Скачать или смотреть 'Back to The Breath' - Yoga Documentary and Meditation (with music by Arcana)

This project aims to explore the relationships surrounding yoga and nature with regards to human connection, while simultaneously providing my collaborator, Amy, with promotional materials for their personal and professional branding materials. As such, this project serves several purposes; both for the audience and ourselves as the creators of the documentary.

The original intent of the project was to produce ambient music which would serve as the backdrop for either a curated yoga flow, or one of the many classes that Amy teaches; in an effort to both advertise Amy's brand as a yoga instructor/wellness coach, as well as showcase my own production style that could then be applied to production libraries.

Further development of the project led us to pursue a documentary style video which exploring the relationship between human beings and nature, with specific regards to healing and self-preservation. We developed four overarching themes; (The Breath, Stillness, Balance, and Movement) which served as 'chapters' and inspired four different pieces of music.

Each chapter's track was also developed with a specific limitation or methodology in order to most authentically represent the narration. Popular concepts associated with spiritual communities, such as binaural beats and solfeggio frequencies, were also utilized within the productions in order to fit within the context of ambient and meditative music.

The start and end of the documentary both feature the same piece of music, entitled 'The Breath' (shortened to 'Breath' in the final documentary to serve as both a chapter title as well as a reminder), and is used to accompany the opening and closing of a mediation. The idea is to encourage the audience to experience this documentary as if it were a meditation; and the experience that they have as a result of the music and narration should feel as though it were internal, subconscious experience. This allowed us to play with an interesting idea; as the visual component of the project begins when one might traditionally close their eyes during meditation, and fades to black when the viewer would return back to experiencing the external world around them. 'The Breath' serves to prime the audience for a calm and tranquil experience and gently guides them back; hopefully in a slightly more relaxed state.

The track entitled "Stillness" utilizes two frequencies exactly four hertz apart (210 hz and 214 hz), and pans each tone fully to the left and right, respectively. This binaural beat technique is speculated to encourage theta wave activity in the brain, promoting deep relaxation, stress reduction, and enhanced access to the subconscious (Hill, 2022). This piece serves to further encourage a deeper state of being and Amy's narrative begins here as a reminder that it is okay to be still in a society that thrives on forced productivity.

The track titled 'Balance' was developed using generative "procedural" techniques. The decision to work within the confines of a generative systems came from both academic interest in Ableton's powerful instrument building and coding capabilities, as well as a desire to break out of the confines that determine structure with regards to music production. This was in hopes of serving the theme of 'balance' - exploring "uncomfortable" territory and balancing familiar techniques with less conventionally creative ones. There's a unique unpredictability here; however it does not take too much attention from the narrative and, like the others, serves as an ambient backdrop in exploring the necessity of both the 'good' and the 'bad', though the insinuation here is that this ebb and flow is less of a dichotomy; we must embrace everything in between.

The final track prior to the closing meditation, and reintroduction of 'The Breath' is entitled 'Movement'. It serves as the backdrop to our original intent: the choreographed yoga flow. This is the only percussive piece, and was not necessarily developed with limitations in mind; outside of the need for Amy to be able to curate her flow around the tempo of the track. It is the climax of the project, and serves as a reminder following balance; that yoga is both stillness and movement in tandem. It allows for the journey of the documentary to be similar to that of a novel; and is the precipice before reaching a conclusion.


Credits:
Tyler Marsh - Producer/Engineer/Videographer/Editor
Amy Thwaites - Narrator/Choreographer/Writer

For inquiries, please contact:
@[email protected]