Richard Powers' "Modulation"

About the author:
Richard Powers wrote "Modulation." Powers had gone to college for physics but switched to English/rhetoric. He has written ten novels to date. The narrator said the inspiration for this story came to him after his MP3 player died, the German word "ohrwurm" was stuck in his mind, and a few weeks later he played his SATB quartet.

Explanation of the title
The definition of modulation is changing from one key to another. The story is split up into each of the notes of the chromatic scale, which is twelve notes, each being a half-step apart. The chromatic scale is very small. The title is significant because the story brings up the fact that there are only so many notes a musician can work with to create a song, and using the chromatic scale would allow for more interpretation.

The magazine this story appeared in, Conjunctions, publishes "innovative" stories, poetry, criticism, interviews, and more from upcoming and established writers. The stories are selected collaboratively.

Character
Character and setting are the most important aspects of this story. The characters are initially revealed directly; the narrator sets the stage for each of the four protagonists' highly personalized history by giving a back story about what they did and what they are now doing in life. Toshi Yukawa was a renown hacker who used to pirate music until the Recording Industry Association of America charged him with a $50,000 fine and four years of jail time, and now works for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Marta Mota is a Brazilian journalist writing in Iraq on musical recon operations. Jan Steiner is a newly retired ethnomusicology professor at Princeton. Mitchell Payne is an electronic music artist, performing at a chiptune event in Sydney, Australia. Names help establish the character's nationality. The four characters are in various parts of the globe with only their love of music in common. It is hard to see at the beginning how they tie together.
The characters develop further through indirect characterization via their narratives. The story is told by each character one at a time, almost like a circle. Toshi opens the story with his current situation and the discovery of the virus, discovering the virus will destroy all music-capable devices by December 21st. This leads to the virus affecting Marta first, then to Mitchell also having a tune stuck in his head which could be a new genre. Their personalities build even further, with their personal concerns becoming clear through their thoughts. Mitchell is not concerned by his mounting debt accruing from attending college; he is more interested in creating a new subgenre of electronic music, to not rip off someone else’s style. He confused genres with minor differences, such as acid groove, acid croft, acid techno, and acid lounge on a recent exam, and did not want to fall behind while new genres were crossbreeding daily; "Someday soon a garage band out in Cos Cob was going to string together the last viable melody, and music would be pure plagiarism and mash-ups from then on." He is determined to create something new. Toshi is also adequately motivated in his field of work. He "took too long to realize the danger of the virus", as it spread rapidly, destroying MP3 devices in its wake. Toshi thought it may be a virus developed by the RIAA, his employer, to punish music pirates, then realizing he used to pirate music prior to his jail sentence.
The characters do not directly talk to one another. The only way they connect is through the "ohrwurm" the virus emits.

Setting
"Modulation" is set in the present day. The story spans over a three day period, from when Toshi discovers the virus on December 19th, to when it detonates on December 21st. December 21st is also the last day on the Mayan calendar in 2010, symbolizing the end of the world, or in this case, the music world. The setting is also symbolic because the characters are in different countries, yet are all involved with music, and affected by the virus. The virus itself is a symbol, creating an "ohrwurm". The "ohrwurm" stuck in each person's head is sublime. Music is often considered sublime, something so powerful and aesthetically pleasing that cannot be accurately described.

Language
"Modulation" is full of jargon, used to help stylize the characters. The Roland MC-909 Groovebox, iPod Nanos and Touches, Zens, loopers shifters, sequencers, MPCs, and MSX emulators are all examples of MP3 players or specific sound equipment and synthesizers. Pump It Up, Alternate Reality, and Donkey Kong are examples of specific video games whose music one of the characters used in his songs. Norton and Skype are computer programs, Norton being an anti-virus program and Skype being a popular VoIP and webchat program. Even specific composers are mentioned: Mozart, Cappelmeister, Palestrina, Brahms, and more. Powers narrows in very closely to specifics in the music world.
This use of jargon may be unfamiliar to some because of how specific each item described is. If the reader is not well-versed with computers, the characters that utilize Skype or contact Norton will not be familiar. Not understanding what musical equipment Michael uses will go right over the reader's head because unless if you are a musician, what does being "the greatest real-time Roland MC-909 Groovebox performer" mean when you have no idea what it even is.

Allusions
Allusions are a reference to another object, place, or literary work. The allusion of the music virus destroying all music-capable devices refers to the end of music, and the end of the world in a sense. The day the virus executes is December 21, which is the last day on the Mayan calendar in 2012. Marta reporting in Iraq alludes to the Iraqi War -- it is never specifically mentioned but given that she is in the present day and in Iraq writing about the use of music in war time, we can conclude the war is still occurring. These catalogues of allusions help the reader juxtapose themselves into a modern, familiar world.

Symbolism
The virus seeks to destroy this indescribable phenomenon of music, "the only fundamental human pleasure with no survival value whatsoever." The last lyrics Marta hears before her music device crashes, is, "You'll hear me again someday." Mitchell notes that there are so few notes in the Western scale that they can only be combined in so many ways before all music will become recycled. With the virus deleting songs and spreading, all songs will eventually be gone. It is the end of the world for music. This can allow music to be recreated and new genres to be discovered. Modern devices such as Zunes, Rolands, and iPod Touches are mentioned. The social setting involves middle to upper-class characters, as they each have careers, own name-brand devices, and have modern-day electronics.

Points of View
The narrator has unlimited knowledge about the characters, but the character's knowledge and abilities are limited. Had the story been told differently, we would only have known one of the character's viewpoints, which would not show how integrated music is into everyone's lives. It would also lessen the threat the virus poses.

Tone
The narrator is unbiased toward any of the characters. It is up to the characters to set the tone through their narratives. The virus affects each person differently - Jan embraced the "ohrwurm" after he fell in the snow. Mitchell is able to transcribe the "ohrwurm" in his head into a new genre. Toshi thinks the virus and its aftermath is disgusting, wishing the programmer had put his talents to better use.

Theme
The theme of the story is how music is a large part of the character’s lives. Marta can't get a melody out of her head and Toshi is trying to get people to stop stealing music. Jan and Mitchell show two different worlds of music. Jan shows the older, more sophisticated type of music (canonical music). Music means something and it should be enjoyed by all. Mitchell uses computers, iPods, and modern technology to produce his music. The characters strive to create something new in a world where creating what they feel is new has probably already been done.

Structure
Each character is motivated by various aspects of music - Toshi is motivated to try and figure out the virus that is hacking portable music players. Marta is motivated to study how music affects those on the battlefield and to get a song out of her head. Mitchell is motivated to try to create new melodies via digital equipment, which isn't traditionally considered a musical instrument.

Evaluation of the Story
We gave the story an A/B rating. In order to understand the story, you need to recognize the modern devices and music technology, ranging from synthesizers, to MP3 players, to computer terms. We liked how contemporary the story was, written by someone who is familiar with devices from our generation. We also liked how the characters were interconnected -- at the beginning it is hard to tell how the four narratives will come together but they resolve by the end. The downside to the story was how small the resolutions were, leaving the reader wondering about the characters afterward. Marta could have also played a larger role. She studied music while in Iraq but her role was reduced once she caught the "ohrwurm".