In this short Black Friday series, we will dive into the darkness and its many shades. Do you know how the color black sounds? Or even better, what the sonic representation of black space according to artists is? Sharpen your ears, and prepare to be amazed.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
In this article on the sound of black space you’ll find
It’s a shade not a color
Did you know that technically speaking, black and white are not colors? Of course there’s the light prism that reflects all the colors, and combined they form something our eyes perceive as white. On the other hand, black absorbs light and in nature it can exist without any.
There have been many discussions on whether black and white are colors, since psychologically speaking a color is something that we associate with a feeling, and besides that, white and black do function like a regular color when we talk about them. A more scientific approach shows that white is a saturation of light, and black is the absence of it.
So that means white and black are shades, and not colors. In this series we’re going to explore the sonic representation of the absence of light. How does darkness sound, and what kind of music do artists make that name themselves after this shade? In this first part, we explore the sound of black space.
Interstellar Black Space by Brandon Coleman
Brandon Coleman is one of those people that knows how a true funk soldier grooves throughout space. This genius on the keys goes where no George Clinton, Funkadelic, or Dr. Dre has gone before. On his 2022 album Interstellar Black Space he explores the many shades of spacey soul and funk. Check out “Interstellar Space” by Brandon Coleman to hear his vision of the blackness of space.
It’s jazzy, so the chord progression contains a lot of chords that could be a bit overwhelming for beginners. To make it easier you can toy around with our Premium Transpose feature to find chords you do know. Once you’ve done that, just use the Loop feature to learn the track bit by bit.
Black Part 1: Blackspacing by Black Space Riders
The power of the riff is one that holds great strength in expressing a thought, a vibe, a shade. Black Space Riders use this tool to the max when it comes to recreating the darkness of space, as you can hear in “Black Part 1: Blackspacing” .
As you can see, the chord progression is exactly the opposite of Brandon Coleman’s track. A riff doesn’t need too many chords, maybe even just one. Try to hear the nuances and jam along.
Black Space by Da Buzzar
The tracks we’ve discussed until now were pretty straightforward in their style and genre. Time to get a bit more abstract, don’t you think? We can romanticize black space with funky tunes, or just interpret it by playing around with the sound shades of a chord. But what if there’s more to it?
“Black Space” by Da Buzzar shows us that there could be, and it does not have to be pleasant. Just like the Black Space Riders song, this track resolves around one tone or chord. What Da Buzzar does with it is something else. We suspect that you won’t be jamming along, but you should still give it a listen. Even if it’s just for art’s sake. (And no, we’re not getting into a discussion about what art is right now.)
Happy jamming!
