"Could a deaf man who had never heard understand music? Probably not, since we could never convey (or tell if we were conveying) the relevant relational information, for that is based on the intersubjectivity of auditory perception. And his world would be altogether so different where, especially, events prominently involving auditory aspects are concerned, that the problem of determination would be insurmountable: imagine that we take him to an orchestral concert, the advance information having been given that he was about to experience "music". Then he sees a succession of events associated with discriminable objects, including people, instruments batons, etc. 'How did you like the music?' we ask. 'It was beautiful' is his answer. Our enthusiasm at thus having created yet another music-lover against what appeared to be insuperable odds so overwhelms us that we offer to take our friend to yet another concert. this time involving only a string quartet. He accepts with pleasure, and in the event observes a subset of what he has already become familiar with from his previous encounter with "music". 'How charmingly intimate, what graceful and elegant music' is his report this time. But then we take him to an organ recital, with no familiar instruments in view. At the end he turns to us in unconcealed irritation: 'You call that music?'"
Benjamin Boretz - from "Meta-Variations: Studies in the Foundations of Musical Thought"
Texts
Recorded
Fantasie in C Major, Wq. 59/6 - Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach - Alexei Lubimov
the depth
of dynamic contrast
and articulation
and precision
on this instrument
(a tangent piano)
are astonishing
we gave up so much
for more power
this music follows its momentary thoughts
Étude pour le pianoforte d'apres les caprices de Paganini in E-flat Major, Op. 3 #5 - Robert Schumann - Florian Uhlig
figures in the top
trade with figures on the bottom
in a rhythm
a back and forth
patta-cake
quick time
Zyczenie op. 74 #1 - Frédéric Chopin - Ewa Podlés, Garrick Ohlsson
a little waltz explosion
between each stanza
He is There! - Charles Ives - Mary Ann Hart, Dennis Helmrich
gung ho
off to war
confident in rectitude
of being a Yankee
Boy
In Walked Bud - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue Note Recordings]
the lower voice of the tune
pulls the upper down
against its will
and active resistance
Johnny Todd - Bob Dylan [from A Tree with Roots]
selected portions
of grab bag songs
(the album)
Deep Into the Night - Sarah Vaughan [from Feelin' Good]
classic jazz chanteuses
reinventing themselves
as swanky nightclub
acts
going pop
selling out
just trying to make a
living
nothing new for Madonna and company
path paved by Satchmo?
Keep This Heart in Mind - Bonnie Raitt [from Green Light]
the changes quicken at the ends of stanzas
Sweet Water Rolling - Mike, Peggy, and Penny Seeger [from American Folk Songs for Children]
the concise brevity of this is salutary
Paradise - Bruce Springsteen [from The Rising]
ooo
its mooody
with melodic hints
of greensleeves
a sense I have
for no reason to which I can point
beyond my gut
reaction
that
it's just altogether too much
all an act
prepared
controlled
not trustworthy
C Garden - Steve Layton & Improv Friday [from Summer Mirages]
foghorn testing ground
signaling locations with sound
points on a
chart
the octopi have their own system
the whales another
barnacles are infamous blabbermouths
So It Goes... - Taylor Swift [from Reputation]
hard break between segments
small to big
back to small
without the hard break
Hole In The Ground - David Bowie [from Toy]
Bowie didn't so much reinvent himself
as he did reinvent the characters
he was portraying
reciting poetry
as a part of the dance
zusammenkunstwerklich
There'll Be No Peace Without All - Ray Charles [from A Message from the People]
a lament or complaint
and projected conclusion of the current course
in short
a prophecy
Nameless One No. 2 - Sun Ra [from Celestial Love]
there's that crazy keyboard again
part celeste
part vibraphone
part electric guitar
but
if this is a reed based electronic
keyboard
then it is essentially an electric kalimba
believable
Four Hebrew Dances - Rae Colborne - Tielman Susato Krummhorn Gesellschaft [from The Glory of The Krummhorn]
can a music have a national identity?
at end
tape mechanism sound
clearly not part of the music we just heard
and yet
capable
as a sound
of being part of some other music
it just didn't
happen to be a part of this one
Is The Place? - Greg Sinibaldi [from Frieze of Life]
can the concept of silence be a radish?
