poignant insights from each.

Gottfried Haider, idea: Iteration where each person with a sensor has their own speaker, like each person in a corner, and see if their hearts sync up. Need a very responsive heart rate sensor with short ms delay to that when the heart beats, it comes out of the speaker and the other people’s ears, brains, and bodies feel that beat and have a chance to sync up.

Enrique Garcia, explore MQTT vs WebRTC for transmission speed of brainwave data. Felt community projects had more impact than an individual experience.

Heidi Brant, Helped me realize that the only event where I spiraled up into ecstasy was the only show that I performed outdoors.

Tiri Kananuruk, if I did spatialized signals in the 50 speaker room, would I need several stations, several headsets? Have different stations with EEGs in different places? Or one computer in the middle with 2 EEG’s connecting to it, rendering spatially? Would I need multiple computers?

Adam Colestock, 1) When you scale up the size of a crowd or group, you lose responsivity 2) If you have multiple hearts being sonified, you’ll lose the trance effect, but could quantize the beats 3) Steven Strogaz about synchronicity

When practicing my pitch over and over, I saw what was out of order or irrelevant, so I was able to edit my deck to have a better flow this evening. I also switched from Google Slides to XD so I can have a more professional looking deck.