Musings
Essays and reflections on music, technology, and creative practice.
From Outsider to Trend — I Stay Beyond the Current
I remember back in 2015–2016, for the IRCAM Forum held in Taiwan, I drew up a big plan and created my first VR game integrated with my own music. At the time, the environment was such that musicians had almost no interest in technology or programming beyond music. Electronic or tech-based music was usually understood as works created with Max/MSP, and other tools were seen as too far from the mainstream, so no one attempted them. My motivation for doing this, in fact, was to escape the closed and lifeless atmosphere of the academic environment.
In 2018, I joined an AI company as a researcher. To be honest, I just wanted to make money, which was also a temporary form of giving up on my artistic career; at the same time, I was half-frustrated with the narrow scope of the music academia, frustrated that neither I nor the institution could ever meet each other's expectations.
Later, after seeing myself more clearly, I realized that what I am truly suited for is creation—making my own works. Today, the environment has reversed: academia now loudly calls for cross-disciplinary work and AI talent. What was once considered "rebellious" has become mainstream—but I know that path is no longer for me.
Fortunately, not liking the mainstream has always been my gift. What the mainstream lacks has become a capability granted to me by fate, giving me things to do in my creative work, allowing me to quietly develop my practice. Although there is inevitably some inner conflict—both hoping that my non-mainstream creations are appreciated, yet not wanting them to become too popular too quickly and turn into a mainstream model to imitate—I still hope to preserve my creative freedom in unnoticed corners. Perhaps, when I am older, my works will receive more attention or study, which may be just as well.
Beyond VR: Crafting Music That Speaks to the Mind's Eye
Thank you all for joining me in this demonstration showcasing my musical composition centered around environmental protection. The music will be played through 25 speakers in immersive ambisonic systems.
Before we delve into the music, I'd like to share the reasoning behind choosing the ambisonic system for my composition and elaborate on how I consider it a crucial tool in shaping my musical creations.
Since obtaining my DMA degree, my primary goal has been to bridge the gap between contemporary music compositions and wider audiences while pushing the boundaries of traditional musical forms. In 2015, I embarked on a journey of self-learning and experimentation with electronic music composition. By 2016, I had developed my first multimedia VR project using Google Cardboard, which featured a 30-minute composition spanning six movements. During this period, VR technology was still in its early stages of commercialization, and the quality of 3D objects was relatively basic.
After releasing the project on the App Store and showcasing it at various international conferences, I received feedback indicating that the music was remarkably "accessible" and comprehensible, even to individuals without a musical background, including children. This experience highlighted for me the transformative potential of music technology, particularly when presented in multimedia formats, in bridging the gap between academic contemporary music and the broader public.
However, my exploration of electronic music in recent years has revealed that the integration of new technologies into contemporary music also presents several challenges, as outlined below:
1. VR's initial promise was hindered by high device costs, complex coding, and limited audience access.
2. About Consumer PC Constraints. For example, in 2021, Web XR for the Metaverse gained attention, but most consumer PCs lacked the processing power and internet connectivity for effective 3D rendering, resulting in subpar WebXR experiences.
3. Audio Equipment Hurdles: Immersive music demands professional headphones with varying response frequencies. Smartphone usage for music amplification often compromises audio quality.
4. Leisure Preferences: Immersive music tends to require a quiet setting for full enjoyment. However, busy schedules make finding time difficult, even with remote access. In essence, if not easily accessible, the artistic work risks being forgotten amongst the demands of daily life.
To address the challenges outlined above, I have developed a solution, which is composing immersive music that draws from the imagery of the mind's eye, rather than relying on pre-constructed visual elements, all facilitated through the utilization of ambisonic technologies.
My affinity for painting, cultivated since childhood, has played a pivotal role in this approach. It has enabled me to craft vivid mental images as I compose music. Over the past three years, as I have worked to develop my expertise in electroacoustic composition, sound synthesis, and immersive ambisonic techniques, I have also discovered an ability to "see" specific colors in response to auditory stimuli. Furthermore, I am also able to create music that seamlessly corresponds to the colors and spatial dimensions of the mental images I conjure.
Presenting these compositions to diverse audiences, I have found that the imagery I envisage resonates with listeners of all ages, even those without formal musical training. This confirmation led me to shift away from multimedia musical works and toward a new dimension of music that evokes vivid mental imagery for the audience.
In the past, my VR compositions breathed life into the visual landscapes of my inner world. Now, these mental images are conveyed aurally, with the aim of eliciting similar imagery in the listener's mind.
By presenting music in this innovative manner, the marriage of music and visual effects is liberated from the confines of playback devices. This opens up a boundless realm of creative possibilities and flexibility for both composers and audiences.
This text was first shared as part of a lecture at the 30th Anniversary IRCAM Forum, Paris, March 2024, introducing the piece Glacier.
Reflections on Words and Beauty
A quiet reflection on words, action, and the beauty we carry within.
Sometimes, I feel a quiet urge to say something—
a flicker of thought, gone before I can hold it.
When I was younger, I loved to speak.
To question, to critique, to point at the world's rough edges—
and some people even liked reading those words.
But time has its own rhythm.
I've come to feel that talking belongs to the young;
as we grow older, too many words begin to sound like complaints.
So I started to fall silent.
This stage of life asks for doing, not explaining.
When something feels wrong, I try to mend it.
When I see a gap, I fill it quietly.
Experience teaches that waiting for others rarely helps—
better to move gently, and begin.
Many of my friends do the same;
each in their own way, shaping something beautiful out of patience.
My strength is small.
And whenever I feel that I've done well,
I know it's not really me—
it's God moving through me.
Whatever remains, I leave in His hands.
My eyes have changed too.
I used to see what was missing;
now I see what is already whole.
There's little left to complain about.
Life reveals itself simply—
when you look for beauty,
it becomes beauty.
Beyond the Sound
Music, to me, is not merely heard—it blooms within.
When melody arises, it opens a space where light and sound become one, dissolving the boundary between self and creation.
In that moment, I am no longer the composer; I am the music, and the music is me.
Through sound, solitude transforms into transparency.
Each note carries the pulse of the cosmos—the rhythm of stars, rivers, and breath itself.
And though silence always returns, its echo remains within, a quiet flame that waits for the next awakening.
My work seeks to capture that threshold between the infinite and the human—to let listeners feel, if only for a moment, what it means to become one with sound.