Bear the Astronot: Electronic Production Expands the Artist's Hip-Hop Alternatives Electronic production can do more than establish a beat or keep time. Production can help Bear the Astronot tell a story through the use of electronic elements such as synthesized sounds, programmed rhythms, silence, distortion, vocal processing and textural changes. The production is a component of the message the song is attempting to convey.
Hip-Hop is the Basis, Not the Barrier
Hip-hop is the basis for Bear the Astronot's music. Bear the Astronot's hip-hop influences include rhythmic elements; lyrical delivery; sampling; repetition; beat creation; and the relationship between the voice and instrumental. These hip-hop based elements form a foundation that will enable Bear the Astronot to experiment with different forms of production. Bear the Astronot's hip-hop influences do not limit Bear the Astronot's ability to create hip-hop-influenced songs. Electronic music; alternative songwriting; cinematic atmospheres; sound collages; and other methods of producing can be utilized by Bear the Astronot to serve the idea. Genre is a tool for creativity, not a barrier for expression. Each project produced by Bear the Astronot is connected to hip-hop, yet each project has its own unique style.
Production Creates the Setting
The production of a song establishes the environment of the song prior to a lyric communicating a specific idea. A large, reverberant sound can establish distance. An immediate, dry vocal can establish an uncomfortable proximity to the listener. An electronic pulse repeating can establish movement; machinery; anxiety; persistence; or anticipation. The same words can have entirely different meanings depending upon the environment created by the production.
Therefore, instrumental selections are very important to Bear the Astronot's work. The production is responsible for more than just establishing a musical style. The production is responsible for establishing the emotional and physical environment in which the story occurs.
Synthesizers Can Act Like Landscapes
A synthesizer does not have to mimic a traditional instrument. A synthesizer can become weather; light; distance; movement; or landform. Textural changes occurring slowly can resemble a horizon opening. A harsh tone can appear suddenly and disrupt a quiet section similar to an unfamiliar object appearing in a landscape. Electronic layers of sound can appear to be massive in size; while a single unstable note can cause the entire environment to appear fragile. These possibilities relate directly to music created from experiencing elevations and environments across Arizona throughout Bear the Astronot's life. Arizona's diverse geography includes Flagstaff's mountain pines and winter air; Grand Canyon country; the sagebrush and open high desert of the Navajo Nation; Phoenix; Tucson; and Sonoran saguaros. Each location evokes a different emotional response. Electronic production provides Bear the Astronot a flexible method for expressing these experiences without reducing them to literal sound effects. The landscape is transformed into feeling instead of being portrayed as scenery.
Rhythm Can Alter the Listener's Perception
Rhythm affects more than momentum. A consistent beat can provide confidence and momentum. An inconsistent or interrupted beat can cause instability. A beat arriving late can make a voice appear as if it is resisting the structure surrounding it. Removing drums from a song can cause familiar lyrics to suddenly appear vulnerable. These decisions enable the production to alter the listener's perspective without altering the topic of the song. The beat can support the narrator; challenge the narrator; or reveal something that the narrator did not state explicitly. This interaction is why Bear the Astronot's music rewards multiple listens.
While words may guide during initial encounters with Bear the Astronot's music, rhythmic details may become clearer during subsequent encounters with Bear the Astronot's music.
Vocal Processing Creates Secondary Characters
The human voice can occupy more than one role within a recording. A clear lead vocal can serve as the primary narrator of a song. A remote layer of vocals can represent memory. A distorted voice can represent confrontation; interruption; technology; or an internal thought that has become difficult to control. Layering; filtering; pitch treatment; placement; and repetition can transform one performance into several perspectives.
However, this does not indicate that every vocal effect used by Bear the Astronot represents a literal character. Rather, Bear the Astronot utilizes the sound of the voice to convey narrative information. Bear the Astronot can utilize that information to blur the lines between what is being spoken; remembered; imagined; or heard from somewhere else.
Silence Is an Element of Arrangement
Electronic production provides access to an extensive array of sounds; however, using additional sounds is not always beneficial. Silence can create scale. An unexpected opening in an arrangement allows listeners time to acknowledge what has disappeared. A pause can provide more importance to subsequent words. A spare passage can communicate isolation or uncertainty more effectively than additional layers of instrumentation. The surrounding space around a sound dictates whether it appears large; close; or important. For Bear the Astronot, restraint can be equally expressive as density. A production does not necessarily need to exhibit every technique available. A production only needs to support the emotional center of a song.
Texture Can Link Different Genres
Combined genres work best when they appear organic rather than decorative. Electronic texture should not appear solely because a track sounds experimental. Cinematic sequences should not be included solely to establish scale. Each selection must relate to a song. This tenet enables Bear the Astronot's music to flow seamlessly among hip-hop; electronic music; alternative songwriting; spoken language; and atmospheric sound design. The connecting factor among these disparate genres is not a rigid formula; rather, it is Bear the Astronot's creative perspective behind each selection. Listeners can identify with worlds regardless of how they are constructed using different materials. Listeners can explore Bear the Astronot's catalog to discover how different releases utilize production to create distinct atmospheres.
The Studio Functions as a Writing Instrument
Songwriting does not necessarily cease once lyrics and chords are established. Within a studio environment, arrangement and production can continue the composition process. Relocating a vocal line; changing a drum pattern; eliminating an instrument; altering a texture; or creating transitions can reveal what a song requires to evolve into something complete. The recording process functions as a part of the writing process. Bear Cole's dual roles as songwriter and producer are particularly relevant because they enable Bear Cole's ideas as a writer to influence his decisions as a producer within Bear the Astronot's work. A lyrical concept can inspire a sonic element; and a sonic element can alter the direction of a lyric.
Each project produced by Bear the Astronot requires a distinct sonic world.
Not every Bear the Astronot release requires the same production vocabulary. DUST continues to evolve as a Snowball Album enabling new songs to expand and complicate its evolving world. Other projects – including ARIZONA; Ghost Heart; and Trip the Light Fantastic – provide additional entry points into Bear the Astronot's catalog. Each title suggests a unique emotional and conceptual space. Production can react accordingly. A project may need weightiness and intimacy. A project may require motion; scale; fragmentation; or a more open atmosphere. Consistency results from artistic identity; not from employing an identical selection of sounds on every recording.
Electronic Sounds Enable More Storytelling
Electronic production expands what a Bear the Astronot song can encompass. Electronic production can transform a voice into memory; cause a rhythm to evoke travel; convert silence into distance; and establish environments that exist only within a recording. Electronic production can connect experiences related to lived geography with imagined realms; and provide abstract emotions with tangible shapes. Technology is significant; however; its intent remains human. Bear the Astronot's objective is not to showcase equipment or production methods; but rather to create an auditory world capable of supporting a story. Listeners can engage with Bear the Astronot's music; explore curated playlists; or view how visual components extend these auditory worlds. Bear the Astronot exists within an independent creative ecosystem created with 1st Drop Music; which enables connection between original music; production; release formats; video components; and narrative elements across a broader creative catalog.