Unspoken, Undefined, Sublime

Thought and emotion are continually communicated through nonverbal expressions, and among these means of conveying ideas, feelings, and perceptions is the manipulation of sounds.

Auditory, visual, and verbal imagery are equal in force and nuance; the composer, visual artist, and poet must be equally adept in illuminating the numerous subtleties and strengths intrinsic to their respective fields of endeavor.

As a delineator of aural environments, the composer reaches the listener through expression of mood and tone and attitude, creating, by way of myriad processes, sonic symbols that may enhance and elevate the work, and, by extension, the aesthetic experience and the consciousness of the listener. 

Wider, Higher, Deeper

Seek and regard the things that go unnoticed.

The superficial and egocentric mind forms illusions of common knowledge, and to such a way of thinking attachment to wealth, status, celebrity, and materialistic attitudes apparently fills every space at all times.  Clearly preposterous and untenable, these perspectives dominate popular and commercial culture.  It was ever thus.

In reality, civilization is formed of stronger ideas, ideals and visions.  This is the way of the artist.

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.

Allegory

Look how reality is perceived, and upon what things self-understanding is projected.

Similarly, the understanding of expression and communication through the art of sound is directed towards ideas that suggest a validation of romanticized, purely subjective experience rather than confirmation of direct, informed perception and lucid recognition of realities behind and beyond appearances.

Bring music into being that reflects the phenomena of existence, not merely shadows on a cave wall.

Selective Awareness

Take notice of sounds; follow their movements, be cognizant of their subtleties.

Note variations, atmospheric effects, juxtapositions, and the vividness of impressions they make. Regard how they appear to emerge, and to ultimately cease.  Consider the ease or difficulty of recognizing their origins; be receptive to the images and ideas they may suggest, subjectively and objectively.  

The mind is relaxed, yet alert, engaged with the reality of the surroundings and actively, creatively thoughtful,  reflective, and contemplative.  Such states contribute not only to aesthetic enjoyment, but to the capacity for critical thought as well.

One need not merely accept the given notion that music is only meant to enhance mood or stimulate emotion, whether in the form of excitement, nostalgia, ecstatic or spiritual feelings, etc.  Nor is it necessary that the composer design works solely to attain such outcomes.

There is more to sensibility, and more beyond the senses.

Mind as Instrument

Observe vibrations, reflections, forces, pressures, effects of movement in space and time.

Aesthetic awareness of atmospheres is shaped and organized by the content of settings and the perception of the listener as well.  Consider the ways and means of listening and hearing to have as much influence in forming the sensory experience as the sounds of the surroundings and the musical accompaniment that may be present.

Consider also that what is typically considered to be silence is, in fact, filled with sound in myriad forms.

Emerge, Expand. Internalize.

Listen and hear differently.

Rather than follow musical forms, imagine; envision sounds as images, ideas, memories and scenes.

Perception, Reason, Nuance II

Design originates in the imagination.

The impetus to develop a means to original and fully-formed, personal creative expression may be satisfied with patience and an eclectic, painstaking, asymmetrical approach.

Every artist knows this in the abstract and through experience.  Even a work of random synthesis is just that, whether it is executed with grace and style or otherwise.  It does not manifest itself out of a vacuum.  In generative music there is programming, process, and the artist's initiative; in transformative compositions the artist fabricates and provides direction according to imaginative intentions and desired outcomes.  The open-minded and aesthetically appreciative listener recognizes the nature of such works and is active in becoming acquainted with them.

The formulaic and generic styles, in contrast, reflect conformity to popular tastes and attitudes, not only in presentation and performance, but conceptually, in the artist's vision.  By this means the artist reaches out to the audience; otherwise, as noted, the listener must be of such a temperament as to seek out the art.

Contemplation: Sacrifice, Gratitude, Honor

Mystery, Motivation, Form

Every composer's work is predicated upon choices; simplicity and complexity develop accordingly, sometimes to work themselves out in unexpected ways over the fullness of time.

