[LAU] (right) Ascension and Declination

[Patrick Shirkey]

On 01/31/2010 10:19 AM, frank pirrone wrote:
> I don't listen to this kind of exploratory music, and the
> varieties/genres mentioned are largely foreign to my experience, but I
> did have an ARP Odyssey once that was the source of much amusement and
> delight.  I'd set up a sample-and-hold and mess with the LFO and
> envelope modulation, and then grab my guitar or keyboard, jamming
> along...and, yes you'd have enjoyed both the music I made and some of
> what I was smoking.
>
> Anyway, there is definite coolness in this stuff, both pieces.
>
> It strikes me that what makes this music and not noise is the harmonic
> and rhythmic structure, however tenuous and demanding.  One of the
> things I'm hearing, and I'll address this more to Patrick's piece, is a
> sense of shifting patterns.  It's like my explorations on hand drums
> where I'll start out a rhythm, and as I get lost in it, experience a
> drift in its structure where accents and groupings shift, almost in a
> tromp l'oeil fashion.  Foreground flips with background, lights become
> darks, repetition alternates between hands, patterns invert, etc.
>
> I'm hearing the same thing happening here, and if you either concentrate
> or abandon all concentration you will hear micro and macro structures
> emerge from this music.  Another example, or even metaphor if you will,
> is the stroboscopic phenomenon involved in rotating objects where the
> velocity and direction of movement appear to change as you watch.
>
> So, Patrick, a suggestion as to what you might do with Ascension, is
> take any of a number of filters, and looking at the patterns suggested
> by the waveforms, draw envelope automation lines to emphasize and
> enhance them.  You can do this with multiple tracks and effects, which
> would draw out of this work its inherent structure as well as maximizing
> this "tromp l'oreille" experience.
>
> You could do this with modulation effects such as phasing and flanging,
> EQ changes, amplitude and panning, compression, etc.  After layering on
> several patterns, you might have something of real complexity and
> interest.  The interplay could be hypnotic.  It should also be practical
> to do this even with an hour-long piece by simply following the
> frequency and amplitude changes in the wave form.
>
> Of course, if you've got the time and motivation, you could also listen
> carefully, and work your editing with intention in sync with the actual
> voice of the piece.
>
> Frank
>    


Thanks Frank.

That is a really helpful group of suggestions. I will definitely give it 
a shot.


Cheers.


Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd