New Ground Beneath

It is the creative synthesis of elements that draws the future towards the present.

Of all possible elements, it is the expression of the unexpected that is most difficult to evoke and sustain, but it is the most critical.  Without question, it must be illuminated, and it must perpetually illuminate.

Countenance Conflict

No expression is free of contention.

Yet expression is itself a form of resolution.  The composer will not be imposed upon for his reactions or opinions regarding subjects outside his interest and control, nor will he ever accept the cant that to refuse to be part of a given solution is to be part of any peculiar problem.

The composer's perspective is simple, and focused upon elevation of being: listen, and hear.

Find the Future

In contemporary terms, artists are subject to any number of what are called "narratives".

That is to say, those who are motivated to express experience through the arts, and especially the visual arts, dance, theater, and music, are surrounded by an ever-expanding number of cultural scenarios populated by self-serving groups with ideological agendas of an intellectually dubious nature.

These settings are anathema to the arts, and this critical point cannot be overstated.

Around and Within

Envision with closed eyes.

Listen, hear, and compose with the inner ear.

Simple Terms

There is far more to experience than what is thrust upon listener and composer every day.

It becomes increasingly essential to gain perceptivity beyond the mundane, for the clear reason that the commonplace, that is to say, the impermanent, is continually in the process of eliminating itself.

Real Time

Time past rises up in historical and contemporary expression.

What is articulated now is a shadow of what has been and what will be, but one must not accept the false impression that this is common knowledge. Few understand this, and few accept it, even among those who style themselves artists.

It Was Twilight

The composer gradually became aware of the hum of distant aircraft traffic.

There were intermittent bird calls, scattered insect noises, whispers of wind in dry grasses.

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.