Latest Version - April 24, 2026
Fixed Stereo Electronics
Artists - John MacLachlan (composer)
Movements - N/A
Duration - 6'30"
Difficulty - N/A
Composition Opportunity - University of British Columbia Introduction to Composition 2025/26 Assignment Six
Burgering Babel… Mmm, burgers…
Oh, right, it’s supposed to say, “burgeoning.” Ah, well, I’d better fix that in the next draft…
Only two days before the episode airs? It’ll have to do!
This piece explores the gradual degradation of prose by comparing two episodes of The Simpsons, with one excerpt from season two, episode nineteen, “Lisa’s Substitute,” at 16’30”, and the other from season twenty-three, episode twenty-two, “Lisa Goes Gaga,” at 18’49”. Both episodes show Lisa (Yeardley Smith), meeting a mentor: the teacher Mr. Bergstrom (Dustin Hoffman), and Lady Gaga (herself), respectively. In both scenes, Lisa’s mentors are about to leave, but whereas Mr. Bergstrom delivers heartfelt words of comfort as Lisa begs him to stay, the newer episode has Lisa reassure Lady Gaga that she “did help.” The former resolves Lisa’s episode-long character arc with simple, clear, in-character dialogue, while the latter uses prosaic prose to resolve nothing significant. The former features well-integrated humour and appropriate characterisation, while the latter’s humour is as effective and subtle as its cameo-dominated character-writing, and this scene is worse in both respects than a pistol used as a TV remote.
To depict the difference in prose musically, I distinguished two sections. The first features clear voices, emphatic repetition, motion into the centre, and vaguely minor sonorities, all hinting at the emotional weight of the writing. From the original clip, I extracted background chords, and, as Lisa becomes desperate, the repetition quickens, and the pitch climbs. In the second section, I obfuscated the dialogue, using phasing, reverberation, stretching, and other techniques. Alluding to Plato’s warnings about the potentially degrading effects of extremely rhythmic music, I incorporated occasional metred elements. Throughout the second section, unnatural shrieks and booms appear against glimpses of humanity, as the final shreds of literacy gasp for air.
Performer - N/A
Festival/Concert - University of British Columbia Introduction to Composition 2025/26 Recital Six
Venue - University of British Columbia School of Music Room 113, 6361 Memorial Rd., Vancouver, B.C.
Date - April 24, 2026