Podcast: The Process with Dr. Doug Bielmeier

In addition to having similar last names (always nice to meet another -meier), Dr. Doug Bielmeier and I both teach at Northeastern, enjoy experimental music, and could chat about distilling the artistic process, identifying success, and unpacking identity for days. I had a blast chatting with him for his podcast: The Process: Music + Creativity this summer.

Here’s a bit of the conversation, download the entire episode HERE! Thanks, Doug, for having me!

THE SEED

Maria: There are moments that I am performing the work of somebody else, and then there are moments I am performing my own work or catalyzing an idea that is the creation of a lot of different people. So, I have been thinking alot about this question “what is your process?” Can I distill it into one sentence or two sentences, unfortunately no, I can't, but I do know that in all of my work there is the presence of a seed or catalyst. When I'm working in a public space, the springboard is usually where the project will take place -  a park? a bridge? Am I creating for the water? And when I'm creating for more traditional spaces, there is always a narrative, a person, an idea, a story, that brings the work into being. While my medium is music, “something else” is often the seed that begins the process. I crave an outside stimulus, then want the music and sound to drive the process from there. 

Doug: So, you have this idea, maybe it’s a political stance, maybe an idea, maybe it's the color red -  so you have this impetus to create now. What do you reach for? This is an inside joke, but you’re sitting in a room full of gongs, which do you reach for and where do you go next?

Maria: Yeah, this is the hardest moment. Where do I go? I am sitting in the middle of the studio and actually have all of these instruments, a computer, etc … and I find myself needing specific parameters at that moment, so I actually have to say, “Alright, the color red is the seed, so I am going to find everything that is red, period, those are my tools.”  Sometimes those tools will end up completely different by the end process, but I have to start somewhere and I have to give myself parameters. Just like when improvising - you have to just start. Then, start to edit. 

Doug: You know, I think it's interesting you talk about actually limited resources and I think it can be really daunting for a young creator who can pretty much do anything at this point.  You can use whatever tools you want, so I think that's interesting that you are talking about having to sort of limit that sometimes, just to get something done. 

Maria: Absolutely, and that limitation isn't the final product, which is something I've had to learn over time because you feel like “well, this is the decision I made, I have to keep it!” It is hard to admit or let go of an original idea, but you had to start somewhere, and allow the process to take over. So, maybe you are not going to write that piece for 12 drums, and you have to feel ok with scraping the original idea and starting over.

PROJECT: NECKLACE OF COSMIC RAYS from RUMBLE

Doug: We heard it at the start of the episode we heard of a piece “Necklace of Cosmic Rays” and this is a piece that you wrote as part of the project called “Rumble” that was at BLINK Cincinnati. Maybe, you could just give us a little forward or idea about this piece and what we're actually hearing on the podcast is actually just part of perhaps a larger work.

Maria: This was an installation that the BLINK Festival commissioned last year. I am a Cincinnati native, so it was really exciting to work on the project. The company Brave Berlin, which is the multimedia company that started the festival, said “we want to light up the Roebling Bridge, what would you do if the bridge was your canvas?” and I said “oh my gosh. This is incredible.” 

So, I looked at the bridge - at this architectural piece - as form and a sonic playground. I went and sampled the bridge itself. The bridge is nicknamed the “Singing Bridge” because of the beautiful hum that sounds when you drive over it. This project just amplified this idea. When sampling the sounds, I struck metal beams, slid mallets across grates, and found hollow elements and low thuds sounds while also grabbing some field recordings of the area. Then, you look at the bridge from a form perspective. Close your eyes and imagine a suspension bridge - the cables go up and dip down in the middle and then goe up and down on the other side. So, right there is a beautiful representation of the music form like A, B, A prime.

Doug: I noticed when I listened to the piece there was this sort of three sections. There's also this idea that I noticed - this echoing or sort of delay. It was happening to the drums and the percussion sounds, and also the synths. Even though each section was a little bit different there was this sort of an echo or a repeat that continued. Was that something that was related to the bridge or visuals or was that a compositional thing you were interested in?

Maria: Visually, for this piece, I was thinking a lot about each side of the bridge communicating with one another. So, when you watch the synchronized lighting score, the baseline always comes from the left side which is the Ohio side and the melody always comes from the Kentucky side. This communication idea also influenced a lot of the counterpoint in those two lines and so you actually see them cross one another visually. 

That seed idea probably led to some sort of need for a delay or echo on the sounds, which was also inspired by the sampled sounds. Some of the samples just sounded better with a little help. *laughs*. It is hard to say what exactly came first, the desire for delay or need, but there was the very specific intention in the conversation between the two sides of the bridge. 

Doug: Oh wow I love that! Because in the first section, the first minute and a half there's the synthesizer idea - these intertwining synths - then there's this sort of percussion that comes in and then goes away and the necklace speaks again. So, really what you are saying was this sort of one end of the bridge and another end of the bridge kind of communicating. Wow. 

IDENTITY

Doug: How do you feel about composers who define themselves by these creations?

Maria: I actually feel like my own personal identity is shifting. I am finding joy in things other than creating music - like my family. I have a daughter now and I was really nervous when I got pregnant. I was like, “Oh my God! How am I going to work as hard as I am now and how am I going to be able to stay on top of things? How's my identity going to change? How are people going to look at me differently?” and I had a lot of fear going into the shift into motherhood and I just think I was so silly! Now, I am more inspired than ever. I have a deeper understanding of who I am, what I love, and who I love than I ever did before - which is then feeding my artistic creations. So, I think this idea that “you are what your art is,” is too much pressure. Be who you are, and let your art be a major part of that. 

COVID19 has been so difficult because there's this disassociate with performance, with people, with humans - which is where the seeds for my art begin! So, this whole idea of only associating yourself with your output is really dangerous from a mental health standpoint. It is something that I struggle with, so I am also just trying to be kinder to myself and allow myself to be many things at the same time -  allowing my identity to grow and be fluid.