Still, Aware

Contemplative attention to sound takes notice of incremental change, does not anticipate, and does not follow, but rather becomes immersed in the calm dynamics of atmosphere.

This is childlike perception, uncannily clear in its directness, as compared to awareness distracted by external pressures.

Unattached to idea, emotion, imagery, and the vicissitudes of experience, a state of absorption in sound and setting invites composer and listener alike to engage the real and the imaginative with lucid grace.

Concept and Effect

Perception influences consciousness and state of mind.

Conscious awareness of subtlety and nuance may be learned, developed, and practiced through expression and communication, and not only in the arts.  Everyday circumstances are laden with opportunities to see, listen, hear and know reality and the forces that propel events both large and small.

These are matters of choice, and desire.

Within Being, Within Atmospheres

Perceptions, conveyed to consciousness, inspire memories, emotions, and ideas.

These, in turn, may inspire expression and representation of things perceived and things shaped by experience, in forms concrete and abstract.  These are gestures of sound and vision.

Tone Forms

Combinations of tones conjure textures.  Some suggest lightness and clarity while others evoke density and opacity.

In equilibrium and continuous movement, these shadings reflect the nature of environmental settings, whether real or imaginary, and may enhance the listener's surroundings and state of mind as well.

Extending Perception

Surrounding environments are to the ambient sound designer as views are is to the landscape painter.

The varied and changing aspects of the setting contribute the elements of composition, presences to be recognized, interpreted, delineated, and represented through the sonic media.

Artifice, Ideas, Vision

Any representation reflects the artist's perceptions and sensibilities.

These are individual aspects of the writer, poet, artist or composer.  Whether they in fact serve the art, or serve to make the art function for other purposes, is inevitably clear, as is the work's nature, and whether it is for the most part transient or permanent.

Currents, Waves, and Impressions

A broad view of cultural phenomena suggests prevailing influences that subject the senses to untoward pressures, often to enervating effect.

The inner ear responds to subtlety and sensibility, and ambient musical compositions are especially conducive to revitalizing the intellectual and emotional faculties, providing works to which the listener may respond, rather than simply react.