Culture, Consciousness

Told what to think, witness decline.

Question.  Continue.  Never compromise.  Elevate.

Sound, Vision, Balance

Originality is not absurdity.

It is expression of independent thought.

Present State

Listen now.

The question is not what do you hear?  The question is why is what you hear subject to opinion and preconceived expectations, rather than direct experience?

Scatterings

Identify every sound in the surrounding environment.

Observe each sound's placement, variations in tone and volume, juxtapositions with other sounds, and movements through the atmosphere.  Synthesize these elements as a musical score.

Incoming

Cultural conflict is a constant, viewed best from distant perspectives.

To assess such conflicts in strictly political terms is an error, there being larger issues than the social, economic, and ideological with which to contend. Culture originates in ideas and ideals, beliefs and approaches to human existence more poetic than mundane. The arts in all their forms emerge out of imagination to make myriad futures, and every individual experiences their influence for good or ill.

When expression evokes foresight, possibilities are illuminated, elevating the concrete world of events.

Such a Thing

The idea of tradition means progress.

Certainly one understands why the urge to erase the past to move ahead is prevalent, but the failure to understand the meaning of tradition reduces culture to a moribund status quo.

Ideas do not disappear. They expand, evolving through individual application and effort. This is why the artist accepts the past, but almost never accepts things as they are.

Sound, Being and Place

Ideas and beliefs alter direct perception.

To the extent that culture and experience determine what is perceived, listening, for example, is limited to subjective preconceptions.

To hear the approach of the future, understand and act upon this knowledge.

Alt / Think

Tomorrow is present in yesterday.

Nonsense to those who look w/out vision and who listen w/out the inner ear.

Imagination and Environment

Behind and within sounds lie force and intent.

The artist as composer considers a choice: bring this force to bear in places it has never been, or place it where expectations have long been focused.

Omens to the Ear

Find tone in a footfall, rattling of silverware, disembodied voices.

Listen, and hear the unfolding of reality with such perceptual clarity.

The Why of Solitude

Observe, and obsession with connectivity through technology is ubiquitous.

It appears as fixations upon such things as status and attitude, at once narrow and self-absorbed.  It should go without saying that technological developments present greater opportunities for creative endeavors than these, but in terms of human nature, it was ever thus.

Of far greater moment are contemplative insights, the gestures of expression, and life's mysteries.

Transmission IX

There is much for the artist to explain. It is expected, even welcomed.

But it is never necessary, whether for cultural, social, or artistic purposes, to explain one's self.

The Real and its Representations

The mask of the actor makes no sound, but amplifies the motivation of character behind it.

Personal aesthetic experience is not cultural immersion, but individual attitude of mind and perceptivity.

Whether the former dominates the latter, or vice-versa, depends upon cultural vigor and integrity. It is the strong culture that listens, and hears the individual; the weak one simply generates noise.

Threshold

Observe the processes in motion as history, tradition, and culture are discarded.

Condemn the whole of the past, assume the motivations of rats in a maze, cast down the possibility of every ideal, particularly those resting on an understanding of beauty and truth.  Render ideas of art in every form worthless, and the artist inconsequential, until the act of creation becomes impossible in the unthinking, shallow void of the moment.

Disaster follows. The sleep of reason yields monsters.

Reality of Expectation

With a decline of thought comes a decline of perception.

Recognize when the "spontaneous moment" in art is a contrivance, and inauthentic. It then becomes clear that not only is this the case now for most expressions, but it has been so for almost a century.

Resistance II

Consider the relationships between the work of Einstein, Picasso, and Eliot.

In cultural terms, it is the artist who must choose to do the difficult things.  This is the path of persistence, courage, and hard work.

Transformation Ambient II

The concept of the sonic setting emerges from transformation ambient processes.

These processes involve the development of atmospheres that reflect those of environmental surroundings, whether in natural settings, public spaces, or smaller, more intimate confines.

By intention and application of compositional methods, these represent events as they occur, regardless of design, within particular parameters, or circumstances of time and space.  And as representations, they are akin to musical compositions such as classical tone poems, but are not subsumed under musical theory. Rather, they are intended to appeal to aesthetic perceptivity as opposed to musical sensibility.

This is the case with all the albums by Black Mountain School and Ghost Radio Orchestra, as the open, aware listener will easily discern.

Atmospheres for Imaginary Settings

Cultural conditioning sets limits that define music.

Certainly in free societies this does not have to be the case, and with knowledge and percipience come broader, more critical perspectives than those associated with predictable musical content.

In point of fact, very few listeners, songwriters, and composers take an interest in expansion beyond the generalized commercial and academic horizons, not because audiences would have no interest in such endeavors-- a lack of interest in musical genres and fashions, even the so called "refined" ones, declines precipitously as the listener moves further beyond adolescence-- but because the knowledge of advanced aural compositions, their aesthetics, and their purposes have yet to articulated properly to the public at large.  Ambient music, as defined by Brian Eno and others, has indeed been established as such, and with intellectual clarity according to its character.

But it is what I would call the sonic setting composition that is different in nature than ambient music, engaged, as it is, with the perceptions and consciousness of the listener, and created according to an entirely different paradigm. This requires analysis accordingly, and ultimately, a kind of introduction, via informed artists and individuals, into the broader cultural setting.  Otherwise one need expect no more than the perpetuation of the state of things in the musical arts.

Not All Things Are Instantaneous

Listen and hear, bring all the senses to bear, everywhere at once.

Perceive, and become cognizant of surrounding forces, vast and impenetrable.

Vision and Danger

Whatever enters consciousness is chosen, or it is imposed.

Listen and hear. Be told what to think. One or the other. Never both.