"'Restore the Lock!' she cries; and all around
'Restore the Lock!' the
vaulted roofs rebound.
Not fierce Othello in so loud a strain
Roar'd
for the handkerchief that caus'd his pain.
But see how oft ambitious
aims are cross'd,
And chiefs contend 'till all the prize is lost!
The
Lock, obtain'd with guilt, and kept with pain,
In ev'ry place is sought,
but sought in vain:
With such a prize no mortal must be blest,
So
heav'n decrees! with heav'n who can contest
Some thought it mounted to the Lunar sphere,
Since all things lost on
earth are treasur'd there.
There Hero's wits are kept in pond'rous
vases,
and beau's in snuff-boxes and tweezer-cases.
There broken
vows and death-bed alms are found,
And lover's hearts with ends of riband
bound,
The courtier's promises, and sick man's pray'rs,
The smiles
of harlots, and the tears of heirs,
Cages for gnats, and chains to yoke a
flea,
Dry'd butterflies, and tomes of casuistry."
Alexander Pope - "The Rape of the Lock"
Texts
Recorded
Gradus 312 - Neal Kosály-Meyer [May 29, 2017]
If
we agree that we are speaking of a 'tone' as an experience
and not as an
abstract entity
of which experienced 'tones' are examples or tokens,
then
the
notion
that a tone consists of a vertical stack of partials
doesn't conform
to
what I'm hearing.
For me,
the salient and immediate organisms into which a
tone evolves
are quasi-sequential uploadings of sound into consciousness,
forming
themselves as trajectories of awareness,
which might,
yes,
include episodes of
an experience of vertically stacked pitches,
which
we could then postulate to
have arisen
from the acoustic resonance characteristics
of the particular
group of wires in vibration,
that said experience of stacked pitches
is only a
development
toward the end of the trajectory under inquiry.
if one were to allow the strings to vibrate undamped
until they cease to produce an audible signal,
I have found
that the stack in question
will gradually thin out
until it consists of just one single surviving pitch.
So,
one might say
that a tone
can consist of such a stack,
for some portion of its duration,
but
one can't insist that it does so at all times.
Ignoring,
of course,
the fact
that if one simply doesn't hear the said stack in one's experience,
ever,
for
whatever reason,
then
that said so earnestly experienced tone
never did so
consist
and to insist that it did
is insanity.
And of course
all of this
is not to say that,
at times,
as a composer or
performer
it might be useful to understand the 'known' facts of acoustics,
so
that
one could work, creatively,
with such 'facts'
to make one's music.
And,
one might even use such facts in composition
so that it brings out such
acoustic aspects of the sound
as being the flesh and bone of those composed
tones
to erect
extraordinarily intricate cathedrals
of vertical energy fields
of tones,
as,
for example,
Bach does,
or
one might form them into a cudgel
with which to pound those said facts into submission
to the sovereign will of
the human spirit,
as,
for example,
Beethoven attempted.
This rung consists of iterations of two pitches, a low G and a low E, a sixth above the G.
This is interesting
for me
the tone language of this music
doesn't seem to be
based on the old tonal language of Bach & Co.,
but on the newer
New World
tonal
language of jazz, rock, blues, etc.
chord change music,
but used deeply,
so that the language of it
speaks
to its own words
in its own words
Quant de vous seul - Johannes Ockeghem - Blue Heron, Scott Metcalfe
an uncanny unsolid form
animated in ear space
in clear lines
lifelike
an
interval might be a particular twist of lip
and another might be a distinct such lip twist
establishing systems
by which these twists move from one to another
and
by which they can't
provides an image of potential
for an existence
in
earspace
of a figure that moves with consistency
as do objects in physical
space
seem so to do
Can Shee, Fvb 188 - Traditional - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
they move about the stage
in amply draped garments
Suite in D minor, BuxWV 234 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Keith Eisenbrey
The Allemande is very strong, but for that G minor arpeggio in the 2nd part.
Courante needs work on the ornaments.
Sarabande d'Amour is quite nicely done.
