"Sound Myths - Exploring a New Storytelling (Universal) Language" by Mythologist William George Paul and willipaul.studio

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C O N T E N T S 

- Prelude - 

- Introduction - 

i. What are the building blocks of the sound myth language? 

ii. Principal Values and Themes 

iii. Related Investigations by Willi Paul 

- Selected Media - 

- Research Questions - 

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- Prelude - 

The soundscape composition is a form of electroacoustic music, developed at Simon Fraser University and elsewhere, characterized by the presence of recognizable environmental sounds and contexts, the purpose being to invoke the listener's associations, memories, and imagination related to the soundscape. It grew naturally out of the pedagogical intent of the World Soundscape Project to foster soundscape awareness. 

sound as transaction / door to consciousness 
sound as learning catalyst / tool 
sound is eco-alchemy 
sound from Nature - appreciation and awareness 
sound archetype creation, breaking and mending - transmuting feelings and values 
real to imaginary - back and forth - and beyond 

The browser as the new cave wall. 

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- Introduction - 

Phonology is the study of sound. Semiotics is the study of symbols and meaning. There are strong arguments that music inhabits a semiological realm which, on both ontogenetic (origination and development) and phylogenetic (study of the evolutionary history and relationships) levels, has developmental priority over verbal language. 

Samples and field recordings are part of The Sound Myth: a is new virtual / electronic language. Sound myths drive learning, creating and sharing values for a new global mythology. 

Sound Myth is a hybrid storytelling language: text +sound to story where each individual takes a journey and ends up at town square. Not a classic music video - not rock'n'roll - no singing heads in sound myth videos. Sound imagery and the imagination build plot lines, themes and outcomes. 

Where soundtracks can be one long, unvarying track, the South Myth experience is usually joined by multi-tracks, part of the initiation experience. Text is easier to understand, more universal where audio is a freer, more imaginative force which can be more universal in meaning. 

It is apotheosized that South Myths can activate and connect the community at the consciousness, sub-consciousness and the semi-consciousness levels where sonic cues and triggers activate both environmental and sound archetypes. 

An over-arching concern is the lack of relevance and spark that the old myths now exhibit, and that new myths are needed to propel humanity past the end of the world! 

i. What are the building blocks of the sound myth language? 

Text / Graphic Symbols 
Noise / Samples 
Sound Symbol 
Nature sounds 
Sound / Text Metaphors 
Artifacts 
Environmental & Sound Archetypes 
Soundscapes (often in stages) 

ii. Principal Values and Themes 

Sustainability - The organizing principle for sustainability is sustainable development, which includes the four interconnected domains: ecology, economics, politics and culture. 

Resilience - the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

Permaculture - Permaculture is a system of agricultural and social design principles centered around simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems. 

Transition Movement - promotes grassroot community projects that aim to increase self-sufficiency to reduce the potential effects of peak oil, climate destruction, and economic instability. 

The Gaia Principle, proposes that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic and self-regulating, complex system that helps to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet. 

Joseph Campbell's journey, initiation, (community) hero triad; universal meaning and bliss. 

iii. Related Investigations by Willi Paul 

Journey Map | the Chaos Era | Myth Lab | Neighborhood Myth Program 


- Selected Media - 

New Myths (Text Stories) 

Liana's Sacred Hands - New Myth #67 
Halo and Kat Wing of Caledonia Alley New Myth #38 
Noah's honey rust fortress (junk yard permaculture). New Myth #21 
The Forest Grail - New Myth #106 

Kid's Soundscape 

wet land, a children's video New Myth #43 
fear share change grow compost community hero hug - children's video - new myth #73 
Stream Soil Bark Canopy Sky - SoundDream Journey by the chaos era. Kid's video & questions 
River - Land - Sky - Moon - Sun - The Permaculture SpiritShield Song. Edu-Video + Student Exercise and New Myth #85 
canción de iniciación de skull crane satellite - kid's video & new myth #107 by willi paul studio / planetshifter.com 
Leopard Noise - What happens when we use sound samples instead of human speak in Nature cartoons? 

Early Symbolic Language Studies 

Permaculture Teaching Video #3: Permagram Symbolic Language for Global (Post-Crash) Permaculture Tribes 
Permaculture Ritualizer: A Kid's Tool for Writing New Stories, Symbols, Songs & Myths. Video. 
SYMBO: A Symbolic Permaculture Supported Language for the Post-Chaos Era. 
Myth Sparks and New Archetypes - An eGroup Text Stream Process for Creative Collaboration. 

Archetypes and Symbols 

Soul Gate: Symbols and Archetypes in the Chaos Era - Lesson Plan 
Pre-Mythic Symbols and Archetypes - Biomimicry and the Hunters and Gatherers - Lecture Outline 
Big Bang Mythology - Steve Tibbetts and 7 Sound Archetypes 
Journey Mapping - Sound Archetypes and the New Mythology with Research Questions 

Consciousness, Sub-Consciousness and the Semi-Consciousness 

mythbrain self-portrait by willi paul - dedicated to the joseph campbell foundation 
Permaculture, Carl Jung and the New Archetypes 

Sound Myths 

Mythic Sound Ring - Solar Flare - New Myth 22 
listening to the evidence from the apocalypse by The Chaos Era. Sound Myth #7 
Last Song @ Black Hole Lodge - Sound Journey #4 - Sonic-Storyboard & Video 
SAVANNA - Sound Myth #3 - Video + Sound Storyboard 
Sound Myth - Journey 2 
Oceanside Trek - Sound Myth #8 by the chaos era 
Last Song @ Black Hole Lodge - Sound Journey #4 
resilience in our age of dementia - permaculture sound cartoon. SCORE Video. New Myth #62 
DUSK - Sound - Symbol - SCORE Design for Children's Permaculture Stories. Video. New Myth #61 
initiation @ nine finger canyon - New Myth #60 with Geoff Maddock 

Album by Willi Paul and the Chaos Age 
The Chaos Era releases: Mythology of the Sound Spores 

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- Research Questions - 

How does text or sound serve as a kind of code or syntax? 

