Huh, interesting comparison. I can see that. The guitar tone in the solo section is kind of like John McLaughlin’s in Vital Transformation. And the drums are also kind of Vital Transformation-y (that was one of my favorite tracks as a kid). The kit I used was a sampled 70s kit, if I’m remembering right (I put the kit together in the original version and didn’t really look at it again since then). Well, I think I swapped out the snare for something else…maybe a 50s snare. But the kit was mixed like a dry 70s kit at least.
And thank you! I’ll definitely be posting more soon.
keeping in mind what you said about rules of thumb and "rituals", I'm quite curious about how you construct
regarding the colors, do you find, when you're "painting the score" so to speak, you're looking for patterns (I think these two go well together), or are you looking for something new (accessing an internal bank that guides you towards 'this hasn't been done before') , or more of a present-state (vibe chasing certain colors or sounds), or looking forward? or an exhaustion of all possibilities until the 'tingles' feel just right? or a truth mission, where what you perceive as the most beautiful sequence is the truth of the piece? that last one formed because of your quote: "does everything that is true happen to be beautiful, or is everything that is true true because it is beautiful in a particular way?"
Interesting question. I’d say that I usually don’t start with a color in mind, so it’s usually that I’ll either have an idea pop into my head, or I’ll play something or write in some MIDI, and that’s the start. When I hear that, it will have a color, and from there, I’ll either sort of stay within that color, or I’ll decide that the color needs to shift. Or it can be that I play something else, notice the color shifted, and decide that it makes sense to do a color shift here (i.e., develop a new section). Other times, I might say that the color shift just doesn’t fit, and so I’ll drop it. It’s not that thinking in colors is necessarily primary, it’s more that the visualizations help guide things and keep things coherent. They also kind of represent gut feelings (for example, “ew, too green”). And that’s on the macro level. The micro level is dealing with note sequences, which is more like shapes.
As far as truth goes, that’s something I’m still trying to work out. It feels like when I write something, I don’t just create something, but I figure something out, and in that sense, it feels like it’s some type of truth, like arriving at an answer. The main melody of this track, for example, went through a pretty long process of development, and as I developed it, it felt not just like I was making expressive choices, but that I was arriving at a conclusion. But I’m not sure what type of truth or conclusion it is. Maybe it’s as simple as “these notes sound good together”. But it also seems to be something like “the mind reacts to these notes in this way”, and that seems to point to something deeper. If you think in terms of special vs. general relativity, it’s almost like each song is an ultra-special case of some broader theory. What exactly that theory is, I don’t know. But in cog sci, studies often take the form of “present subject with stimulus → observe reaction → interpret what truth that reaction reveals”, and so it seems like music sort of follows that structure in some ways.
@Krug tagging you because I think my second paragraph sort of lines up with what you were talking about with essences in literature. Do you think this is sort of the same thing or something different?
that first note coming to life, that first idea popping into your head, sets off such a beautiful chain. I just wonder what "births" that beginning. thank you as always!
That's an interesting way to put it, resonates with me as a Buddhist. And as a Buddhist, I'm inclined to say what births that beginning is ignorance :)
And by that I mean not placing my mind in the right way, not attending in the right way, and not remaining in stability, which means there are little aberrations that pop up, then I cling to them, and they spiral out. This is kind of what I mean when I say that music is ultimately contrary to spiritual practice, but I'm seeing the connections more. Another way I've thought about music is that the goal is to take an idea and work with its structural supports to figure out how to undermine them and bring the idea to its natural conclusion, just like the goal of Buddhist practice is to take a birth and figure out how to unravel the causal mechanisms behind it. In that case, there would have to be a point of inevitability in which the music switches from birthing to ending, like when the music "attains stream entry".
When you say that, you make me think of one of those 4D representations of a person, like where they're depicted as a sort of continuous snake-like figure starting from a baby and going to old age, but with the melody as one note just evolving through time. I've been thinking lately that music hits us so hard because it reflects something about reality, and I'm also thinking that, following that, the philosophy and practice of music may help us understand other objects of inquiry. But that may also just be wild extrapolation and wishful thinking haha
I can't explain it, but for some reason, this reminds me of The Mahavishnu Orchestra without the sharp edges.
Really very interesting music, Otto. Keep it up. Show us more.
