Musings about the mystical journey of a guy and his ambient mixtape
It has almost always been more inspiring for me to play music with others than playing solo. But oftentimes, the ‘other’ in the room jamming with me is an electronic piece of kit I’ve projected an anthropomorphic personality onto and treated it as a collaborator. As an example, the DFAM I use is remarkably musical. This synthesizer seems to require such little amounts of input before I’m moved to dance in time with the loop that it outputs. Many of my instruments are like that for me: more than mere tools in my arsenal and much like a living extension of myself in the studio.
Art is mystical for many, spiritual to others. For me, it's as if my work is channeling wisdom-loving thoughts of others with songs and non-lyrical expressions. In 2023, I privately delved into philosophy content online and discovered schools of thought pioneered by thinkers like Arent, Lacan, Hegel and especially Meister Eckhart, whose wikipedia page you should check out just to scratch the surface of his impact. His writings and sermons describe many mystical realities such as that of the grund or "ground". "The ground of God and the ground of the soul are one; they are the same ground" goes an english translation of one of Eckhart's quotes. The 13th-century German theologian also introduces new words and concepts with his use of language from the pulpit. Bullitio or "boiling" is another term he uses for heavenly energy filling earth, especially when expounding on his unique trinitarian perspective.
The creative act allows someone like me to get carried away with writing and playing electronic songs. In the fall I started to play gigs unlike what I’d done in the winter, spring and summer prior, that being singer-songwriter shows with an accompanist or two (shoutout to Jessica Nova, Al Swanson, Melissa Klemme and Obadiah Mainah for lending musical talents to those shows). I would put my best foot forward to make the art Hi-Fi. My affinity for electronics can come across as witchcraft. I like when musicians playfully call me a wizard. Rather than conjuring Samuel's ghost (was that a deep cut?) I practice reviving nostalgic tunes and magical sounds. But after doing a handful of indietronica shows this year, I realized I’d been taking the work increasingly seriously. The further that goes the worse (more serious) it often gets. What would happen if consciously I took the music lightly?
If you’ve seen a show of mine, you likely witnessed how much stuff I bring onto the stage with me. Ashtyn definitely notices when I unload it all into our home. How does one decide how to condense this? I’d been thinking about favorite ‘holy’ numbers and my roots led me back to trinity. Three is enough for many people. Three can make a hero's journey as there’s always a beginning, middle and end. For this next season the prompt was simple: pick three and make music. One of the three was DFAM. Another was the paraphonic bass synth Circuit Mono Station. The third element was usually the audio mixer being played like an instrument.
Pick three and make music? Am I one of the three? Can I sequence events or should I come up with stuff on the spot? The possibilities were still endless. They say that limitations breed creativity. A rack of modules in a lunchbox-sized case was counted to me as one. If you know about modular, each installed component, or module, is usually so basic in function that you must get creative to make anything musical with them. The second piece in this setup was a keyboard with arpeggio superpowers. The mixer once again rounded out the setup as the third and final piece of gear I allowed myself to bring to this gig.
Despite my doing a less-than-stellar job explaining my initial thoughts around this project in layperson terms, this "realized madness" illustrates how scattered and short on time I am for the multitudes of things I want to do with music. Ambition is one hell of a drug. If movies use limits and rules to be good, so will I.
What else was there to work with? The hundreds of lyrics I'd penned this year didn’t feel ready for full-blown songs. But I know how to make a synth sound great to my ears. The decision was made to go with loops I’d been playing out for years already. The starting material was motifs and arrangements from Dimension 1, 2 and 3 (my first albums). The rest was improvisational with DJ-style layering I brought but without crossfaders or turntables. The near-final boss was mixing on-the-fly and letting the stereo recording be the final mix (audio engineers will know how tempting it is to make every effort to re-mix in post).
While the resulting mixtape somehow references my recent philosophical journey with Eckhart as well as my favorite early musical recipes, Trinity Concerts is not a religious record. It is a Lo-Fi conversation between my past self and my future listeners, in a spiritual way. My present self is merely witnessing it happen in reverb-soaked loops.
Photo credit: Poly Mendes
Comments