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I love a good tech chat but the main reason I do all this is so I can experience that overwhelming sensation that is "Listening to the sound I make".

It's mine. Its exactly what I like to hear. It's why I sit up until 8am then listen to my finished work 9 or 10 times in disbelief of what I have just done. I don't give a shit what anyone else thinks. Is all about ME and MY sound. It's selfish and self indulgent and I don't care and I love it and I will do it TILL I'M DEAD FOR FREE ( of course if some one pays me well thats all the better but... )

Nothing I do gives me more satisfaction. It's all mine and no-one can share it whether I want them to or they want to. Nothing is closer to me than this. Not cos' I wan't it to be. Just because nothing can.

I find the tech part interesting but it's not 1% of the result...

BUT WHAT DOES IT DO FOR YOU?? Thats what I REALLY want to know.

Respect this whole goddamn crew!!!

PEACE! ( and NO I haven't just eaten a handful of E's. Well not for a week or so anyway )

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ontik on 2002-03-04 05:36 ]</font>

Oh yeah thats the cool thing about making music,you give a little and get a hell of alot back.
The state it can put me in is much the same as a handfull of 'E's.
What is music anyway???? If it was invented today, it would probably be in the list of illegal substances

i usually don't get any further than making a simple midi part and have fun turning the synth's knobs and adding effects

sometimes i add some drum sounds and i think i have a song. x3

but it gives me enourmous pleasure indeed. my grass is always green

The reason I put no narcotic substance in my bloodstream is to have the highest clarity of mind and be able to work 60+ hours a week on the one activity that I feel fulfills my Divine Plan the most. That is: guess what!! It sure is satisfying to create in my room for myself but, in my perspective, it is incomplete. If I don't get to share my inspiration and musical insight with my brothers and sisters around me, then I'd better have stayed in the Universal Silence than to come in this embodiment... I believe that within each and every human being burns a flame which contains a creational power that transcends any of our concepts. And I know that when this Fire is given an opportunity to expand and become manifest in the outer world, then the Earth becomes a better place to be because this Inner Light inspires everybody else and makes people more aware of the Power dwelling inside of themselves.
Music is the discipline that I chose because it is the thing that reminds me the most this original state of grace which we knew, before the world was, and which we still know, even if we've turned our gaze away from It for a while...
Music is the most powerful language in the world because it pierces across all barriers and touches the Heart of the listener, no matter his/her cultural background. Music can carry words of hope all across the face of this planet like no other medium can, and these same words and notes can be sung and played again by anyone who knows this language, at anytime. Strangely, it is an ephemeral form of art which lasts for the time that it's heard and yet it is eternal because anyone anywhere at any point of eternity can bring it back to life by singing the melody or playing the notes of a piece of music...

That's how I see it.

Ok... you're not on E, but you're on K. just kidding. hehe.

On 2002-03-04 18:35, kensuguro wrote:
Ok... you're not on E, but you're on K. just kidding. hehe.

what's that!?

ontik -
it's refreshing to hear someone clearly on some good drugs post some shit like that here! word up... refreshing.
seriously, I know right where you're at with that, and it's a good realization - very freeing and you should have a nice burst of new creativity happenning now, too...

Mark

On 2002-03-04 18:35, kensuguro wrote:
Ok... you're not on E, but you're on K. just kidding. hehe.

If <i>K</i> stands for <i>Koffee</i> then it's definitely my thing!

Lately, I've been playing music because I like to experiment with 'things' like: a new plug-in, a new FilterQueen or anything I can plug in my mixer, in any combinaison. All those knobs, LCDs and buttons are telling me: '<i>Please, oh please, Tweak me! Push me!</i>'.

Off course, with all that experimenting, I don't get to finish that many music projects...



RedSun .:.

Cool feedback guys.

Some other little things I have enjoyed as a part of my own development musically is the fact that I can capture an imagination of an emotion I've had and, in the most vulnerable way, hang it out for the world to critique.

This is typical of most art but I have seriously enjoyed it as a novel element that can only be experienced by just doin' it.

I find it somewhat brave and good for the self esteem too.

And eliam, fair enough for your decisions. I suspect however that you still float on the residual of a fairly 'Way Out' lifestyle enjoyed by you parents. You are the finest example of a hippie of the new millennium. And I say that with total respect and in the lightest of heart. RESPECT!!

Pees!

Ahh, finally I get some time to jam on the keyboard. (ya know, the one with letters on it)

For me, the main purpose is to present something in nice wrappings, and then on the inside, there's some sort of gimmick or mechanism, that the listeners have to figure out. Then, when they figure it out, they learn something. I dunn of it's what I wanted them to learn, musically, but nonetheless it just goes to prove that using your mind to think is worth something. This like my general purpose.

Then, on a more micro scale, each song has a very different meaning. Some songs are just for fun.. like jam sessions when I get together with friends. These sessions aren't really innovative or anything.. it's just there so we can enjoy ourselves. Then, at times there are songs that I try to sell. These can be innovative, or can be cheesy crap. And then there are songs that show technological improvements, or some new trick that I just learned.. sort of experimental in a way I guess. And of course, sometime I compose just because I want to hear it. Just like Ontik. The importance I guess is to have many different ears. Know what you're looking for in a piece. Sometimes it's what "you" are looking for, sometimes it's what "they" are looking for. You'll need both ears to get a job done.

It's basically a question of values.. Ok, so maybe you feel like all value resides in yourself. You know what you like, and don't like. You don't care what others say. But in the end, I think we wouldn't really have any values unless we had some relative point to measure from.. that is, external input. Maybe the input is somebody else's music, maybe comments, whatever. Either way, we're stuck with judging by what we know, which most of time is a collection of things built by other people. Though the only way to beat this mechanism is by gaining lots of personal experience. When you have first hand experience, you don't need others to tell you. You KNOW what it's like. THAT'S absolute value. Though these experiences get quickly outdated and then you're stuck with gathering outside information again.

So that's one way I think. Another way to see it, which goes with Ontik's idea, would be to gain information from what you create... resulting in a sort of creative feedback chain where you're affected by what you create. I personally love that idea, and live by it most of the time. The only drawback is that it's easy to go shooting off in a nonsense direction... but then again, who decides what is nonsense.. you? others? And also, people who make history often do shoot off in the wrong direction.. but they go so goddam far that it becomes a landmark. Tough journey, but well worth the effort because you're exploring where no one has gone before, leaving a trail when others (may) follow.

Heck, there are so many possibilities. I doubt there's one right answer that'll last forever. Any answer is only right in the situation that it was produced in. The real meaning I think isn't in proving what answer is most right, but in asking yourself, and others the question and thinking about what it means. So, whatcha all think?

And just to add, Ontik, about what you said about presenting a very vulnerable emotion to public... I totally have that same feeling! Sometimes the emotions are so intimate, it's very embarassing! It's like, musically, I'm like 2 inches from the listener's ears, and they don't even know it!! Or sometimes it's like inviting someone into my heart to have a walk around. These kind of songs, I usually keep to myself untill the initial "it's a boy! Oh look he's wrinkled up like a monkey" phase, and then let other people hear it. hehe.


Heey, and wait a second... why isn't dblbass replying?? He's got a lot of donuts stuck in his head that he should share.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2002-03-05 06:00 ]</font>

Ontik- you can call me as you want, I don't really mind, but I don't feel like a hippie AT ALL. Maybe they had great inspirations at times, but their brain was often glued with too many substances and in the end they could not protect themselves from the hypnotic control and got caught where they are today...
Truly, I can testify that I understood what being high is when I quit smoking grass and stopped having sex. And that is the truth, guys. Then I could focus all my energy and attention into building the foundation of my life and stick to the most profound ideals of mine.
And Ken, I'm not on K, I'm on T!!!

Paul Martin? Any thoughts?

By the way, Eliam, you stopped having sex?? What's that got to do with your music? Could be personall.. don't answer if you don't feel like it.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2002-03-09 10:13 ]</font>

It has everything to do with channeling ALL my energy wherever I choose. It's a choice that I made -and man! I probably tripled my work load!! OK, it's not only sex... smoking, negative thoughts, coffee, too much food... all these are a waste of energy -hear: sex for sensual gratification, of course!