Sarabande number two could take even more time between things
isolate the
phrases
the beat pulse could be stretched much further
Gigue has a few tiny
bungles
but otherwise right on
milk the last cadence
HOLD IT
Sonata in A Major, Kk. 208 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
if a motion can be discovered at the seed of a tree
then a tree of motions can
be woven into the interstices of the branches
fractal penetration
Melancholy Blues - Louis Armstrong's Hot Seven [from Hot Fives and Sevens]
intro is a list of players and registers
characters and their realms
cymbal
strike punctuated
verses:
trumpet tutti trombone clarinet tutti
East Texas Drag - East Texas Serenaders [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
early stomp and drag
I presume
dance step
rather than
costume
multiple fiddles
over guitars and banjos
On The Sentimental Side - Billie Holiday [from Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia]
the size of the band is calibrated to the intimate scale of the song's lyrical
message
it only gets big to mark the ending
otherwise she is clearly
addressing a single person
perhaps across a table
Charlies Wig - Charlie Parker [from The Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes]
picked up
carried along
a sudden ride
set down
plump
It Happened Again - Sarah Vaughan [from In A Romantic Mood]
the violins do a little heart throb
ala Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique
a big
stage big band voice
Lend Me Your Comb - The Beatles [from First Live Recordings, Volume 2]
the recording really picks up the strident guitar
piercing
snarky psychedelia
a skinscribed familiar
Sense of Doubt-Moss Garden-Neukoln - David Bowie [from Heroes]
a tone poem
elements cycle through
amped up piano
synthesizer stuff
at the
youth of prog
its progeny
well or ill-begot
exoticism
acidic
measures a
distance
between rock and jazz
determining
where it might be bridged
more
likely
than to classical
that's a lost cause
Piece of My Heart - Janis Joplin [from In Concert]
image of what must be said
at the extremity of desperation
Up On Cripple Creek - Bob Dylan and The Band [from Before The Flood]
guitar imitates (?) jaw harp
bar told drinking tale
arranged so as to cover up
any possible actual bar told drinking tale
Sound Examples for "Sound-Color Dynamics" - Steve Slawson
scratching coded secrets avoiding surveillance beam
Every Little Thing - T. Bone Burnett [from The Criminal Under My Own Hat]
damaging each other
sincerity wisdom token
the song doesn't improve the poem
Rope Burn - Janet Jackson [from The Velvet Rope]
probably best I'm not certain what she's on about
something kinky
I presume
from the subverbals
Lamb of God (050517 C) - Keith Eisenbrey - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey
goal of songwriting:
set the words so that they speak themselves clearly,
music and words to stay out of each other's way,
so that they can talk to each
other
above all
keep emotive bludgeons out of the mix
Turpentine - Brandi Carlile [from The Story]
scenes from a small life
oblique but specific address
You're So Young - Your Mother Should Know [recorded live at the Rat and Raven, Seattle, August 9, 2012]
pile on words
thought
similes
metaphors
fill in all the gaps
except
the one
surrounding incident
Further Journey - Steve Layton and Sound-In [from Further Journey]
spaced out chords
slow pan through empty morning room
time knocks heavily
busy
bots scour for scraps
 |
| A Bag of the Blues for Funny Fitz (part 2) |
Doctor Bull's My Self, A Gigge, Fvb 189 - John Bull - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
simple motions aren't
It's Right Here For You - Perry Bradford [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
patter over piano
fiddle then trumpet
with some clarinets
the patter
disappears under the buoyancy
over some tinkling on some ivories
I'm Moaning All Day for You - Five Jinks [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
a lesson in how a rhythm might be introduced
that never settles
a precursor to
Wind by Nolan Strong and the Diablos
rendering barbershop
as one might
render horses
Keep on the Firing Line - Brown's Ferry Four [from Goodbye, Babylon]
militaristic discipleship
immediate post-war
Medley - Elvis Presley [from Elvis's Christmas Album]
starts with Silent Night
punches the first phoneme
mostly
more phonemes
late in the phrase
not sure why they call it a medley
Wondering - Stevie Wonder [from The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie]
star treatment
Ok
you get the solo
but the rest of the crew is consigned to
getting paid
not quite so egregious here as in some
the song as such wanders
off
wondering what it did to be treated so badly
Don't Let Me Lose This Dream - Aretha Franklin [from I Never Loved a Man The Way I Love You]
everybody collaborates to lift
the song isn't much
but everybody is all in
Bitter With The Sweet - Carole King [from Rhymes & Reasons]
clearly she knows how to put a song together to industry standards
and she has
a way with words and her voice
why am I not buying in?
theory:
I'm not
convinced by the piano playing
rote thumping
Sub-Mission - Sex Pistols [from Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols]
over-acting a sneer
for fun and profit
Example #22 - Laurie Anderson [from Big Science]
its cleverness and plainness
is all it seems to be
a hard shiny surface
strenuously blank
Entos 2 (side 2) - Anna K, Neal Kosály-Meyer, David M, Marcia Z [July 11, 1987]
performing vocally
make us do it
as much time as need
what silence is it we
fear to break
that isn't broken every time we open our mouths?