can the silence of radish be a
concept?
can the radish of concept be a silence?
can the silence of
concept be a radish?
can the concept of radish be a silence?
can the
radish of silence be a concept?
yes
if memory serves
across broad spaces
measured out
I Think I Love You - Waxahatchee [from American Weekend]
there is a quiet hiss
that sounds like
it could be
the sound
of whatever machinery
might be in use
to record with
or
of the amp
Ballad of the Great Grand Coulee - Darrin Craig, John Newfeld [from Roll Columbia]
rural
dust abraded speech
oldtimer
tellin' straight
Ensemble 1 - Sascia Pellegrini [from 7 Percussion Impossibilities]
each drummer follows their own logic
as well as the logic of the
other
they contend
You'll Never Walk Alone - Aretha Franklin [from Amazing Grace]
congregational participation
the congregants participate
in the
soloist's musical ecstasy
share it
(a soteriological model)
id est
we share
in Christ's resurrection
and
that
is our salvation
Stop The Violence (Massive 12" Extended Version) - Boogie Down Productions [from Criminal Minded]
nice vacation music
the president's still on one
full of humor and
wit
Blank Page - Christina Aguilera [from Lotus]
how is this into-the-rafters vocal delivery
the music of those
words?
which are
as best I can tell
personal and intimate
Sleeping Fish - CEP [from Drawing The Target Around The Arrow]
fish tank fish
a bubble in a harsh world
All Up In Your Mind - Beyoncé [from Renaissance]
echoes pull words from the lines
and run into the basement with them
Gardening At Night - REM [from Dead Letter Office]
this song rarely fails to take me back
to The Oaks
in Barrytown
an attic apartment
a long narrow room of books
into where
music was played back
on cassette decks
Dr. Strangelove (Jack Flash) - Prom Queen [from Covers]
patterns of 3 2 or 4 syllables
in beaded strings
a bracelet
7,500 Kisses - Amy Denio [from The Big Embrace]
an intense conversation
high personal stakes
Missing Words VI- III. Witzbeharrsamkeit (Joke-Insistence) II - Eric Nathan - Re:Naissance Opera [from Missing Words]
displayed in enclosures
Curtains (Electric Sheep) - Bruce Hamilton and Friends [from Mash Hits Vol. 1]
sounds are made by agents
which we personify
costume
and
cast onto an open stage
to enact the scene
their sounds are making
Blood and Bubblegum - Star Anna [streamed from Fiddler's Inn, Seattle, March 7, 2022]
tastes like cigarettes
and the tip of my tongue
Stone Blues - Freddie & The Screamers [from I Ain't Crazy]
novelty song blues
acting the type
one imagines
that in the world of game (video) music creation
there exists
a fringe of weirdos
this may fit that
Track 13 - Curtains For You [recorded live at The High Dive, Seattle, April 6, 2012]
does the bar crowd
participate in the musical ecstasy
of the band
even if
they're not actively listening
but
being
bathed in its continuity?
Rock de Roqueiro - Camarones Orquestra Guitarristica [from Live in Natal]
all done for the evening
thanks guys
Beautiful Killer - Madonna [from MDNA]
aural not-quite soft-porn
controversial gunshot
In The Morrow - Brandi Carlile [from Bear Creek]
watching ones own dissolution
as it happens
Movie Star - Swearin' [from Swearin']
song can rely
on a disjunction
between
the thrust of the
words
as they might be written
and read
and
the person
of the singer character
within the song
(I Ride) My Station Wagon - Swingset Showdown [from Short Bus Ruckus]
love song
to a car type
The Pleasure is All Yours - Tomten [from Live from Sound-Off 2012]
lessons in industry
Étude pour le pianoforte d'apres les caprices de Paganini in G minor, Op. 3 #6 - Robert Schumann - Florian Uhlig
the key of epic struggle
against the elements
Wiosna, op. 74 #2 - Frédéric Chopin - Ewa Podlés, Garrick Ohlsson
tunes that focus on a few notes at a time
patterning them discretely
within the stanza structure
more like a song
straight ahead
than like an "art song" or Lied
surely this young man wears a tie
and a proper hat
Monk's Mood - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue Note Recordings]
some notes set others in motion
some notes reset the trap
these
things happen
when pitches pool on the floor
Cool Water - Bob Dylan [from A Tree With Roots]
there is a sense in which
this album
is a catalogue of examples
of how to turn anything
into the same song
as the others
Hey Mister - Ray Charles [from A Message from the People]
from the aggrieved
River of Tears - Bonnie Raitt [from Green Light]
life in the hardworking land
Photograph - Sarah Vaughan [from Brazilian Romance]
the tawdriness of the song
disappears behind the glow of that voice
Of All The Beast'es - Mike, Peggy, and Peggy Seeger [from Animal Folk Songs for Children]
a panther
cry for Suzy Anna
turkeys in Atlanta
rhyme game
My City of Ruins - Bruce Springsteen [from The Rising]
can one take oneself seriously
as the voice of anything
more
extensive
than their own person?
