In the case of The Flowering Desert, I used the technique of representing an idea with a related timbre to stress the difference between the Scenes and the Mélodrames. Structurally, the Scenes tell the story of the planet, the comet, and the star. The operatic singing supports their non-realistic setting. The Mélodrames (and the Overture), showcase the point of view of the Measurer, a scientist witnessing the discovery. The text in the Measurer-centred sections depicts his/her thoughts at that time. There is no dialogue or direct interaction with any other characters. Therefore, to stress the difference, Roxanne (librettist and singer) and I decided to engage with the idea of representing the Measurer’s thoughts musically with a specific timbre. We decided to imitate the thought process by using sounds that would trigger an ASMR[79] response, in relation to the Measurer’s feelings of astonishment while observing the sky and the discovery, but also to a feeling experienced while watching a show in a planetarium.
The timbral design for the Measurer was then informed by some ASMR triggers, such as soft speaking, exhaling sounds, whispering, or mouth sounds. In the piece, the scientist’s thoughts are represented with what we called "whispered singing". This singing technique appears in two forms: “full” and “half” whispered. Full-whispered singing is a variation on whispering in which the airy sounds are pitched. Half-whispered singing is a variation on singing in which there is a conscious addition of airy noise in the vocal sound. The Measurer’s part is presented pre-recorded[80] and played in the rear speakers of the dome’s 5.1 system[81] to be experienced as a whisper in the back of the audience's heads, representing the Measurer's thinking.
Example #24
Use of the ASMR-based singing timbre to represent the thoughts of the Measurer in the Overture. Inhaling and exhaling sounds are used to introduce the technique before the start of the text. Full-whispered sounds are marked in blue in the score. Half-whispered sounds are marked in yellow in the score.