In combinations of rock and jazz, for example, extemporization and improvisational fluency lend themselves to creativity in delineating structural elements, ideas, experiments and elaborations.  As these evolve and develop, command of these open-form methods may be further enhanced by restraint and refinement of vision, ultimately moving toward new creative ideas and methods altogether.

Inspirations must be given shape to reflect an artist's intentions; ideas are given life by giving them forms through which they may be conveyed and shared.

Distances Near and Far

Universal expressions will not be fixed to specific time and place.

Sounds and visions that remain outside the transient and disposable exist unto themselves, removed from the temporal, the faddish and superficial.

Yet they are for everyone, and often a respite from the sensational and mundane.

Illumination

Hear, listen, contemplate.

Myriad elements and widely diverse properties of sensory information, ideas, images, and emotions merge in sounds of a musical nature and perceptual consciousness, whether listening attentively or passively.

The commonplace engages the mysterious, the moment elongates, and the nature of the human condition and things as they are take on a degree of clarity.

Such are the effects of music and sound design composed and created with the intent of contributing to a contemplative state of mind, a pleasurable sense of reasoned emotional detachment, and a genuine, abiding expansion of consciousness. 

Ephemeral, Enduring

Vibration, perception, impression, memory.

Recordings reproduce sounds exactly as constructed; it is the composition that retains interest, and may be perceived differently by the listener over time.

When a work continues to expand and become richer with repeated listening, it connects intimately and meaningfully with the listener's consciousness.  It remains elusive, ineffable, in the way of art.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Elements and Impressions 

Sound echoes experience.

Noise at a crosswalk.  Wind and rain.  Conversation on a flight, above the ocean.  Hot afternoon, windows open, stillness broken by traffic.  Chimes, telephones, guitars.  Strange sounds and tones difficult to identify.  Hummingbird chittering among flowers, floors and walls settling, friendly laughter.

Spin these threads into tapesteries lifting on breezes.

Inner Ear

Listening pleasure demands no technical, esoteric, or arcane knowledge.

This is not to say curiosity about sound and its forms is not rewarded-- to the contrary, the more the listener realizes about the ways and concepts of artistic expression through music and creative sound design, the greater the awareness becomes of the scope of human perception.

Even so, the enjoyment of listening is intrinsically uncomplicated and instinctive; the composer's work is for every open mind and ear. 

Composition at Large

Unfettered by form and formula, music becomes more than accustomed patterns and specific sets of instrumentation.

Ranging beyond these frameworks and expectations, sound may function within limits chosen by the composer and particular to specific works.

Transform sounds into landscapes, still life portraits, urban expanses, time-lines, expositions of events, character sketches, poems, wildfires and possible futures.  Release the sound of imagination and accept the unseen distances, the unheard echoes.

Long View

Perceptions are grasped by interpretations, particularly those relating to obscure events.

The observer will note a reticence in society to consider the value of ideas regarding refinement of perception and consciousness.  While due consideration is given to analysis of the popular and consumer cultures, and the force of emotion is generally accepted to be superior to that of reason, heightened understanding of the virtues of contemplation and its association with deeper, broader states of awareness, along with classical scholarship on this subject and that of the human condition, tends to fall into neglect.

The arts may suggest such ideas; audiences, listeners, and creative people may look beyond the mundane and consider more fully the concepts brought to light through elevated and uplifting artistic works and expressions.

Aural Feeling

Engaged perception develops intimate awareness of sound.

One senses subtleties of form, intensity, proximity, emotional meaning, and in some cases, degrees of intention that sound may represent.

A woodpecker at work on a hollow tree.  A window opening.  Traffic of all kinds.  Conversation and laughter. Sudden silences.  The growing recognition of sounds in quiet places gradually filling the atmosphere, as happens when one acclimates to the darkling stillness of dawn and twilight.