without a certain amount of hubris
not my branch of church
too
much Sister Amy for my taste
The Last Time (feat. Gary Lightbody) - Taylor Swift [from Red]
life in the cinematic suburbia of teen yearning
end of Act 2
the
big breakup
Gaia - Steve Layton & Sound In [from Further Journey]
a cave
where the jungle's sounds
all collect
higgled and
piggled
out of their history
bearing Ghosts
of their places
of origin
settlement
is inevitable
nature's inexorable
forces
Totem 47 - Sascia Pellegrini [from Totem IV]
industrial
sure
medical
sure
believable
systems monitor
and communication hub
ear to the ground
Erde's borborbygmi
whalish wails
raceway surface
the aliens have had enough of our nonsense
they're taking off in their
space orbs
What a Friend We Have in Jesus - Aretha Franklin [from Amazing Grace]
composed to put us on the same page
tap your feet
if you have 'em
become entribed
Smile - Sun Ra [from Celestial Love]
interesting voice
falsetto?
[June Tyson]
I don't think so
the low end doesn't sound like it
plus
a hint of vibrato up
high
with foghorns
(the running out of air
was instructed
by
yours truly
as a means
I suppose
of activating the duration
and cutoff)
very much
thinking of those notes
as sounds
with attack and decay envelopes
only finding the melody
after the space has been properly prepared
more of a ceremony
than a pastorale I think
Claude et Eric - Gren Sinibaldi [from Frieze of Life]
stop
every few steps of moving
to listen
are we still all
here
are we still alone
OK
we have arrived
lets get
things cooking on the stove here
XO - Beyoncé [from Beyoncé]
not all the instrumentals
are in the same room
some
are much
closer
than the same room
celebration dance
Ball (Demo) - Waxahatchee [from Out in the Storm]
what exactly
is the point of view
of the recording artist?
Brujería - Christina Aguilera [from Aguilera]
sultry tale told
with dance and verses
Essays in Bdp-ism - Boogie Down Productions [from Criminal Minded]
the material world of entrapment
overlaying echoes
points out
how melodic the speech is
Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover (Sophie B. Hawkins) - Prom Queen [from Covers]
shucks
you're the only shoe that fits
Washington Talking Blues - Scott McCaughey [from Roll Columbia]
way out across yonder somewhere
people changing places
Baby Loves That Way - David Bowie [from Toy]
economic use of pitch and harmonic vocabulary
drummer is on a tight
leash
Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars) - REM [from Dead Letter Office]
carting heavy stuff
here to there
in frames of film
out of
town
Trio Procession - Bruce Hamilton & Friends [from Mash Hits Vol. 1]
titles
can be code names
or desriptors
or genre/conversation
marker
sounds in a box
Verge of Crying - CEP [from Drawing the Target Around the Arrow]
code names
can be titles
one senses the dial twiddler
lurking above
and behind this
eyes closed
headphones
activated
Missing Words VI- IV. Dielennystagmus (Hallway-Nystagmus) - Re:Naissance Opera [from Missing Words]
if a note emerges
like a spirit
and winks out
like a car
rushing past
is it
still
a note?
