Sensory Apprehension, Nonlinear Grasp

The listener will recognize the experience of a gradual recognition of a piece of music.

Upon first becoming cognizant of the song, perhaps from a distance, the perception is one of an extremely vague and nebulous familiarity.  At times this sense of emerging recognition fragments and scatters rather than quickly coming into focus, yet the sounds themselves may gather clarity as mental processes intensify in connecting to memory.

From my perspective this is always a mesmerizing event, and invariably the musical piece itself seems diminished once it is identified.  Whereas it began with an impression of mystery and uncanny strangeness, it then ceases to draw the mind in the direction of the unknown and all the elements fall into place and pattern.  The actual music, finally grasped, is insignificant in comparison with the perceptual experience that preceded it.

Seize this awareness-- draw upon it to intentionally compose works that evoke such states of unique aesthetic engagement.

Ambient Confluence

Disparate musical elements merge in sequences of auditory effects and imagery, dreamlike in nature.

In the wild, so to speak, there is no pure and permanent order or chaos. Storms subside, seas become calm, light breezes become howling gales and grow quiet again.

This, too, is the way of the artist.

Variance, Divergence, Expansion

The observer will note the striking degree to which contemporary listeners are self-directed in their musical choices.

This is not to say that the conformity in listening of the self-styled hipster no longer exists, or that music has become less of an attitudinal or fashion statement.  What is apparent is that, given a wider range of choice and access to sounds and styles, listeners have no need of being directed by others, particularly those in the media, in developing personal aesthetic values.

Generic music of all styles permeates culture, as an evening of listening to television advertisements makes clear.  Imitation, not innovation, rules the day, and this is anathema to the astute listener.

Conditions such as these broaden the choices of the composer as well, and the challenge, especially when working outside the boundaries of popular taste, is to retain clarity of vision and directness of expression.

Emergence

The possibilities of sound confront the composer, and the composer must listen.

It is possible to direct, arrange, form, force, and shape sound to the desired end; it is possible to control every aspect and element of its reality to the most minute degree; it can be made to conform to style and genre and be used as a vehicle for any emotion and idea.

Or sound may direct the composer, and unknown possibilities be brought into being.

Familiar, Yet Strange

Arcane, untried, and out-of-the-ordinary ideas and processes combine with contemporary technological methods in ways that may appear startling or uncanny.

Perspectives on the appearances of things are altered; unexpected aspects of sensory impressions are revealed, and fundamental ways of ordering experience become tenuous.

The concept of sound as art remains for the most part undefined and is as often represented by absurd juxtapositions of noise as it is by aesthetically delineated works of aural imagery.  But this is to be expected, as a natural development in the course and evolution of art and cultural events.

Ways of listening, and thinking, are changing. 

Assemblage and Framing

Diverse elements, given context, offer multiple meanings when experienced as a whole.

Lucid yet oblique suggestiveness in poetry and sound design, for example, offers much for thoughtful consideration while refraining from direct statements.

The composer brings differing elements of sounds into a unity of expression.  Listeners may interpret in any number of ways, or not at all, in encountering such works, and thus the individual imagination, emotions, and perceptions are interconnected in varying degrees with the works themselves.

Sequences, Organization, Methods

With change as a constant, processes may lead in some scenarios, follow in others, toward any number of possible outcomes.

Sounds move in time in relation to other sounds as they are brought together, juxtaposed, removed, set in opposition to each other, fused, dispersed, repeated, and recombined.  The nature of the action is in some ways asymmetrical and in others a matter of aesthetic choice.

In their final recorded forms, works such as these have more connections in common with cubism, action painting, pop art, impressionism, and abstract expressionism than with generic musical styles.

The sound art and design under consideration here, like the aforementioned visual arts, suggests and rewards a change and renewal of perspective as well.

Composition Models

The composer of representational or program music may be as realistic or imaginative as is desirable in evoking aural metaphor or sonic symbols to various effects.

As the photographs on this site suggest the examination and elongation of the moment of perception, with its colors, shades, contents and spatial qualities, so too does the music of the Black Mountain School project generate settings and atmospheres directed toward the awareness of things both large and small, to subtle and overarching perceptions that may go unnoticed, whether far away or just outside the door.

Recognition

Mind and media interrelate, and to a great extent the connections are unconscious, the results of repetition.

Putting aside the problematic aspects of advertising jingles, catchphrases, and political slogans, consider the retention of music-- popular songs, personal favorites, and the like-- and the effects of these memorable sounds.  For numerous reasons, but particularly in emotional and nostalgic terms, attachment to such music can be quite strong, and some listeners' musical horizons begin and end with works confined to particular styles, times and places.

Yet for many, there is always more, always the unknown, and so, as well, the anticipation of sounds that strike the ear like none before.

Perceptual Fields

Listen, hear, and think.

Consciousness encounters the totality of reality perceived through the mind and the senses.

Each person is unique, perceives differently, focuses in various ways, and measures according to experience that gives regard to diverse phenomena, objects, ideas, and events accordingly.

The same musical work is experienced and understood differently by each listener.  Individual listeners may give attention to the same work in numerous ways according to such variables as setting, mental and emotional disposition, and clarity of consciousness.  Attitudes such as curiosity and intellectual openness will impact the experience, as will cultural and social conditioning and the capacity for independent, critical observation.

Observe, conceive, create.

Aural Metaphor

Sound is scenario, vista, substance, environment, idea, soul.

Book of hours, spirit of avenues, temptation of whirlpool, canyon rim, skyscraper.  Flock of wild geese, motorcade, hunting camp, epiphany in darkling cold, dust devil across dry wash, rainbow and moon with drifting contrails.

Conversation, nervous and soothing.  Crackling fire.  Echoes down mountainsides.  Light moving through cafe at midday.  Flood of foreign voices, riptide of foresight, tributaries merging into the deltas of mind.

Systems

Give thought to the numberless causes and effects combining and interacting every moment.

Choose, combine and transform sounds accordingly; set them in motion, let them rise and fall without interference, as far as is possible.

Atmospheres emerge.

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.