In relation to the research on workers’ conditions at Amazon, we decided to engage with the recurrent idea of inhuman repetitiveness and relentlessness at work from the interviews, represented in the answers seen in 2.1.2.1.1 Autohoodening: The Rise of Captain Swing, such as “we are not treated as humans, not even as robots”. To represent the corporate giant in the piece, I decided to appropriate a sample from an Amazon commercial that featured a minimalist soundtrack in C[58]. This music seemed fitting to the company, especially if we look at the use of minimalist music in media “as a sign for the machine and rationality” (2014, Eaton: 3). My idea was, however, to use it more as a representation of "dehumanised assembly-line labour” (1975, Gottwald), an idea derived from early reviews of minimalist music. Therefore, this short motif in C is resignified from the positiveness of the corporate video that it accompanies to representing the idea of relentlessness, also associated with the company[59]. This melodic gesture is then used as the main musical material for the whole work.
In Autohoodening: The Rise of Captain Swing, borrowing is used to represent each of the two entities in conflict: the exploited workers and the Amazon corporation. With this technique, we engage with both research about the folk custom of hoodening[50], and research on the workers' conditions at Amazon[51].
As a collective, Infinite Opera and Post Workers Theatre[52] borrowed many elements from the custom of hoodening for this production. This includes themes, script-writing style in rhyming couplets, costumes, Morris dance choreographies, or theatrical rituals. From the composition perspective, I engaged with the custom of hoodening by borrowing a song performed in the past by the hoodeners, Poor Ole Hoss[53]. In the song, there are two points of view: the owner complaining about a horse not fit to work anymore, wanting to get rid of it or letting it die, and the horse reflecting upon its decay and its fate. This song seemed fit to represent the workers in conflict, being forced to work relentlessly to not be replaced. I transcribed the song, changed the lyrics[54], and slightly modified it at certain points in response to the plot[55] (Example #14).
I also used pastiche, as a technique of imitation or borrowing of a particular music style, to compose a reel tune and a riff to be used in some Morris dance numbers of the piece. This also informed the instrumentation choice for this work: an extended folk band with a fiddle, pipes, horns, accordion, and percussion[57].
An example of the use of the appropriated “Amazon tune” and the scanner motif is the main aria of Alexis the Scanner. In this scene, the machine, preoccupied by the resurrection of Captain Swing, resolves to fire the Lead Picker (Example #15).
This idea of subverting a commercial, corporate symbols or icons to make a political statement has been widely used, for example, famously by the artist Banksy or, notoriously in Birmingham, by the artist Foka Wolf.
Similarly, I transcribed the sound of an Amazon scanner from another commercial to inform the composition of the character Alexis the Scanner[60]. The transcription results in an, approximately, ascending C#-E-B quick gesture. However, I decided to keep just the ascending shape and the quick gesture, slightly modifying the harmonic aspect to match tonally the Amazon gesture presented in Figure 18.
The “Introductory Song” of Autohoodening: The Rise of Captain Swing (Example #16) presents the borrowed musical materials mentioned before (hoodening song, Autohoodening reel, Amazon tune, and the scanner motif) in combination with other borrowed elements relevant to the piece such as:
- Hoodening style costumes[61] - The iconic hoodening wooden horse is, for example, reconverted into an equine scanner in this piece.
- Morris dancing – The workers dance repetitively with simple Morris dance steps around Molly Bot, using this character as a maypole. We also embrace the typical sound of the ankle bells.
- Folk theatre character introduction style – Each character is presented using the folk theatre formula “in comes I…”. We also borrowed the languages from the performers, stressing Amazon’s use of vulnerable immigrants in their warehouses.
- Hoodening rhyming couplets – All the characters speak and sing using this writing style, typical of hoodening[62].
- Background factory noises and machine beeps from Amazon fulfilment centres[63].
Example #16
Presentation of different borrowed materials in combination in the Introductory Song. The Amazon tune is presented from the start [00:00:03] and is played throughout the whole scene. After an introductory narration contextualising the film, the Autohoodening reel starts a Morris dancing section [00:00:55]. During this introduction number, the reel tune and the dancing are used structurally to precede the introduction of the different characters. The scanner motif is present in these introductions [00:01:14]. The hoodening song Poor Old Associate appears first in C major [00:04:30] before the introduction of the mechanic characters, and then in D minor [00:07:33]. This harmonic change is explained in 3.1.1.1 Autohoodening: The Rise of Captain Swing.
Example #15
Alexis starts the aria using the scanner motif [00:00:01] and the pitch contour of the Amazon tune [00:00:09]. The chorus loops a short motif created with the pitch material of the Amazon tune divided in two voices [00:00:16]. Alexis then sings using the Amazon tune with a rhythmic design derived from the Poor Old Associate hoodening song [00:00:39]. The climax of the aria uses the same pitch and rhythmic material with octave changes to expand the vocal register to increase the lyricism, showcasing the preoccupation of the scanner with the resurrection of Swing [00:01:23]. After Alexis’ aria, during its speech to the Line Manager, the chorus slightly varies their line to be more static, still using the same pitch material [00:02:05]. The melodic line from the climactic point of the aria will also be replicated by the Line Manager, following the termination orders of the machine [00:02:50].
Example #14
Borrowing of a hoodening song. Comparison of the hoodeners 1983 version of Poor Ole Hoss[56] with a version of Poor Old Associate, from Autohoodening: The Rise of Captain Swing.