Imagine and create these tones and colors:  give them reality, bring them into being.

Wave, Reflection, Revision, and Exploration

Musical instruments create easily identifiable timbres, their "signature" sounds.

The sounds of piano, guitar, drum and flute are distinctive; the fretless bass, baritone saxophone, timbales and harpsichord are equally unique.  Individual instruments possess wide variations in sound quality from others of their type, as do human voices.  Any and all combinations of instrumental and vocal arrangements may produce the generally recognized expressive forms associated with music, from ballads to symphonies, given their adherence to respective stylistic configurations.

The electronic or digital synthesizer, on the other hand, generates sounds by the manipulation and production of electric signals or waveforms.  Though it may finely imitate the sounds of other musical instruments, the synth is, in fact, an instrument in its own right.  One may look back musically, and do the same things with a different capability, or forward, to sounds, combinations, and ways of composing as yet to be discovered.

To paraphrase synthesizer designer Dr. Robert Moog, it is no less difficult to make good music than it has ever been.  

Distance and Light

Artistic creativity requires a degree of freedom that goes beyond conformity of thought, particularly in terms of popular culture, academics, and politics-- these being exceptionally subject to rigid, narrow conventions.

To confuse the polar opposite of common opinion with this kind of freedom is error, one that does no more than burden the creative vision with chains no different than those perceived to bind the other.

The way of the artist is beyond the mundane, and closer, even so, to the unknown.

Wave to Mind

Sense impressions conducive to ordering or unifying states of consciousness, emotional outlook, and conditions of mind and being may be conveyed in tone language.

Through sound, the composer always directs the force of auditory imagery to make impressions upon the listener.  To create impressions of a direct yet transcendent nature intended to elevate consciousness, however, it is incumbent upon the designer to attend to the progress of the works as one would in ordering a landscape, garden or park.

The effects are meant to be reflective of  nature and the human perspective, and so experienced by the listener internally as well as in the surrounding ambient atmosphere.  

Into the Impossible

Innumerable sounds constantly moving in every direction simultaneously.

These are sounds in the wild, so to speak, and sound designs that are representative of such processes rely on the fabrication of aural images that suggest environments and atmospheres of this nature.

The total effect is one of neither order nor chaos, but of emergence and expansion.

Nothing Left Undone

The concept of effortless action is common to a number of philosophical perspectives.

This is not to say that the strenuous application of force is never necessary or desirable; rather, it is to make clear that volition and action must correspond to the nature of reality.  In the arts, such action determines the grace of composition and performance, elevates the self-assured above the self-conscious, and highlights the contrast between the way of the artist and that of the subjugation of art to any type of agenda.

Such action is a reflection of the lucidity of vision that recognizes and brings into being awareness only suggested by the appearances of things.  These are the workings of the inner ear and the eye of the imagination, given over to creative engagement and completeness of motion.

Potentiality

Speculation on ideas may lead to analysis, consideration, and contemplation of possibilities that are ultimately realized in concrete form.

Such forms of progress involve time and risk.  Theories may exist long before there are means to apply or prove them, and minor errors in reasoning can easily eradicate desired outcomes after prolonged efforts.

Consequently, it is advantageous to think in ways both artistic and scientific, balancing the rational and the imaginative, in order to make visions real. 

Frequency and Variation

Change appears.

Perceived, it is given consideration.  Compared, contrasted, it is measured against experience.

In the context of creative sound design, change emerges and evolves, undergoing transformation in innumerable ways.  In the course of a work, the elements of sound and their juxtapositions suggest experimentation with additional elements and exploration of their various aspects.

It is in this manner that the composer follows, rather than dictates, the progress and direction of the composition.

Gesture, Word, Tone II

Archetypal sounds are imbued with meanings recognized across all cultures and understood according to their universal associations.

All languages speak to the poetic essence of aural meaning.  These are the sounds of ceremony and ritual, triumph and whimsy, the awe-inspiring, the bittersweet, the fearful and the serene.

