According to Wikipedia the Shepard Risset Glissando (the Shepard tone) is an auditory illusion where a tone appears to continually ascend or descend in pitch when in fact it goes no higher or lower.
The Shepard tone is used quite extensively in the film industry as an auditory device in a cinematic score since it is understood to create a feeling of unease or tension in the listener.
Listening as I was recently to a radio documentary called 'The Ghost In The Machine', when at a point approximately 27 minutes in, the narrator gives an example of the tone both ascending and descending, something struck me. Now, I am no sound engineer but listening to these two tones, I hear strong similarities with some of the noises that Dave was making in the studio at around the time of 'The Raven' and 'The Gospel' albums, specifically the departure of the alien craft that closes the latter album and the run out on 'Genetix' on the former album.
The band always said that there was a bad or negative 'vibe' going on at the time. Was it the case that Dave and the band were aware of the Shepard tone and along with the heavy substances in use at the time, aspects of the music they were surrounding themselves with was a contributing factor to the perceived negative atmosphere within The Stranglers' camp at the time?
Just a thought.
The 'The Ghost In The Machine' documentary can be found here.
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