Fire and Force

Give free play to the imagination and enlarge the range of consciousness.

To seize an artist's meaning may pose difficulties; to contemplate an expression as it exists is to come near to its power, and from this vantage point sense its virtue.

Sound and Shape

An image forms in the mind.  It may be visual or auditory.

Find the tools, develop the methods, utilize the medium, bring forth the message, the perception, the impression. 

Elements of direct experience pass through the prism of imagination, emotion, intellect and the senses.

This is transformation, bearing the mark of the artist's hand and sensibility, by which the common and ordinary become profound and uncanny.

Nature, Meaning, Revelation

A work of art reveals a perception, an experience, communicated in concrete terms.

Among essential qualities of energy, character, and significance, a work of art in sound is expressive of meaning; it may fail to conform to conventional expectations in terms of generic musical forms, but its tones, patterns, and combinations thereof have peculiar emotional and perceptual value of their own.

Thus it is that, beyond enjoying the simple pleasure to be taken in an atmosphere brightened by ambient music, the listener's interest may be drawn to a sound design's archetypal and symbolic expressiveness in ways that further enhance the listening experience.

Imaginative Power

Not fact, but sense of fact; not the knowledge contained in the reproduction of a perception itself, but that of the singular impression it presents the artist. In this way certain qualities of music, or the presentation of sounds in aesthetic context, shadow elements of other arts rather than imitate prevalent musical forms.

Consider the invitation to listen to the composer's perceptions, to think and feel, if possible, in the imaginative spirit of the artist. This need not be an imposition on a mind attuned to popular culture, and asks only that the listener be in a receptive frame of mind or mood to listen without the need to "catch" the tune or respond to a beat or rhythm.

Presently, if the listener is so inclined, it may be possible to detect a "poetic" quality to the design in sound, a feeling or impression of a different, but not unfamiliar, sense of reference. Something along the lines of a walk in a park or open field may come to mind, as opposed to following an arrangement of a song or standard instumental work. 

Within this emerging atmosphere there are patterns, colors, tints of sound, textures and spaces, shapes and lines and distances, along with an awareness of movement; all of these elements are most often associated with the visual arts. Temporal movement itself may be perceived as more easily borne than is usual with the general passage of time, as is often the case with aesthetically pleasing experience.

Combinations of sounds in this manner are transformational by design and intent; bearing the impress of the artist, they sketch the panoramas of imagination.

Vision, Manipulation, Effect, and Regard

Neither camera nor audio recorder is a perceiver.

The scientifically-inclined understand perception as a function of sensory organs and brain; another perspective, that of the philosophical thinker, will just as likely consider this function as one of awareness and mind.  All animals perceive through the senses, of course, but they do not make the conscious fine distinctions mentioned.

The making of such contrasts is a human trait, as is the function of reason.  This is an evaluative function, and through reason, attendant emotion, cultural circumstances and available materials artistic expression is realized.

Conception, Elaboration

Fundamentally, creation is both intuitive and analytical, being at times spontaneous and inspired while at other times developed with care, patience and exceptional effort. 

The difference between the two is in the process, not the nature, of the creative act.  In the interval between concept and expression, work takes diverse forms according to an artist's methods.  Trial and error, chance, and unforeseen events or accidents have their place in production scenarios as well, whether the artist is of a meticulous and logical disposition or is one who relies more on instinctive and unconscious faculties.

The individual artist's temperament and perspective bring unique effects to his or her creations, as do imagination and vision.  The value of work ethic impacts every aspect of the effort as well, and should never be underestimated, as it is essential to art in every form.

Elemental Expression

Mist rises and flows over and through the surroundings.

This is freedom of form, fineness of response, delicacy of movement, a force that effortlessly overwhelms.

Brittany, August 1978.  For an evening hour of strange beauty, the sound of a Breton bagpipe, the binioù kozh, drifting among the gardens of Carnac, embraced in just such an atmosphere. 

To apprehend and convey the indefinable is to dare perception with purpose.