Is music so
terrifying to have emerge from one's body?
that we guard against its escape
before's aftermath
Neal untapes the PZMs to move them up closer
now they're
being retaped
it helped
cajolery into making something from scratch
but as
guided
by leader
stewed and fried with gravy
baby food
shoe strings
Tower of the Sun (Japanese) - Shonen Knife [from Brand New Knife]
it's loud and the guitars sound plenty big
but the vocals are clear as day
perfectly lit
Search - Paul Des Marais - Los Angeles chamber Singers, Peter Rutenberg [from Open Space 28]
chorus in company
reciting a text
written from the standpoint of a singular I
but not using the choral we
rhythmic unison mostly
sometimes splitting to
converse
music used to clarify text or aspects of it
Banned Rehearsal 716 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Neal Kosály-Meyer [March 19, 2007]
input levels seem to have been quite low
{NB: I fixed this prior to
uploading}
piano electric bass and kora
instruments are put away
and positions
shift
holding hum
an ocarina comforts the hum
we are mostly very quiet
subdued
centered inward
minimal surface area
holding close
embraced against
covered
at
long last
finds a together sound
piano fuzzed out electric guitar and tiny
percussion metallic sounds
none of it loud
a place that had to be approached
with caution
without looking at each other
The Sound - Ephrata [from Two Songs]
logarithmic upswell awash in bliss
Jesu, nu sei gepreiset - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded Ocrober 15, 2019]
I want to clear the air of nonsense
we need to not fool ourselves
at our peril
source and procedure
plain as day
skin pulled back
 |
| Meditation 1 |
pipetry
solve for i
formulalie
phylodacticae
November 24, 2022
A Gigge, Fvb 189 - John Bull - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
tonal space curves as it descends
She'll Never Meet a Fellow Like Me - Ted Weems [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
a song and dance song
charleston would work
the band plays characters
I
enjoyed the buggy ride
Knocking on the Hen House Door - Lester "Pete" Bivins [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
hyperbole
lie shower
with a quick pattered nonsense chorus
Off Minor - Thelonius Monk [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
time bends as it spectrums into song space
I'm Feeling Sorry - Jerry Lee Lewis [from Rare and Rockin']
rinky dink piano sound keeps it light
rock and roll was still a species of
country music
barely differentiated
Gloryland - The Staple Singers [from Hammer and Nails]
controlled slide
up to where the pitch glory shines
Cherish - Nina Simone [from Silk & Soul]
sings her own backup?
this is a distinctly more private message delivery mode
than the more well known hit original by The Association
minimal piano pokes
only when necessary
900 Miles - Cisco Houston [from The Greatest Songs of Woody Guthrie]
a polished singer
singing politely
and carefully
treating the song
as a bit
too holy
to work into something
new and raw
soft-sold
Surgeon's Girl - Wire [from Pink Flag]
a deviously balanced formal composition
Love Shack - The Knitters [from Poor Little Critter on the Road]
there's a reason to be dancing here
to the juke box voice
Just the Lonely Talking Again - Whitney Houston [from Whitney]
talks the song into itself
and second thoughts
and third questions
Wand of Youth - Edward Elgar [from Meditations for a Quiet Night]
late stage Victorianism
Lamb of God (050517 Final A) - Keith Eisenbrey - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey
a twisted wire of counter point
Away With a Manger - The Capitol Steps [from O Christmas Bush]
no lawyers in heaven
stale punchline
Rocks and Glass - You Mother Should Know [recorded live at the Rat and Raven, August 9, 2012]
guitar solo sounds pretty good
anthem blues
we got two more
Extravagant Lie - Gaytheist [from Let's Jam Again Soon]
assault
no part left unpummeled
Banned Telepath 90 Tintinabulary - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
we set off
bumping road
rattling cups
plodding beast
stirring in the mess hall
mouse drummers
rumble runners
music leaks in on the radio
old times
tank
command in a house of cards
destructive wind
experimental apothecary of
delicate sounds
chirpy aliens
the plastic garage shakes
sounds come and go in
wafts
none know whence
nor whither
nor wherefore
In Session at the Tintinabulary
November 21, 2022
Banned Telepath 94 Beacon Hill - Steve Kennedy
Banned Telepath 94 Tintinabulary - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt
Banned Rehearsal 1064 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt
virtually assembled we do our thing
November 22, 2022
Joshua Tree Preludes - Aaron Keyt
I was occupied in recording these during the first eight months of this year, and finally got around to assembling them all together. Quite enjoyable and pithy.
November 23, 2022
Suite in D minor, BuxWV 234 - Dieterich Buxtehude
I've been working at this one for quite awhile, and have been getting quite
close to happy with where it sits in my ear over the last few weeks. I'm now
quite happy with it indeed, and hope you enjoy listening. I changed the order
of the movements from how they're printed in the book -
from Allemande d'Amour
- Courante - Sarabande d'Amour - Sarabande - Gigue
to Allemande d'Amour -
Sarabande d'Amour - Courante - Sarabande - Gigue,
because I thought the
progression from the last chord of the Allemande to the first chord of the
Courante was weak and confusing. Moving from the Allemande directly into the
first Sarabande works better tonally and allows the two Sarabandes to stand
out from each other more clearly.
My inegalite could be more elegant I suppose, but then elegance is not really my bag, so there.
Postscripts
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
some listening journal doodles from 1991
