No Beat

The mood of the listener is not the composer's concern.

What I am interested in establishing are surroundings: atmospheres that open perception and imagination in any setting or state of mind.

Pause, Play

Expression not given to the common culture is none of its concern.

I am speaking, of course, about the culture that demands what it wants, nothing more,

What it wants is self- affirmation, whether it is pop claptrap, P.C. academic and political posturing, or any form of so-called "populist" grandstanding. There are other artists, with other visions, who will not be told what they will or will not accomplish and whether or not it is "acceptable".

Bear the burden.

Attainment

The state of civilization is reflected in the cultural arts.

Advancement in technology is only that.  Advanced culture demands advanced thought and a high degree of expression as its complement. Mere refinement is not merit. There must be perceptivity, curiosity, and willingness to take risks that reaches beyond the moment and the status quo.

Withheld, Obscured

Consider those things not revealed.

It may be necessary to renew the idea of  "secret societies", as they were known in the past, simply to continue to convey concepts of realism and objectivity to those capable of making such judgments.

The artist must trust perceptivity.  For the artist, the eye, and for the composer, the ear, must reveal insights that may be expressed.  This is especially critical in a culture which declines to the state in which one may call day, night, and night, day, only to be celebrated for claiming such "belief".

Promoveo, promovi, promotum.

Fact and Reality: Elevation

These are concrete musical works, composed, arranged, recorded, and produced like any other.

The major differences between these works and those of other composers and recording artists is that they are created by entirely unique processes and for purposes that not only serve the ends of arts and entertainment, but go beyond them.  Far beyond them, echoes the archetypal "mad scientist".

These albums incorporate both aesthetic principles and the results of scientifically valid, verifiable and replicable experimentation in sound design calculated to enhance perceptual experience.

These recordings are all, in fact, designed to clarify and expand the consciousness of the listener.

Distance and Fire

That the work of the artist is demanding is not an issue.

It is all quite simple.  The work must be done.  The culture will remain as it is, whether looking forward or backward, but the work must be done.

The Long View III

Any form of art presents risk.

One cannot be certain if a thing is worth doing at all.  But no artist will ask such a question.

Reflect, Refine

Weigh what has been accomplished, as composer, against what must be done.

The works themselves must leave nothing to explain, and convey all.  All works in progress will be reflective of these, and transcend them when complete.  These belong to the listener.

But all this is merely to say that the price of work is risk, sacrifice, and ultimately success and failure that can only be balanced by reason, and free will.

Express, Convey

Consider any novel that captures contemporary stream-of-consciousness thought.

Rather than rambling incoherence, such a narrative indicates the distraction and self- absorption of daily life in a representation of common dynamics of consciousness. Somewhere, a dog was barking.

It is difficult to say whether or not most would choose to think in such a manner, because such a state of mind does not reflect the choice to think, but rather dominance of unfocused impressions over the active intellect, such as it may be. The reader recognizes the mental processes involved, relates to the way the story is told, and is engaged.

In terms of literary style it is an effective formula. An analogous musical composition would be a mere amalgam of noise, and thus without value for the composer. What I want to bring into being are works that evoke a different manner of thinking, one of clarity and emergent insight.

Now, This Place

Consider a balance of human sounds and the natural world.

It is an error to think of humanity and nature as mutually exclusive.  Listen, and hear.

Media and Medium

Allow events outside the composer's will to happen.

Compose any artistic expression such that natural forces are engaged.

Spurious

It has become necessary to encourage perception of the objective world.

The insidious idea that reality will conform to individual or collective will is commonplace, and no more valid than at any time within cultural history. It pervades the arts, sciences, and media.

Ultimately, the cultural consensus will gravitate toward representations of the real, no matter how imaginatively expressed.  Thus these recordings, for example, enhance atmospheres rather than dominate the listener's attention. The reality of listening to these albums is simply this: the listener is able to think and perceive in a natural state of attention, as opposed to a state overcome by a surfeit of bland excess.  Escape from reality is not the point, but rather immersion in fullness of experience.

Inclination

Tradition will not be erased.

Progress will not be halted.  This is balance.

Perceive, Interpret

All expression is interpretation.

Experience, through all sensory impressions, the great mystery.

Unknown Unknowns

Some, actually, are curious as to why things are as they are.

But this is an act of defiance.  One who does not simply accept must remember this, in any set of circumstances.  If art and music are to be valued, they must change more than minds. They must themselves change, and in doing so change perceptions of being and consciousness.

Formality

It is sensory impression, not context, that completes experience.

Programmed to accept and engage only with specific contexts, the listener remains in known territory, and further, is unaware of any other.  And while the listener is not at fault, only the listener can change the situation.  The composer is in the act of exploration, and this is what work demands.

Limits

The future is unknown, though present.

For the composers, it is just over the horizon, that is to say, it is within earshot.  In the gradual, measured epochs of media and culture, there is only the present, continually revised.

Cult of Personality

Sound possesses character and identity.

Whether heard in music generally or in artificial sonic atmospheres, these qualities remain clear: character is a function of ethical considerations, and identity is the composer's expression.

And culture, events, and the collective mentality, especially, either shapes and defines the personal perspective of the composer, or the artist transcends the "common ground" and, by virtue of the total effect of the work, holds elitism in contempt, with disdain born of right reason.

Degrees

It is said the enlightened mind is capable of experiencing, from time to time, reality as it is.

The artist, on the other hand, gives expression to reality within the confines of experience.

Middle Way

Recognize moderation, if you will.

Rather than indulging extremes, choose subtleties; neither harsh nor without vigor, but dynamic, and elevated.  This is the art of sound, of shadings, colors, and contemplative engagement.