Rise II

Consider the impossible.

Otherwise, the ponderous gravity of the mundane cannot be overcome.

The Ethereal and the Unexpected

Superficially, one hears style-- rhythm, percussion, instrumentation-- thus, music.

But, in terms of sound as aural phenomena, this is but an infinitesimal, though delusively ubiquitous, set of elements.  Those who perceive with vigor understand that the value of such things as texture, color, shading of tone, evolution of auditory imagery and nuance of movement, to cite a few obvious examples, vastly exceeds the quality of interest generated by bland repeated patterns (and puerile bombast) common to generic music, even in the widest diversity of its manifestations.

Rather much is made of the idea that "the internet" constitutes a watershed event in human culture and consciousness, and no doubt it is so as a medium of communication.  Consider, instead, the idea of cultural content surpassing that heretofore experienced, to the same degree that the digital domain surpasses that of the dominion of the printing press.

Borrowed Time

Perhaps machines will think for someone, but they will not think for me.

From the simplest to the most sophisticated creative problem, it is the artist who chooses to apply method and means to the solution. Whether the choice is a hands-on approach or one requiring the most conceptually obtuse digitally-facilitated engagement, it is consciousness that perceives, that imagines, and that impels the creative act.

Course of Culture

History and the moment now continually impact time future.

Simply put, the origins of present knowledge are indicators of possibilities. There will always be sound for dance and diversion, yet sound turned toward art is in perpetual flux, out of which comes constant evolution according to any responsive artist's perspective.

Curvature of Sound

Listening is as much an art as composing, sharing the same fundamental goals.

Change is essential in the rise and fall of things. The bright grows dim, the shadows fall back into light. Sounds traverse long distances through time and space to reach the inner ear.  And over this course of change, meanings and understandings are altered until, ultimately, nothing is as it once was.

Within a lifetime, the listener will hear this come to pass. It is perceptible, and irreversible, even now.

Advance, Thrive

Set aside ideas regarding convergent and divergent thinking as distinct but complementary.

This is not to wander in the wilderness, but rather to craft individual perspective. Consciousness exists outside of cultural mechanisms that stubbornly define and divide "Us" and "Them".

Complexity of thought is needlessly burdened by subjection to one diktat or another in pursuit of original integrity of expression, and the artist who is capable of doing so will consciously choose between lifting a uniquely personal torch or shouldering one borne by many.

Clear Acuity

Sound, taken for granted, loses perceptibility, and the edges of consciousness are dulled.

Music becomes trite; voices are no longer laden with implication. Yet, while sensitivity to nuance may be lost, it may also be revived.

What is typically called silence is filled with sound.  Listen through the appearance of silence and the spark of auditory perception illuminates with vibration.  This is hearing with the inner ear.

Dogma and Curiousity

Progress is characterized by the development of extant ideas and methodologies.

This is certainly the case with music. And conversely, there is regression and decline.

Yet some will listen, and hear, sound in different ways altogether, setting alternative ideas in motion that reflect not only peculiar perceptions and sensibilities, but artistic purpose and aesthetic vision.

Something in the Air

Compose according to the ways atmospheres are perceived.

Listen in the presence of time past, attend the unfolding of aural images through the moment now; hear with the inner ear as distance toward time future diminishes.

Distant and Near

Turn an ear toward the simple and beautiful.

Imagine it evolving complexity, through touch that illuminates.

Proper Differences

Find the sounds that represent the atmosphere, and thereby expand the moment now.

Unlike the short bursts of emotion common to musical expression, the extended works engage and enlarge perspective, altering the setting while contributing to thought and reflection.  The so-called "power of music" is, in fact, the force of the listener's response as much as it is that of the artist's intent, and, as energy, it evolves as a matter of course toward greater objectives and purposes.

Source and Loss

The society that presumes to take art for granted will be bereft of all its advantages.

Artists will decline to seek cultural acceptance, the public imagination will stagnate, and critical thinking, along with creative innovation, will exhaust its vitality. This is no prognostication, but a present crisis.

Alt / Experiment

Speculative music postulates "the other".

Conceive sounds brought into forms that engage listening perception as events in motion, as natural aural effects, as phenomena outside the range of standard instrumentation and contrivance.

Trial and Error by Fire

Various proprietary techniques are used in all these compositions, giving them unique character.

