My new album, Metacognition, will include thirty minutes of uplifting instrumental prog-metal ballads. I wanted to apply Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia Learning into an audible experience. In the spirit of reducing cognitive load, I decided to keep it instrumental, at least for its initial release. My idea is that vocals could easily distract if one were wanting to use this as background music while focusing on other tasks. Though there is a progressive construction to the music, it does employ a spaced repetition of familiar elements in contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity (CRAP) as ID’s may be familiar with in terms of visual design principles. Finally, I wanted to mix this in a way so that there is enough white space (another visual design element) to distinguish each of the instruments. What I think I ended up with is music that doesn’t distract, but rather encourages focus and energetic drive. So far, I’m looking to release this album next month and it will be made free to listen to.
