Local May_Final.qxp_002houston 4/23/15 12:20 PM Page 43
DECONSTRUCTING SOUND
WITH JACKSON JHIN
Perhaps it’s because I’m married to a sound engineer, but of the five senses, sound is the one that’s most
revered in our house. Given that predilection, I took it as a happy coincidence hearing about JACKSON JHIN’S
recent TEDxUND talk. A born and bred Houstonian studying at Notre Dame, Jackson’s interest in the shared
human experience of music started early, heavily influenced by his older brother’s piano teacher. Jackson wanted to compose music more intuitively, moving away from the reliance of traditional composition and exploring
resources outside the classroom. Ever wonder why you press skip on Pandora before that first chord hits, or
“hold it” at your local bar (even though you’re dying to go) ’cause your favorite song is on (come on, we’ve
all been there)? Well, Jackson knows why and it’s not what you might think. Strip away everything else and
you’re holding it due to just the right mix of predictability vs. variability in your music. Think about it. The
human brain is always looking for patterns to follow along with, familiar enough to
play with, but not so familiar you get bored. (Attention is tough to come by these days!) Through
his use of technology to create music, Jackson poses the challenge: If there were no culture, no society, what
would music be to you? What would you like/dislike without these preconceptions?
This made us start t