Aural Imagery, Natural and Artificial

Humanity whispers and roars, as do the winds and waters.

Sounds of avenues, hills, bays, deserts, town squares, rivers, heights and entire regions have their respective charms and interests.  Crowds, wildlife, machines, and meteorological phenomena play disparate yet oddly interdependent parts in creating an infinity of dynamic atmospheres through which the listener and observer may pass.

Voices and vibrations shaped by spaces, at times open and reflective, or dense and muted, close and intimate, then distant and curious, encounter the senses and impress or nearly slip past awareness.

Hear the essence; listen with prescience.

Impression, Response

The perception of a moment given to memory may be direct and clear or distorted by multiple factors.

Experience may be colored by emotion, for example, or rendered fragmentary by distraction or a lapse of reason.  The depth of understanding that gives an event or situation meaning may deteriorate or increase over time.

Lucidity and clarity of awareness lend themselves to contemplative, creative analysis and artistic expression, yet they may not always be the final aesthetic goal of a visual or musical work.

Sometimes desirable total effects may be better served by representing the vagaries of experience rather than idealized views of reality.

Atmospheres, Environments

Phenomena surrounding and encompassing consciousness.

Pause and contemplate; turn the attention inward and outward as well.  Consider what has been and what will be.  Look beyond mortality, and listen with the unifying principle of existence.

Observe.

Act as the agency and instrumentality through which that observation is expressed.

Imagined Perceptions

The world.  Events.  Consciousness.

The sound of the mind wandering.

Distance and Direction

As a listener, one may be led to believe that one is either fully engaged and appreciative or one is not.

For the most part, one expects to listen intensely or engage emotionally with a song or instrumental work.  In doing so one is focused upon and diverted by external stimulus.  Thus for some listeners music provides an escape from the ordinary.

But this is not always the case, nor need it be.  Observe the widely differing degrees of attention given to various sounds, diverse passages of music, external atmospheres, etc., and it is readily apparent that a vast spectrum of awareness and concentration is at play.  Furthermore, sophisticated listeners are not always interested in merely following musical progressions or being dazzled by instrumental wizardry; music can also be an inspiration to thought, creativity, study, and numerous other aspects of internal motivation.

Clearly, the composer's palette and manner need not be limited by narrow definitions of musical perception.

Sound Complexes

Aural constructions created individually in various forms combine in unique fashion to produce total effects that may be experienced in a vast multiplicity of ways.

Tones, note clusters, lines and dynamic densities interact in ways similar to the kaleidoscope or film collage, emerging, unwinding, dispersing and recombining forms that defy effortless recognition, predictability, and the auditory "hooks" that make disposable and ultimately boring generic sounds.

Repeated listening over the course of time offers continually fresh perspectives on works such as these. Recordings do not change, but awareness of their content, atmospheres, and moods, as well as the mental and aesthetic stimulation they provide, offer the listener continually interesting musical engagement that will not be dated or outmoded.

Sounds Unheard

Acclimated to cultural norms over time, one may be unaware of possibilities outside the limits of one's personal experience.

The more rich and deep one's knowledge and experience becomes, the more certain one becomes of the extent to which one knows nothing.