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Creating A Polyalbum: The Mystery of Grey Matters

What is a Polyalbum?

In most music, different textures and ideas occur simultaneously. This may take the form of polyphony (meaning multiple independent voices), polyrhythm (multiple independent rhythms), or even polytonality (two or more tonal centers). The goal I set for myself was to create a "polyalbum": two full-length compact discs that can be listened to individually, or at the same time. The Mystery of Grey Matters represents two years of intensive composing, recording, and mixing. It features hundreds of talented musicians, including the CSB/SJU Orchestra and All College Choir. Through music and spoken dialogue, this polyalbum tells the story of Gregory "Grey" Matters, who develops bizarre mental powers. Only by listening to each disc (L, R, and L+R) will the listener unlock the secrets of Grey's mind.

A Deeper Look into The Mystery of Grey Matters

The dreamer never knows he is asleep.

From one state of consciousness to the next, he slips easily down a continuous stream of thoughts and emotions. Because the present world seems so vividly real, he can never imagine a world beyond it.

Young Gregory "Grey"” Matters develops the opposite problem. A second, equally vivid world begins to peek through, in the form of dream-like hallucinations. This “double consciousness” threatens to overwhelm Grey’s mind to the point where he can no longer distinguish reality from dream. Grey must decide: will he struggle to maintain a normal life, or will he embrace his condition as a gift and journey inward to a world unbound by time and place?

In The Mystery of Grey Matters, we experience the mind of a man split between two realities. The music, sound, and dialogue provide glimpses into Grey’s life throughout the course of two discs, L and R. However, a new perspective on his story emerges when both L and R are heard simultaneously on the third disc, L+R. The Mystery of Grey Matters is thus a “polyalbum.”

From a compositional standpoint, a polyalbum must be cleverly crafted so that two discs stand on their own as individual pieces of music. At the same time, their combination must remain cohesive as a rich new piece of art. This compositional process is a balancing act between simplicity and complexity. Since the human mind can only attend to a limited amount of audio information at once, the listener’s focus naturally shifts back and forth between discs. In this way, the traditional compositional technique of musical dialogue plays out on a grand scale, with one disc “soloing” and the other “accompanying” at various times.

In The Mystery of Grey Matters, the added element of spoken dialogue creates a different form of interplay than that found in an ordinary musical duet. At times during the polyalbum, we hear one character saying two different things simultaneously, further blurring the line between Grey’s realistic external and dreamlike internal experiences. Part of a scene’s “realism” depends on how we interpret its soundscape. While some sounds are perceived as originating from an external environment, such as a rock concert, other sounds seem more internal, such as an ethereal-sounding heartbeat. Still others have ambiguous origins, such as the doctor’s distorted voice. Like Grey, we are challenged to comprehend these multiple layers of reality.

Much of what we hear actually occurs outside Grey’s consciousness, including the sung narration and most of the music. Like a film score, these sounds occupy another realm heard only by the audience. Yet they play an integral role in understanding Grey’s experience. For example, Grey’s psychological tension reveals itself during moments of musical tension. Because music possesses this unique ability to convey emotion, the mood of a scene may be dramatically redefined by the polyalbum effect. What was once a lighthearted love song can become a deeply romantic ballad or a mentally disturbed dirge, depending on the accompanying soundscape. The polyalbum’s musical dichotomy in many ways represents Grey’s own condition. Just as each disc affects how we perceive the other, Grey’s life is intrinsically shaped by each state of consciousness he experiences.

This double world established by the dialogue and music may lead listeners to wonder: is Grey suffering from schizophrenia? We are presented with only a few snapshots of his life, perhaps not enough to draw conclusions. From what we do hear, however, it is apparent that Grey and the people around him have come to associate schizophrenia with “insanity.” Even as a child, Grey seems to become quickly aware of this disorder’s negative connotations. His own mother is afraid to confront the term, and diagnoses him with an “active imagination.”

Grey suggests two other possible causes for his condition alongside schizophrenia: radioactivity and the devil. These reflect the stigma often attached to mental health problems. Imagine that Grey suffers instead from a physical disorder, such as leukemia. He will likely be viewed as a normal person with an unfortunate physical condition. However, when diagnosed with a mental disorder, Grey is labeled “crazy” and judged by others to be a very different person. What if Grey does just have an overactive imagination, and he’s dreaming the whole thing? Would he still be called insane? Or would we, as listeners, consider his character more “normal”?

Despite any dehumanizing labels placed on Grey, we can ultimately relate to him as a character. He yearns for companionship. He skips homework to write love songs. He gets his car stuck in the snow. His heart beats time until, like each of us, he must leave this world. What happens after that? Perhaps it’s best left a mystery. The dreamer will only know upon waking.

The Premiere

The Mystery of Grey Matters was premiered during my SJU senior composition recital on May 2nd, 2008 in the SBH theater. Following an improvisational performance by The Cagetones, the L and R discs were played simultaneously. L sounded through the front speakers, while R sounded through speakers I set up behind the audience. Projected onto the stage was an abstract, slowly-evolving video created by Jeff Schwinghammer and I to fit loosely with the music. Check back - I've had several requests for me to upload the video!