A E J O T Z
Joined: Aug 14, 2011 Posts: 423 Location: Griffith, Indiana, USA
Audio files: 148
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Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 7:05 pm Post subject:
a description of what I call my "enso" music |
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(This post is very much like a previous one of mine. I wanted to express a couple more points.)
In Zen, the enso is a circle drawn in a single motion at arm's length with a long-handled brush. An enso drawn in this manner inevitably contains "imperfections" that express the state of being of the artist at the time the enso was drawn. Each enso is honest and unique.
I call my style of composition "enso" after the Zen enso.
I sit and play with a synth like it's a toy. I play around with sounds until I find one I particularly like at that particular time. I then noodle around with the sound, allowing the nature of the sound to suggest a rhythm and/or melodic line to me. I play that line and record it for about three minutes.
Next, I play back that first line and noodle around with other sounds until I find a line to accompany the first line, then I record the new line. I repeat this process until I don't feel like adding any more lines.
I mix all the tracks together and export to my PC as a WAV file. Then I erase the original multi-track recording.
Most of my tunes are begun and finished in a single sitting. Sometimes I have to stop before a tune is completed, and come back to it later. A couple of my tunes were actually "composed" before I began recording them, but al others were created and recorded virtually simultaneously.
Also, my tunes tend to be cyclical, but I try to not let any two cycles precisely repeat. Some characteristic or other is always changing. This is a reflection of my observation that no "cycle" in nature ever precisely repeats. I'm not trying to create philosophical "art," I just find the concept and resulting product appealing. Something in me reacts unfavorably to too-precise repetition.
My tunes are my ensos. When I listen to them I can feel my state of being at the time that I created them. But that's not why I make my tunes. I make the tunes because I adore the creative process. I feel very alive when I'm engrossed in playing my little sonic chameleons. I don't stress over whether I'm doing it right or whether anyone else will like it. (I stress over that later, separately.) _________________ AEJOTZ is pronounced "A-Jotz"
retro-futurism now
electronics = magic
free albums at http://aejotz.bandcamp.com
listen to genre-defying synthetic music at http://sat-5.com |
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