Timber is a pop video made up of audio samples and video clips from a soundtrack to a Greenpeace film on the destruction of the rainforest. Four affective elements are involved in this type of music: sounds/timbres, music (the manipulation and organization of timbres), images showing the source of the timbres, and the rhythm of image editing. Audio samples include a chainsaw, a chattering monkey, and a singing human voice. The images of nature and sounds of industry that are used in the video are treated as musical elements. For example, musically, the sample of the chainsaw functions like an electric guitar riff. The dichotomy involved in Timber commenting on destructive machines yet being made possible by samplers (machines) makes the piece intriguing.

Works: Coldcut and Hexstatic: Timber.

Index Classifications: 1900s, Film

Contributed by: Karen Anton Stafford