austere layout
Bard Improvisors' Ensemble (side 2) - Tildy Bayar, Hillary Butler, Dan Sedia
this concerns itself
with its room
the room these sounds are in
has come to this room
(where I am sitting)
for a visit
exact proximity
even the flooring
the piano
is embarrassed to find itself
muttering happily to
itself
wakes with a start
oops!
vocal puppets
all quiet (not!)
but the room
is still with us
Wrong Five O'Clock - Freddie & The Screamers [from I Ain't Crazy]
oops
bad boys
get comeuppance
Biopsy of Statecraft - Amy Denio [from The Big Embrace]
pitchcraft for sure
Track 14 - Star Anna [streamed from Fiddler's Inn, Seattle, March 7, 2022]
the shape of the stanza
is announced
then filled
with a tale
of retribution
Track 14 (fragment) - Curtains For You [recorded live at The High Dive, Seattle, April 6, 2012]
in this dive bar
the colorful keyboard sound
gets lost
behind the bass drums guitar mass
my DAT ran out
before the
song did
Equinox - Benton Roark - Re:Naissance Opera [from Music from The Apocrypha Chronicles]
start with the sheen of tiny bell sounds
fill in below
conclude
with the holy oomph
of a trombone chorale
I Fucked Up - Madonna [from MDNA]
"nobody does it better than myself"
is a way of distancing ones ego
from culpability
it was my self
that oopsed
it wasn't me
then proceeds
to provide excuses
for ones
self's
behavior
the modern pop song
as a genre
is an electrified creature
stripped
of its production trapping
what's left?
is
the structure of the song
(its "song form")
et al
so designed
so as
to maximize
the POW
of the
electrified creature
and thus
would not be able to stand
on
its own song feet?
Naked - Swingset Showdown [from Short Bus Ruckus]
Sonny Don't - Tomten [from Live from Sound Off 2012]
advice in adversity
with country twang
Smutna rzeka, Op. 74 #3 - Frédéric Chopin - Ewa Podlés, Garrick Ohlsson
the piano part
keeps out of the way
an entirely different way
for Chopin to treat the piano
as an instrument
Her Eyes - Charles Ives - Douglas Dickson, Kenneth Tarver
for an accomplished young man to sing
during musical evenings
in
Bourgeoisieland
Who Knows? - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue Note Recordings]
lively imagination
in the piano
(when it is the)
accompaniment
always supportive
never grandstanding
Banks of the Royal Canal - Bob Dylan [from A Tree With Roots]
this one
is more of an intended performance
a demo
or test
of concept
the arrangement
needs to be relaxed and bland
so
that
they don't distract from the singer
Run To Me - Sarah Vaughan [from Feelin' Good]
tiny little harpsichord
songs of the day
Can't Get Enough - Bonnie Raitt [from Green Light]
stylish accompaniment
but it doesn't develop much
keeps to its
lane
Valentine's Day - Bruce Springsteen [from Tunnel of Love]
mellow make-out montage
Go To Sleep - Mike, Peggy, and Penny Seeger [from Animal Folk Songs for Children]
go to town
buy a pretty little pony
odd verse about parental
abandonment
Moths on the Porchlight - Steve Layton & Improv Friday [from PPP]
I wonder sometimes
about the sequence of inventions
vis a vis a
cut such as this
and a title such as that
chosen after?
or
part of the score?
grabbed from an ever-replenishing bag
of random
song titles?
how much credence
do I want to give the title
as somebody's
description
of this music?
her dilemma
goes round and round
Totem 54 - Sascia Pellegrini [from Totem V]
a contending knot-node
of cultural identity
but
culture is
at root
idiocentric
What Have They Done To My Song - Ray Charles [from A Message from The People]
a rhythm lesson
advanced
Drop Me Off In Harlem - Sun Ra [from Celestial Love]
big band arrangement
investigates itself
remains true
collaborative efforts
not aimed at triumph
Krummy Kuartet for Krummhorn Konsort - John R. Phelps - Tielman Susato Krummhorn Gesellschaft [from The Glory of The Krummhorn]
in multiple movements!