The discriminating listener is aware that these recordings are created with peculiar effects as intended outcomes.  There is no "pop sensibility" at work; there are no catchy rhythms or melodies, no "hooks", and none of the commonly anticipated electronic embellishments are to be found. Still, there do exist a number of aesthetic qualities in play that enhance the listener's experience, whether listening attention is active and direct, or passive and otherwise involved in particular activities.

These productions require a high degree of patience and painstaking, meticulous craftsmanship. It is a challenge to conceive designs in sound as well as to develop the means to bring theoretical ideas into reality through experimentation. One work, just completed, has been in progress for over a year.

One might be forgiven for failing to express an unbecoming humility, or lacking interest in "reaching out" for attention, given the intensive nature and critical integrity of these many processes.

Imagination, Technology, Creativity

Technical developments allow compositions and productions to be made with an ease that was heretofore impossible, yet many are simply flat, uninteresting, and puerile.

These are simply appearances of sophistication and craftsmanship, reflecting a low degree of both in their final form and total effect. Excellence will be realized in the mind's eye and the inner ear before it is brought into being, and even so, the technical aspects of creation will lag behind the theories and concepts of the artist.  For example, technology does not, as yet, allow the composer to make use of the reflective surfaces in an environment to extend the depth of a work through the generation of perceived echoes. This can only be accomplished  by dynamic juxtaposition of sounds. through effort and artistry, and by virtue of intent and experience.

Sublime Sense and Inner Ear

A vast majority of people refuse to view themselves as "consumers", and the listener, most assuredly, possesses the range of experience to seek and discover a greater perspective than one merely concrete and material, even from a very early age.  This is the direction of sublimity of perception.

To speak of the sublime is, on the surface, to be transported to the rarefied atmosphere of nineteenth century aesthetic philosophy and Walter Pater's "gem-like flame" of ecstatic consciousness. But these are entirely legitimate concepts, fully formed, that anyone may comprehend and realize with complete presence of mind and emotional vitality. That they are indeed transcendent and impersonal states of awareness, and that they find representation in finely rendered artistic expressions is not in question.

It is a curiosity of the contemporary age that these aesthetic states of consciousness are so rarely given the consideration they warrant as existential phenomena alone.  They direct and refine the attention toward expanding levels of elevated awareness; in terms of art, and particularly art of a musical nature, they convey profound insights into the dynamics of being, reality, and the human condition worthy of more thoughtful examination in the context of modern culture.

Enter the Contemplative

These compositions are conducive to thinking, and further, to the setting aside of thought.

Of course this is different from overwhelming thought with volume, rhythm, and so forth, as holds with music meant to compel generalized, physical ecstatic states.  It is no shocking revelation that elevated forms produce perceptions of a higher order than those that induce frenzy, and that restraint, even elegance, in delineation may yield intensity of awareness of a divergent nature.

Every culture understands the value of introspective solitude, and conditions in which it is impossible to be alone with one's thoughts, whether due to social or psychological dysfunction, are unworthy of free and enlightened people.  These compositions are produced to bring about settings and situations in which the listener, by choice, may ruminate and reflect, even to the extent that thoughts may be set aside in the clarity of contemplative consciousness.  There is a time for dance, and a time for stillness.

Wake the Dead

What foolishness, to deny history.

Sounds ringing in the ears were born in reeds and wind, blood and thunder. In the artist's tradition, who we are is who we were.  There is no definition, no leave of authority, no stamp of approval or opprobrium in time present that endows or renews the life of an artist, but only this: the primal gesture of expression, brought forth in time out of mind, to be cast always into futurity.

Sound and Time

Sounds need not simply suggest forward movement from beginning to end.

The structure of musical form contributes to it's appearance of sounds moving through linear time. Structure differently.  Suggest radiation, ebb and flow, expansion and contraction simultaneously, in juxtaposition.  Create an ouroboros of sound imagery, of movement turning in upon itself.  This, too, is but an appearance, yet it is one that reveals a contradistinction in perception of aesthetic beauty.

Opposing Forces

Progress is more than expansion of the status quo.

Progress in any form involves change.  It is inevitable. Whether in the arts and sciences, politics, social and religious contexts, or within culture generally, there are those who seek meaningful change, and those who desire only superficial alterations to existing forms and conditions.

Promoveo, promovi, promotum.