Drum, flute, gong, voice, stringed instrument, bell, shaker; through variation and combination these come to represent the essential elements of ideas and emotions in symbolic ways, as do verbal expressions.

And like love, honor, justice, sadness, threat, peace and all other symbolic meanings communicated via language, whether in casual, formal, popular, esoteric, spiritual or secular terms, a profound degree of meaning is conveyed in the form of tone-- immediately recognized, instantly and intensely understood.

Approach, Action

In the context of a tone poem or related piece, the composer may, in varying degrees, impose a vision upon a setting as well as absorb and reflect the atmosphere of that time and place in musical ways.

The finished work and its total effect will illustrate the extent to which the the composer speaks and the setting or event portrayed in the work is fully brought into being.

Sound and Imagination

Combinations and variations expand to effectively infinite degree.  Limits, if any exist, are not apparent.

Thus it is essential to recognize completeness.

Experience and Movement

Paints, sounds, words, clay and stone, gestures, tools and technologies.

Let the simple become difficult, the sophisticated grow childlike, the unadorned be lit and brightened, the complex coalesce into one form and meaning, and the subjective be overcome by the vastness of time and space.  In the creative act, let all these events come into being.

But, says one, I cannot envision and know the outcome of such an experience.

What is important is to know is that it is good, that the action has virtue, and when it is finished it is clearly so.

Arrangement of Elements

Compositions in sound involve control and disorder, flexibility and restraint, choice and chance.

Regarding listening and hearing as separate functions in terms of varying degrees of attention, one active and the other passive, and designing sound to accommodate the flux of these perceptions, musical elements may be organized according to principles of design.

Rather than focusing predominately upon manipulation of rhythm, melody, harmony, and percussion, qualities of balance, emphasis, subordination, movement, proportion, pattern, unity, dominance, variety, contrast, and spatial placement-- to cite notable aspects of artistic composition-- play a role in the choice and arrangement of elements in the production of transformation ambient music.

The composer, by direct and indirect influence, attends to the transformation of sound that is realized in the finished work.

Passages

Transformation ambient pieces of extended length offer the listener a perception of the movement of time that is harmonious with the slow unfolding of the sound design.

To observe this passage is to be aware of the pace of contemplative thought as opposed to that of the frenetic workplace or similar continuum of applied effort, social engagement and responsibility.

By design, these works direct the attention of the listener toward an internal state of mind as well as external atmosphere, and consciousness of naturally emerging temporal events in such a context contributes to the interest and aesthetic pleasure as well, making for an objectively different musical experience.

Out of the Fog

It is not music in the common sense, yet it is not far removed.

Music most often gains acceptance by popular acclaim, or in some cases through various processes that confer artistic status through institutional recognition or that of the popular media.

These are external scenarios, largely outside the control of the composer.  Things that are within the composer's control are the will to create, to perceive and analyze clearly, to be firm and disciplined in the conception and execution of works, and to act with honesty and integrity.

One may be called to roam far afield, and so it is.

Impression and the Real

Artistic works may be starkly superficial or imbued with creative insight.  Both are representations of reality and ways of approaching the phenomena of existence.

The shared impressions of observer, composer, and listener, for instance, will be those that correspond to their human experiences, particularly those of an intellectual and emotional nature.

Within the scope of these impressions the aesthetic sensibilities connect and unite in varying degrees around the musical work.

Every artistic form speaks through such language as brings these experiential forces together.

Crossing Horizons

Creation of those things that might be called possibilities may be realized in any media.

Poetry, for example, may be shaded with ambiguity, while every word is laden with potential.  In such ways is the mind brought through obscure terrains of meaning into clarity, and so to direct perception.

The way of art is action with aplomb, as opposed to interference, regardless of the medium of expression.

Transmission IV

Cultural cycles produce conditions in which art reflects various stages of conflict, resolution, and stasis.

