Process and Nature

Change is the nature of reality; the observer is continually aware, through perception, knowledge, and memory, of continuous transformation as the way of the course of events.

So it is with the tone poem, or transformational ambient piece; these works reflect a continuum of variations, with shifts in form and mood and structure unwinding as they do throughout the journey of an hour, a day, or a season.

Accordingly, the listener is invited to experience immersion in dynamic sound conducive to reflective consciousness, as an alternative to music made predictable and bland by over-familiarity.

Soundscapes

Environmental spaces, captured by the inner ear of the psyche.

Memory in sound.  Public squares, hometown streets, foreign capitals, secluded haunts.

The mind, with aural sensations and imagery, in motion.

Manner of Knowing

Representations, by nature, are to some degree stylized.

The artist recreates perception of reality, not reality itself.

These tone poems are enhancements of the perceptions of places, given treatments to accent the real and the imaginative, with the aim of elevating atmospheres and states of mind.

Imagined Perspective

Allow free reign to thought and perception.

Observe, and regard possible viewpoints, near and distant.  Consider the sights, sounds, and other sensory impressions that could exist.

Hear.  Listen.  Create.

Listen, Hear

Combine and hold sounds in an encompassing perspective.

Contrast this means of sound design with music in the general sense. Listen to a performance or recording of a musical work repeatedly and later spend an idle hour in a dynamic sound environment away from music.

In each case both active listening and hearing in a passive manner take place: the former is directly occupied with sound while the latter is aware of it at less intense levels, yet still engaged.

Consequently, the listener may find interest waning in the general musical piece with repetition, while the nature of ambient sound design, patterned after that of the dynamic sound environment, continues to retain the listener's attention over time.

Intensity, Degree

The visual and the auditory share varied aspects of impression through the senses.

Regard degrees of color, tone, brightness, shading, and texture, among many others.  The eye and the ear of the imagination recognize their similarities and contrasts.

Subtleties such as these may be realized in expression, given clarity, and elevated beyond the mere glimpse that, more often than not, comes only briefly within notice before vanishing altogether.

Impression, Media, Mind

Completeness of an artistic work is not finality, but part of an expanding continuum.

A work such as a sound design or tone poem, for example, may be heard as an articulation of a single aspect of a composer's broader vision, representing a unity of impression conveyed to the listener who engages the experience in a personal way.  It is the same with poetry, painting, film, dance, and all expressions of this nature.

Over time, and in the context of numerous works, the way of the imagination manifests itself in the manner of dreams, scattering shadows and light as it stirs, changes, and moves again.