That which has been possible in the past remains viable moving ahead, but it is necessary to engage foresight rather than cling to infantile idea and emotion.
The issue is the application of music to social and cultural situations in which music, "as we know it", is not optimal. This is always the case when music demands the listener's full attention, and, though it is less intrusive when it simply invites attention, it may still become a distraction.
Reading, thinking, conversation, and things of this nature do not benefit from distractions, and sound developed and expressed for these scenarios must be conducive to being relaxed, yet alert.
Brian Eno's ambient music develops rarefied musical events to evoke this stage of consciousness; I have been developing, over the past decade, a means to a singular, and to the extent possible, an over-arching, non-musical, atmospheric and environment effect with disparate implications.
To paraphrase Poe, it is a total effect designed as a singular, overarching expression, suitable for the aforementioned occasions, and for the expansion of consciousness. Yet, as I have since verified in academic practice, it has additional, peculiar effects, such as allowing, thus increasing, individual focus of attention on other activities, and providing extended relief from such challenges as ADHD.
While not intentional, this is nonetheless a proven fact, verified by objective results, and a welcome artistic development, with possible applications to PTSD as well. This necessitates continuing experimentation, study, and review.
Some define the role of the composer as an author or creator of "art" as "serious music".
While this may be useful to certain people, and particularly those who adhere to general cultural norms related to music, it is a view that is inimical to wide-ranging perspectives on art and sound.
These latter viewpoints cannot be conveniently restricted or labeled, but they are in many ways notable as modern, dynamic, individualistic, and avant-garde, though these terms simply suggest starting points for an aesthetic understanding those bound to the former are unlikely to pursue.
Light, space, and atmosphere are conducive to evolved thinking.
Sound in the aesthetic environment enhances, but does not dominate. This is the nature of refined, or, if you prefer, critical thought, in that it is self-sufficient, highly informed, tempered by experience, and internally motivated. Thus the composer rejects bombast and predictability, holding to a vision defined by intellectual curiosity and perceptual stimulation.
Acclimate to sounds not meant to be grasped, to music not subject to being internalized?
All things are different today than they were yesterday, and they will be different tomorrow. As all things return to their source and find different forms, ultimately to grow and change, decline and rise once more, so the sounds of life come and go in all ways, and perspectives change.
Painting became nonrepresentational, film and literature, nonlinear, before once again flowing, as do all the arts, in diverse directions. Music changes, as does culture, with listeners, and listening as well.
The concept of sound as art has few limits, yet it is so broad as to be essentially indefinable.
In musical terms, there are numerous variations between styles and genres and starkly evident differences between music and noise. Fundamentally, however, most listeners will easily identify elements of rhythm and percussion, melody, harmony, lead instrument lines and repeated phrases as musical.
Compositions emphasizing various degrees of formlessness, unpredictable patterns, instrumental colors and shadings, diversity of textures, and collage effects in place of the aforementioned elements are also possessed of beauty and charm to listeners, particularly in ambient modes, while they do not conform to traditional ideas associated with the experience of music.
In literature, the characteristic distinctions between prose and poetry are clear; with music, perhaps a similar differentiation will be made, in time, to contrast traditional musical forms with those designed to be appreciated and enjoyed according to other paradigms.
Mindful of pattern, direction, aesthetic sensibility, and emotional content, the artist must free the design to suggest itself if it is to have integrity, balance, and purpose.
One does not tell the waves to reach the shoreline in a certain way, or leaves to fall in a particular configuration, or clouds to form and dissipate according to a preconceived notion.
With clarity of observation and subtlety of method, a deft brush stroke, a critical camera angle, or a thoughtful juxtaposition of musical elements, art may manifest itself as if by invitation.
Perhaps the future is present at times before we take notice of it.
My wife and I enjoyed the rare good fortune of the opportunity to attend Brian Eno's Illustrated Talk this afternoon at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville, N.C., USA. A great pleasure and an elevating experience, both for Mr. Eno's wit and his grace in delivering an artistic and scholarly presentation of ideas and concepts of genuinely profound cultural importance, it was also the finest example of public speaking I have ever seen, having been privileged in the past to attend talks by, among others, Carl Sagan and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Anyone given the chance to see the Illustrated Talk should not miss it, particularly if you embrace a love for the future of music and the cultural arts.
Elements of sketch music include representations of sounds within environments, some completely natural and others reflecting social settings with their equally unique panoramic and intimate aspects.
Both environments, the one entirely natural and the other predominately human, are subject to common phenomena, such things that effect sounds as atmospheric conditions, geographic features, variations in light and darkness, echoes, reflections, concentrations and dispersals of sound waves, and, most particularly, change over time.
These are not content-specific sounds, and so do not necessarily dominate thought, awareness, and perception. As sound collage, such music (or non-music, if you prefer) is designed to respect the consciousness and activities of listeners and to enhance the surroundings with clarity and subtlety.
There is always a distance between art and audience.
It is sometimes necessary to extend one's perspective beyond the limits of ones experience altogether and perceive from such an unexpected point of view.
In the deck of the Tarot, the card of The Hanged Man.
Just this minute my wife looked up from a crossword puzzle she is working on, smiled, and said, "I know this one: 'Brian ___ of Roxy Music'".
That is certainly a sign that a name has gained common currency in our culture. Interestingly, it refers to Roxy, rather than ambient, music, considering Eno's association with the band is mainly found in the first two Roxy Music albums.