Can text or samples stimulate or trigger environmental archetypes into sound archetypes? 

Describe the synergy (two-way relationship) between text and sound? 

Can one corrupted symbol wreak havoc on the collective unconscious - collective consciousness? Example? 

What are some of the sound symbols in your neighborhood? 

Are there really any new symbols? Archetypes? 

Can you experience a story without a storyteller and an audience? 

Do you know any sacred sounds? 

What are some sound symbols in Nature? In agriculture? 

How are symbols and archetypes helping to create the new mythology? Consider this stream: 

values > symbols > traditions & rites > archetypes > initiation > journey > community hero > mythology > values 2.0 

Are we justifying destroying Nature by using corrupt archetypes? Examples? 

When are cultural artifacts represented by symbols? 

From: Soul Gate: Symbols and Archetypes in the Chaos Era - Lesson Plan 

If we can feel the power of myth from storytellers, then why not from sound archetypes? 

Can a Sound Myth be a series of integrated Sound Archetypes that have a universal theme and message? 

How do we translate or transmute sound archetypes into visual cues, messages, initiations and global meanings? 

Describe the relationship between sound archetypes and ritual? 

How do you know when you hear / feel a sound archetype? 

Are sound archetypes connected to memories and new feelings? 

What is a mythic experience? 

Can sound archetypes help to create a new language, code, or artistic key? 

From: Big Bang Mythology - Steve Tibbetts and 7 Sound Archetypes 

How do Nature Sound Archetypes compare to Human Sound Archetypes? 

Are sound effects understood instinctively? 

How are sound symbols, sound archetypes or songs connected to memories and / or new feelings? 

How do spoken poems use sound archetypes? 

How does the transition (semi-consciousness) inbetween conscious and unconscious facilitate the production and recognition of sound archetypes? 

Can new sound archetypes be deposited into the unconscious? Is this a 2-way street? 

How do sound archetypes contribute to the initiation, journey and (community) hero from Campbell? 

What components in rock music utilize sound archetypes and metaphors? 

Can sound archetypes die-off? How? 

How do we translate or transmute sound archetypes into visual cues, messages, initiations and global meanings? 

Can silence be a sound archetype? Is silence a sound symbol? 

How do you understand the elements that help to produce a sound myth? 

Can sound archetypes support meditation? 

How do Nature sounds support social initiation? Ritual? 

Are there Universal Nature sounds / meanings / experiences? 

How do we choose the Source for Nature Sound Samples? Where do you retrieve your samples? 

Best example of Nature's storytelling via sound? 

How does sound covey emotional and rationale meaning? 

From: Journey Mapping - Sound Archetypes and the New Mythology 

Can Urban - Nature artifacts (i.e. - metaphors or symbols) connect our memories to our fears? 

Can you connect any Urban - Nature artifacts to the human extinction crisis now underway on Earth? 

As new artifacts emerge from our artists and into our daily experience - from the subconsciousness into consciousness living - can they change your routines and create new songs and stories? 

Do you know any myths that incorporate Urban - Nature artifacts and archetypes? 

From: Climate Archetypes and Our Emerging Urban - Nature Artifacts - Plus Study Questions 

How do electronic sounds relate to Nature sounds? 

Imagine what the metamorphosis sounds like to the butterfly?! 

What parts of your life are like a metamorphosis? 

Can metamorphosis be a spiritual and sacred change in you? 

How would you go about assigning a sound sample to Nature or animal? 

How do visual and auditory cues work together, or distract, or enhance the video experience? 

How do we interpret sound symbols vs. graphic symbols? 

What helps you study and learn new video material? 

Are video captions helpful or redundant / distracting? 

Should sound samples make literal sense? 

Do you want to hear a narrator (or voice-over)? 

Noises vs Sounds: how are these elements similar / different? 

How are sounds like analogies and metaphors? 

From: Metamorphosis Song of the Monarch Butterfly - An Eden-Maker Video for Kids with Study Questions 

What happens when we replace human voices with photo stills? 

What do the sound samples symbolize? 

A "Nature Sound Cartoon? "What? 

Disney animates with human voices and behaviors with animals in Nature. Are the animals more human? 

From: Leopard Noise - What happens when we use sound samples instead of human speak in Nature cartoons? 

What does Soil sound like? What does Bark sound like? 

How does the text play a role in your understanding of the journey? 

Are still photos incompatible for your usual expectation for videos? 

Did you like the music translations (samples) for the bark and soil and sky? 

Could you teach global kids with this technique? 

How does the sound relate to each stage in the journey? 

How are you aware of the transitions between the stages? 

What is more immediate or more powerful: the sounds or the text? 

Did this work connect you to Nature? If so, how? 

From: Stream Soil Bark Canopy Sky - SoundDream Journey by the chaos era. Kid's video & questions.