this came
out of a two-person psychedelic folk project i was working in over late
2001 and into mid 2002. we had brainstormed the idea of a piece that
slowly built itself up, like a wave, and that had sporadic pieces of
poetry interspersed as it did so. of the two of us, i was the musician,
and he was the poet; i generally produced the music by myself. however,
my vision of the track proved to be much larger than his, to the point
that the two ideas could not be effectively reconciled given the deficit
of technology available to us (i simply couldn't find a way to get
enough resources to condense the track to under ten minutes). that left
me with this seventy minute ambient piece that has mostly stayed hidden
in my closet over the last twelve years.
in 2014, i strongly contemplated reconstructing the short version out of existing material, but it would have required a rethink of the process that i felt would be invasive to the poet involved. the reality is that the music that i created was not well suited as accompaniment for the poem, and it should just be left at that. in oct of 2017, i added the poem to the disc, a capella, as an introduction to the track.
this is very much process music. it's built on 36 distinct loops of identical length (just under 57 seconds) that assemble the collage up on a loop by loop basis, hitting it's full point only in the 35th loop. the 36th loop does not fit into any of the patterns that define the first 35, but is nonetheless the climax of the piece. this is followed by a disassembling process that is precisely the reverse of the assembling process. together, this produces the effect of a long wave of sound washing over the listener.
aesthetically, it's likely clear that i had been listening to a lot of "kosmische" style synthesizer music of european origin. it's actually a key part of my musical style, so a bigger exploration of it's themes is not at all out of place. however, i generally prefer to take ideas from the genre and recontextualize them rather than delve into a full exploration. this is somewhat unique in my discography as being an album-length analog synthesizer work.
either as ambient or kosmische or process music, this is mostly meant as background music.
written late 2001 and early 2002. this file is ripped from a cd-r that was burnt around 2002, as that was the option that would produce the most accurate reproduction of the original composition. republished without modification in 2014. on oct 23, 2017, the poem was added to the disc as an introduction to the track and the disc was subsequently closed and finalized as symph006 and lp012. as always, please use headphones.
this release also includes a printable jewel case insert and will also eventually include a comprehensive package of journal entries from all phases of production (2001, 2002, 2014, 2017).
in 2014, i strongly contemplated reconstructing the short version out of existing material, but it would have required a rethink of the process that i felt would be invasive to the poet involved. the reality is that the music that i created was not well suited as accompaniment for the poem, and it should just be left at that. in oct of 2017, i added the poem to the disc, a capella, as an introduction to the track.
this is very much process music. it's built on 36 distinct loops of identical length (just under 57 seconds) that assemble the collage up on a loop by loop basis, hitting it's full point only in the 35th loop. the 36th loop does not fit into any of the patterns that define the first 35, but is nonetheless the climax of the piece. this is followed by a disassembling process that is precisely the reverse of the assembling process. together, this produces the effect of a long wave of sound washing over the listener.
aesthetically, it's likely clear that i had been listening to a lot of "kosmische" style synthesizer music of european origin. it's actually a key part of my musical style, so a bigger exploration of it's themes is not at all out of place. however, i generally prefer to take ideas from the genre and recontextualize them rather than delve into a full exploration. this is somewhat unique in my discography as being an album-length analog synthesizer work.
either as ambient or kosmische or process music, this is mostly meant as background music.
written late 2001 and early 2002. this file is ripped from a cd-r that was burnt around 2002, as that was the option that would produce the most accurate reproduction of the original composition. republished without modification in 2014. on oct 23, 2017, the poem was added to the disc as an introduction to the track and the disc was subsequently closed and finalized as symph006 and lp012. as always, please use headphones.
this release also includes a printable jewel case insert and will also eventually include a comprehensive package of journal entries from all phases of production (2001, 2002, 2014, 2017).
credits
released January 15, 2002
j - synthesizers, electric & acoustic guitars, electric bass guitar, digital wave editing, production, composition
sean - vocals, lyrics
j - synthesizers, electric & acoustic guitars, electric bass guitar, digital wave editing, production, composition
sean - vocals, lyrics
