Week 30 7/28/19

The first step is to set aside subjectivity.

Observation, perception, comprehension, without falsification. These are central to creative perspectives.

Week 23 2/9/19

No need for explanation or justification.

One accepts, or one does not.  There is a difference between art and propaganda, and it is profound.

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Week 7 2/17/19

Know, with will to vision.

Much goes unseen.  Far more goes unheard.  This is to say, perceptual awareness is dimmed by a passive focus on perspectives reinforced by conformist attitudes.  To become knowledgeable beyond this mental and emotional bondage demands conscious intent to expand critical thinking.

Ambimusica.com

Week 32 8/12/18

Atmosphere, time, and place.

What you hear are impressions imbued with meaning.

Ambimusica.com

Week 22 6/3/18

It is a curious thing to create something markedly different from previous forms, if similar in nature.

Research tone poems, Erik Satie, Debussy, Cage, Eno, yet move continuously away from both "music" and "noise". The aural aesthetic remains, while musical paradigms diminish.

Those who are said to have heard music in paranormal or "enchanted" settings describe a kind of enigmatic impression of beautiful sounds that cannot be recollected or re-created in musical terms.

Such impressions may lend themselves to altered perceptual awareness, changes in attention, emotional perspective, and cognitive acuity, or even elevated states of consciousness.

Ambimusica.com

Week 18 5/7/17

Many find "ambient music" desirable as a retreat from the stresses of contemporary life.

This is worthwhile as a beginning of understanding.  Plainly, we are conditioned to certain ideas that produce expectations of life and our place within it. We expect "intensity" and it is expected of us. We expect "extremes" and believe them to be "normal" within the scheme of things.  But this is a kind of programming that is deleterious to elevated states of being and consciousness.

It is necessary to discern what stresses in our experience lead us to clearly appreciate the cultural expressions that directly oppose them.  Gaining a fundamental sense of such things, rather than ignoring them in a specious "quest for authenticity", makes perceptual change permanent, rather than simply possible.

Ambimusica.com

Setting and Psyche

Contemplative space is itself an artistic accomplishment, whether created or discovered.

Noise renders even the most comfortable and visually beautiful place squalid, burdened by intellectual and spiritual neglect.  Everyone has endured this, and it is far too common.

Composer and listener share common bonds, and first among them are goals of elevated experience.

Stranger Things

Focus concentration on the visual image by listening, and hearing.

This, too, is perception, experience, creativity, and, in a larger sense, the projection of aesthetic ideas sans subjectivity.  That which is distant, that which was silent, is present.

Tone of Being

Certainly it is understood that music does not imitate nature, but is based upon symbolic knowledge that is applied through learned behaviors in various forms and musical genres.

But I am interested in taking note of the perception of sounds as they occur in diverse settings, both natural and "man-made", and creating works that complement the ways one actually encounters and experiences sounds, that is to say, by hearing passively in ordinary circumstances, yet simultaneously being able to take time to listen actively and contemplatively to the unique character of atmospheric environments as well.

Setting and Soul

Arrive at the understanding of balance.

Equilibrium and moderation clear the mind, enhance emotional well-being, and elevate the spirit. This sense of symmetry will be reflected in artistic representations that convey clarity of perception as well as aesthetic principles that lend completeness to the work, whether it be a visual or musical piece.

Silesia

Every environmental setting possesses unique ambience and mood.

One need not look beyond one's own familiar environs to grasp the unique character of a place, even in terms of different times of the day.  Variations may be profound, and these afford the composer singular sounds and associated events for contemplative reflection and artistic expression.

Treasures to be illuminated, the myriad aural images, both subtle and startling, to be discovered in diverse places, serve as reminders of each individual's distinctive perceptions and perspectives.

These are the spirits of time and place that contribute to the essences of geographic reality and the human experience, regardless of their historic backgrounds or personal connections.  If these prove distractions, set them aside, and engage the extraordinary qualities of atmosphere in the fullness of their presence.

Psyche and Civilization

The character of artistic works mirrors the consciousness of the artist in the context of social, cultural, and historical forces.

As peculiar compositions, I do not believe my works are in opposition to the frenetic sturm und drang often associated with contemporary life, but reflect, to the contrary, small advancements in the art of listening that are complementary to the continuing progress of cultural and technological experience.

Variables and Intensities

A wide range of experience exists between conscious listening and unconscious hearing.

Music, for the most part, is intended to dominate attention.  To the extent that this occurs, perceptual experience is reduced by varying degrees as listening awareness is concentrated on pulse and force.

Consider sound as an art form; rich auditory imagery is the primary element and focus of imaginative listening, and thus is given ascendancy over others.  The role of rhythm, percussion, melodic "hooks" and so forth is reduced or eliminated altogether, as it negates or contributes little to the total effect of atmospheric images in dynamic motion.

The result is not simply a different form of music, but becomes, in fact, a different way of listening.

Black Mountain School: Prescience

Prescience will be released on CD August 12th.  This is the "Producer's Edition" studio audio format.  It is available for pre-order at Amazon.com as listed at the link below.

The MP3 version is tentatively scheduled within the next ten days and will retail as a single 74 minute track for 99 cents.

Clarity, Simplicity

Beyond interminable expression of inflamed passions, set expansion of consciousness to music-- that is to say, design sound works complementary to the opening of the mind, in harmony with the satori of spiritual, intellectual and aesthetic realization.

Everyone experiences various degrees of direct perception from time to time; those for whom it is a rare event sometimes err in believing it to be of a mystical nature.  It is no less an epiphany, even so, to set aside ego, symbol, perspective, emotion and world-view to gain wider, deeper, contemplative awareness with its associated insights.

The art of sound may indeed convey such engagement with life, as well as other concepts beyond those of emotional attachment and obsession.

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.

Black Mountain School: "Observation"

Avenue Canyon, Carpet Whisper, Windy Pines

Music enters awareness as various sets of sound patterns, usually songs with which children become familiar. These differ in tone, form, and perceived content from aural imagery produced environmentally, whether found in nature or in settings like streets, buildings and other common areas.

Then comes recognition and understanding; the instruments, beats, chants, popular songs, classical works and diverse artists; hymns, voices, ballads, soloists, stars and superstars, soundtracks and radios and collections of any and all things with melody, harmony, structure and rhythm-- and all are seemingly inexhaustible.

Yet the first world heard before the learned perception of the musical forms and genres is the real world as well; it is change, imagination its catalyst, and its sounds are essential elements that suggest possibilities beyond those given to represent music.

Sounds of Place and Perspective

Musical designs evocative of auditory imagery as it is perceived to emerge and evolve in the natural course of everyday activities need not be any less interesting than those that bring to mind particular experiences in the imagination of the listener or composer.

Previous Black Mountain School recordings, inspired by particular times and places, suggest the end of summer (Phenomena), the atmospheric settings of urban and rural China (Night Traffic and The Celestial Way), and perspectives altered by technological and transcendental viewpoints (Delmarva and Elevation, respectively).

The next album, Environs I, is the first of a series composed in a manner complementary to the previous extended ambient pieces without reference to specific settings and events. Thus, as far as possible, these works may enhance the environment and imagination of the listener directly. 

Waking Moments

Perception, memory, and knowledge inform experience.

Consciousness may be engaged subjectively, and may transcend subjectivity as well.  Thought and perception move between these states of awareness in apprehending reality.

The ear perceives specific sounds in the context of others that evoke ideas or emotions in the listener of which the composer cannot be aware.  Nonetheless, the tone, mood and atmosphere of ambient musical works are designed to enhance the conditions for such contemplative listening experiences.