Huh, interesting comparison. I can see that. The guitar tone in the solo section is kind of like John McLaughlin’s in Vital Transformation. And the drums are also kind of Vital Transformation-y (that was one of my favorite tracks as a kid). The kit I used was a sampled 70s kit, if I’m remembering right (I put the kit together in the original version and didn’t really look at it again since then). Well, I think I swapped out the snare for something else…maybe a 50s snare. But the kit was mixed like a dry 70s kit at least.
And thank you! I’ll definitely be posting more soon.
that was really nice Otto
keeping in mind what you said about rules of thumb and "rituals", I'm quite curious about how you construct
regarding the colors, do you find, when you're "painting the score" so to speak, you're looking for patterns (I think these two go well together), or are you looking for something new (accessing an internal bank that guides you towards 'this hasn't been done before') , or more of a present-state (vibe chasing certain colors or sounds), or looking forward? or an exhaustion of all possibilities until the 'tingles' feel just right? or a truth mission, where what you perceive as the most beautiful sequence is the truth of the piece? that last one formed because of your quote: "does everything that is true happen to be beautiful, or is everything that is true true because it is beautiful in a particular way?"
I think the latter
Thanks!
Interesting question. I’d say that I usually don’t start with a color in mind, so it’s usually that I’ll either have an idea pop into my head, or I’ll play something or write in some MIDI, and that’s the start. When I hear that, it will have a color, and from there, I’ll either sort of stay within that color, or I’ll decide that the color needs to shift. Or it can be that I play something else, notice the color shifted, and decide that it makes sense to do a color shift here (i.e., develop a new section). Other times, I might say that the color shift just doesn’t fit, and so I’ll drop it. It’s not that thinking in colors is necessarily primary, it’s more that the visualizations help guide things and keep things coherent. They also kind of represent gut feelings (for example, “ew, too green”). And that’s on the macro level. The micro level is dealing with note sequences, which is more like shapes.
As far as truth goes, that’s something I’m still trying to work out. It feels like when I write something, I don’t just create something, but I figure something out, and in that sense, it feels like it’s some type of truth, like arriving at an answer. The main melody of this track, for example, went through a pretty long process of development, and as I developed it, it felt not just like I was making expressive choices, but that I was arriving at a conclusion. But I’m not sure what type of truth or conclusion it is. Maybe it’s as simple as “these notes sound good together”. But it also seems to be something like “the mind reacts to these notes in this way”, and that seems to point to something deeper. If you think in terms of special vs. general relativity, it’s almost like each song is an ultra-special case of some broader theory. What exactly that theory is, I don’t know. But in cog sci, studies often take the form of “present subject with stimulus → observe reaction → interpret what truth that reaction reveals”, and so it seems like music sort of follows that structure in some ways.
@Krug tagging you because I think my second paragraph sort of lines up with what you were talking about with essences in literature. Do you think this is sort of the same thing or something different?
that's awesome
that first note coming to life, that first idea popping into your head, sets off such a beautiful chain. I just wonder what "births" that beginning. thank you as always!
That's an interesting way to put it, resonates with me as a Buddhist. And as a Buddhist, I'm inclined to say what births that beginning is ignorance :)
And by that I mean not placing my mind in the right way, not attending in the right way, and not remaining in stability, which means there are little aberrations that pop up, then I cling to them, and they spiral out. This is kind of what I mean when I say that music is ultimately contrary to spiritual practice, but I'm seeing the connections more. Another way I've thought about music is that the goal is to take an idea and work with its structural supports to figure out how to undermine them and bring the idea to its natural conclusion, just like the goal of Buddhist practice is to take a birth and figure out how to unravel the causal mechanisms behind it. In that case, there would have to be a point of inevitability in which the music switches from birthing to ending, like when the music "attains stream entry".
would that be something like "the truth"? where the note, for all intents, is reborn and finds its natural partners, scaffolds, conclusions hmm
When you say that, you make me think of one of those 4D representations of a person, like where they're depicted as a sort of continuous snake-like figure starting from a baby and going to old age, but with the melody as one note just evolving through time. I've been thinking lately that music hits us so hard because it reflects something about reality, and I'm also thinking that, following that, the philosophy and practice of music may help us understand other objects of inquiry. But that may also just be wild extrapolation and wishful thinking haha