Saturday, February 01, 2014

Narrative

Music is typically recognized in the form of arrangement of sounds over time.


Culturally, musical styles emerge and diminish in impact and influence upon the public imagination according to various aesthetic, historical, and social forces.

Setting aside this grasp of form and formula altogether, contemplate sounds as basic elements to be manipulated according to aspects of artistic composition such as balance, line, spatial relationships, tone color, patterns, juxtaposition of dynamic reference points, and so forth.  From this perspective, I work at variance with general musical methodology, developing aural atmospheres reflecting sounds as they occur and are perceived in natural surroundings as well as social environments.

Friday, January 31, 2014

Anomaly

Listening involves more than what is generously termed "appreciation of music".


Perceptual clarity in apprehension of tone color, texture, and grasp of meaningful aural gesture, while easily developed, are rarely challenged and elevated in the normal course of the listening experience.

Depth of listening awareness enlivens consciousness of these subtleties and develops the inner ear of imagination.  This is an inborn faculty, far too often dulled by constant exposure to the mediocre and mundane, through both trite performances and poor quality sound reproduction systems.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Everywhere

Every setting offers sequences of perceptions.


Every sequence is uniquely that of the percipient.

In terms of sound, music- including cinematic sound design- is typically arranged to attract and hold the attention while directing it through a series of auditory events.

The compositions under discussion here, as the listener may notice in sampling them, are arranged to reflect natural perceptual fields in which the percipient is afforded opportunities to direct personal attention at will within aesthetically pleasing aural environments.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Imaginings

Perceive directly.  Otherwise awareness will be distorted through the filters of media culture.


At minimum, consider the reasoning that informs the various narratives of cultural events.  Clearly, some perspectives are realistic, others predicated upon the emotional desire for particular outcomes.

But reality conforms to no one; change is constant and inevitable, so it is wise to act in accord with nature, and with integrity.  Set aside those frames of reference outside one's individual approaches and interpretations of ideas and events, and reflect upon the significance of personal experience.

Listen, and hear the original imagination.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Finding Time

Social and cultural conditions-- and conditioning of behavior-- place time in the context of limits.


Within such limits life is constricted and state of mind grows fatigued.  It is natural to rebel against such temporal and existential burdens.

A fitting response to these conditions is one that expands perspective beyond narrow, linear attitudes toward the dimension of time through contemplative thought and activity.

Arts that reinforce heightened states of awareness contribute to a fuller understanding of the human condition, and, from a composer's point of view, it is through the arts of sound that such illumination may arise.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Mood, Tone, Atmospherics

Consider mood in terms of sound as evoking an emotional response.


Tone, then, may be considered to reflect the composer's attitude towards the subject of the work.

Essential, from my viewpoint, is a balanced perspective lending itself to a response of equanimity, whether in the process of composition or that of the listening experience.