You know, just as an example, every serious tai-chi student is prompted to stop sex so to accumulate vital energy to unlock the power of the chi... This is a known fact: what you put into women is no more available for creational activities...

So guys, what comes first, success in life (music projects!!) or ephemeral sensory pleasure? the choice is yours...

Well, if we look at the lives of most rock stars, it seems that great success often comes with a lot of great pleasures!



RedSun .:.

What makes you think that their creation will be remembered in 50 years? What would they have accomplished if they'd have saved their energy and lived a balanced life? And most of all: what kind of message and emotional vibration is carried in their music? In this last point, a vast majority of rock stars have utterly failed in a karmic perspective, because they have set an example of depravation and encouraged the youth to waste their Life in all kinds of destructive activities...

But this is just what I see about that...

this thread is fairly deep!

for the ultimate in "music as a doorway to spiritual experience" I highly recommend John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme". Even non-jazz heads should own this, IMHO, if you're seriously interested in music with a deeper message.

This is one of those things were you need to turn out the lights and settle back in a comfortable listening position and let it take you away. If the harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary of 70's avant garde jazz is less than familiar to you, you'll need a few listens, probably over the course of a few weeks, to get past the raw music to the deeper message. There's also some chanting stuff near the beginning which can seem kind of goofy unless you just relax and get into it.

Clearly this is (was) a man with a clear vision that there is some sort of greater truth and beauty out there (I'm not a religious person, so call it what you will) and who used his command of music to try to reveal his vision to others. Sort of like using music to draw back a curtain in a window in the wall separating us from the greater truth, to (briefly) bath us in the light.

Okay, so call me and Eliam just another couple of zonked out hippies (pretty inaccurate if you knew my day-job!!!), but really, get this on CD and try it and then see if I don't sound at least a little less airy-fairy.

BTW, of course there are countless examples of music which can achive this to varying degrees. Its easier to some extent with music which is close enough to the your own preferred and familiar styles, so that the strangeness of the music doesn't get in the way. I also think it helps when the performer and/or composer has pretty well-honed esthetic - or even spiritual - sensibilities in addition to strong technical music skills. (In fact, sometimes enough of the former can make up for a shortage of the latter!).

Another easy example which comes to mind would be Bach cello concertos. When played by the right interpreter you quickly realize that old J.S. had a lot more going on than just the notes. (Casal's version is ravishing, but exists only in re-engineered versions taken from a 40-yr old monural master; Yo-yo Ma's modern release of these is pretty deep too.)

Its endless, really. Who know's Steve Reich's "Six Marimbas" ?. Musical Bliss!

Anyway, my two p., guys. Keep at it. The more talent you've got, in a way, the bigger the responsibility. Scary.

P.S. My wife would have a thought on the idea of giving up sex, eliam , so I'll leave that particular mode of dedication to you !


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dblbass on 2002-03-10 21:41 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: dblbass on 2002-03-10 21:43 ]</font>

Marimbas?? Is it like a 14 minute (or so) composition? I think I've heard it in class as an example. I definitely need to hear that again cuz we only made it half way through! Now I know the composer and name of the song.

Dblbass- thanks for your comments... Now I know I'm not alone here considering music as a portal into Higher Consciousness... I'm glad you mentioned the work of JS Bach, because I think this man was in contact with the divine, and this you can clearly feel in his music. Do you know the work of David Hykes- Harmonic Choir? This music really comes from Higher Spheres!

ken- yes, that's the one, I think its almost exactly fourteen minutes. Its truly curious, almost miraculous, becuase its very boring on one level - lots of repetitive little ostinatos which gradually phase around one another, over a very simple and gradually shifting harmonic structure, but at the same time inspired, subtle, fascinating, and, if I may, "blissful"

eliam - JS Bach, definitely on a higher plane. Also a mystery in that his music is so much about form, rigid harmonic framework, rigid counterpoint, but at the same time transcend all of this to become purely sensual, even spiritual.

oh well, lots of inspiration out there !