a regular concerto
fast slow fast
send 'em out smiling
Noccalula - Waxatchee [from American Weekend]
as though on the piano
in the church basement
self dialog
at
odds
It Takes a Married Man to Sing a Worried Song - Pharis & Jason Romero [from Roll Columbia]
expecting several more
paternity and prosperity
America Has a Problem - Beyoncé [from Renaissance]
constant strobe pulse
same act
on rotation every thirty seconds
this
is a different part of the ride
Precious Memories - Aretha Franklin [from Amazing Grace]
the structure of the music
allows room for participation
and
instructs on its proper applications
acculturation
in
sanctioned ecstasy
(sanctified ecstasy)
The Bridge Is Over (Bladerunners Edit) - Boogie Down Productions [from Criminal Minded]
cymbal and snare
cut the sound
into squares
of several sizes
Cease Fire - Christina Aguilera [from Lotus]
nothing that can be said or sung
to be improved
by multiple
readings
piled thick upon each other
You Are Here - CEP [from Drawing The Target Around The Arrow]
these dissonances
resolve
are completed
their motion
is perfected
in a throbbing
rhythmiverse
Can't Help Thinking About Me - David Bowie [from Toy]
oolloolala
step across
return to the top
of the verse
1,000,000 - REM [from Dead Letter Office]
adventure hero
in the movies
Dream a Little Dream of Me (Mama Cass) - Prom Queen [from Covers]
accompanied by ukulele
campfire
and crickets
and 78 rpm
static
I Love This Cunterie - Amy Denio [from The Big Embrace]
recite right along
with the orange-haired gizmo
in harmony
Missing Words VI- V. Witzbeharrsamkeit (Joke-Insistence) III - Eric Nathan - Re:Naissance Opera [from Missing Words]
let's pretend
to defang Beethoven
by humiliating a seed motive
Mettle/Meddle - Bruce Hamilton & Friends [from Mash Hits Vol. 1]
incoming
with assault vehicles
full blast destructors
Ramblin' Blues (Portland Town) - Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons [from Roll Columbia]
pay-off line
pulls back
to hey hey hey
takes 'em all
to the ocean blue
Klickitat too
for Uncle Sam
Silver Lining - Star Anna [streamed from Fiddler's Inn, Seattle, March 7, 2022]
the words
bend
to fit the music
that was bent
to the
way
the words
want
to bend
B-Day Song (feat. M.I.A.) - Madonna [from MDNA]
birthday
in a happy world
Nice Shoes - Swingset Showdown [from Short Bus Ruckus]
an unlikely story
for bragging
in the locker room
but then I
woke up
Take Off - Northern Departure [from Live from Sound Off 2012]
some banjo scrubbing
and mandolin flight
yee ha!
In Session at The Tintinabulary
January 5, 2024
Sinfonia 10 (midi) - Keith Eisenbrey
I had hoped to have this one completed last year, but some better details found their way in while late in clavichord workshop phase.
January 7, 2024
Dunstan - Keith Eisenbrey
this weeks shape-note tune arrangement
January 9, 2024
Sinfonia 10 (clavichord) - Keith Eisenbrey
Ermuntre dich, mein schwacher Geist - Aaron Keyt
January 11, 2024
Sinfonia 10 (piano) - Keith Eisenbrey
January 12, 20242
Fröhlich soll mein Herze springen - Aaron Keyt
these pieces of Aaron's are from a 2019 collection of hymn tune arrangements. I have been recording them on clavichord, which accentuates their Keytian oddities.
Postscripts
Drops
Keith Eisenbrey 10: 2005-2007
Volume 10 includes my breakthrough piece "Hockets", in which (using a bespoke computer program) I found a way to compose in two simultaneous syntaxes: mod-17 order-determinate and mod-12 content-determinate. Also included are "The Abyss" a computer assisted electronic piece based on stanzas from Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage"; a hymn setting with words by Fanny Crosby; an etude for piano; a set of variations for string quartet (in a midi realization); and "Pavan" for violin and piano, exquisitely played by Matthew Weiss.
Volumes 1 through 9 are available at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com
All are free for download.
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
listening journal doodles from 2016 and 2017
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