While the progress of these cycles is apparent in the historical record, the aesthetic perspective of the individual artist remains unique, and may or may not speak to the issues such conflicts generate over the course of their existences.

Cultural forces are always dynamic, even as they give an impression of stability and quiet.  The way of the artist is to perceive, experience, reflect, create, and live the real and the possible.

Sound Over Time

What is generally accepted as music is informed by perception and culture, experience and effect.

The aesthetic grasp of "the beautiful" is internal and external in nature, defined in myriad ways, and most often associated with appeal to the senses, intellect, emotion and spirit.  As music and sound design are intimately conjoined with the element of time, so the listener's sense of the temporal world is at play as well.

To listen and hear contemplatively is to slow the pace of life, reflect upon experience, and enjoy subtleties and complexities of atmosphere and aural imagery, regardless of musical biases and preconceptions.

Conception and Action

The composer's art contributes to a singular attitude of mind toward sound and music, one which focuses inwardly with the intent of externalizing an artistic vision beyond that of subjective perception.

Such attitudes necessitate contemplative reflection and force of volition, involving flexibility of process, decisive activity, determination of limits, and vigorous work ethic.  The knowledgeable observer would call this neither passion nor drive, but a visceral detachment, understanding that the work and its effects are paramount to the artist, the associated consequences and rewards being insignificant.

The preeminent measure of success is that of the integrity of the work in its final form.

Measure of Attention

April, 2012 A.D.:  Some estimates suggest that over 100 million musical works are available online.

Among the implications of such a number, it is notable that music is regarded in terms of generic styles rather than according to the particular qualities of individual performers and groups.  The element of uniqueness is overshadowed by sheer mass of recognizably analogous material, and the consequence of this is boredom and loss of interest.

Ultimately, this scenario necessitates change, not of style, fashion, or performance, but in the fundamental awareness of the nature of listening and hearing.

Process and Nature

Change is the nature of reality; the observer is continually aware, through perception, knowledge, and memory, of continuous transformation as the way of the course of events.

So it is with the tone poem, or transformational ambient piece; these works reflect a continuum of variations, with shifts in form and mood and structure unwinding as they do throughout the journey of an hour, a day, or a season.

Accordingly, the listener is invited to experience immersion in dynamic sound conducive to reflective consciousness, as an alternative to music made predictable and bland by over-familiarity.

Soundscapes

Environmental spaces, captured by the inner ear of the psyche.

Memory in sound.  Public squares, hometown streets, foreign capitals, secluded haunts.

The mind, with aural sensations and imagery, in motion.

Manner of Knowing

Representations, by nature, are to some degree stylized.

The artist recreates perception of reality, not reality itself.

These tone poems are enhancements of the perceptions of places, given treatments to accent the real and the imaginative, with the aim of elevating atmospheres and states of mind.

Imagined Perspective

Allow free reign to thought and perception.

Observe, and regard possible viewpoints, near and distant.  Consider the sights, sounds, and other sensory impressions that could exist.

Hear.  Listen.  Create.

Listen, Hear

Combine and hold sounds in an encompassing perspective.

Contrast this means of sound design with music in the general sense. Listen to a performance or recording of a musical work repeatedly and later spend an idle hour in a dynamic sound environment away from music.

In each case both active listening and hearing in a passive manner take place: the former is directly occupied with sound while the latter is aware of it at less intense levels, yet still engaged.

Consequently, the listener may find interest waning in the general musical piece with repetition, while the nature of ambient sound design, patterned after that of the dynamic sound environment, continues to retain the listener's attention over time.

Intensity, Degree

The visual and the auditory share varied aspects of impression through the senses.

Regard degrees of color, tone, brightness, shading, and texture, among many others.  The eye and the ear of the imagination recognize their similarities and contrasts.

Subtleties such as these may be realized in expression, given clarity, and elevated beyond the mere glimpse that, more often than not, comes only briefly within notice before vanishing altogether.