| When you listen to the songs on this CD you will
hear shadows of many musical styles. What you recognize depends of your
own experiences, which makes the process interactive and the result unpredictable.
Your reaction is not dependent on my music alone; it is a meeting of the
minds. While this is not unique to my music, it is an aspect of music that
is important to me.
The influences I speak of fall into five broad categories: classical,
contemporary, rock, jazz, and non-western. I am going to write a little
about each, but there is much more going on. Perhaps you will hear things
I have missed.
By classical I mean the music of such great composers as Beethoven,
Debussy, and Stravinsky. You won't hear lush strings or driving Mannheim
rockets, but I do admit to classical concepts -- influences -- of form
and thematic development. Another aspect of classical music that influences
me is the idea of craft. With classical music one often speaks of virtuosity,
but there is a dark side to this term, music that forsakes depth for the
sake of technical brilliance. I prefer to steer away from such manifestations
of craft, but I do value mastery of one's art.
By contemporary I mean the music of post-World War II Europe and America,
composers like John Cage, George
Crumb,
Lou
Harrison, Phillip Glass,
Terry
Riley and La
Monte Young, to name a few. The aspect of contemporary
music I feel most present in my music is the appreciation of sound for
its own sake, detached from a harmonic basis of tonality. I also like unpredictability,
but when you listen to these songs you might not realize it. Without resorting
to a rigid specification of random procedures, and with a conscience decision
not to make the music sound random, I did in fact engage in a great deal
of random exploration during the creative process. ReBirth
actually invites such methods, as it has a collection of commands that
modify an existing loop by applying random processes. I confess to doing
a great deal of filtering (rejecting unsatisfying results) and tweaking
most of the ones I kept. It's not as though I embrace stochastic methods
as a divine principle, and I feel the same way about highly deterministic
methods such as dodecaphonics. Think of it like choosing a Christmas tree,
or a car. Examine many, pick one you like, then personalize it. That's
good, fundamental human behavior.
By rock I mean the importance of clear, repetitive rhythm optimized
for free-form dancing, and in particular the current popular style described
as techno. The casual, immediate quality of rock should not be discounted,
whereas the snobbish intellectual approach fine art music invites is more
of a liability. Rhythm aside, pop music tends toward a conservative inventory
of musical gestures, much more so than the other styles described here.
New songs are judged by how familiar they sound. A new song that deviates
too far from current fashion is likely to be judged a failure. Over time,
pop music can be seen to roam over a wide range, but incremental change
is conservative. I have chosen to not follow this aspect of pop music tradition,
so don't be surprised if these songs don't sound much like mainstream pop.
By jazz, well, there is so much to say. Let me begin by pointing out
what is missing, a recognizable melody (the tune, also called the head),
set atop a fixed harmonic sequence that is played repeatedly to accompany
solos. What I detect most turns up in the treatment of melody. I consider
my melodic development more like what a jazz musician does in a solo that
what a classical composer does during a development section. Listen to
some latter Miles Davis and John Coltrain. Here
I find an overlap with contemporary music, where melody and sound quality
know no limits and harmony evaporates. Then there my treatment of the drum
parts. Rock music is characterized by a single rhythmic style sustained
throughout a song. Jazz drummers like Tony Williams rise above
this role of rhythmic anchor, of elaborated metronome, transforming the
role of the drums to that of a full-fledged member of the polyphonic ensemble.
By non-western music I mean the traditional music of India and Indonesia.
The scarcity of harmony, the use of stratified polyphony, a limited pitch
inventory, the emphasis on repetition, all of which conspire to ease the
listener into a pleasant trance. I know that there is a popular genera
of techno music labeled trance (consider the music of 808infinity, Trance
Control, and the Cynic Project), but I find the trance aspect of my music
different. Less sentimental, more energetic, closer to the sound of Balinese
gamelan kebyar or an in-depth rendition of a raga.
One element of Indian music I gravitate towards is the concept of rasa.
In this set of songs I found myself trying to evoke a mood. This is a fundamental
quality of Indian music, that a raga, and the performance of a raga, should
convey a particular mood.
Looking to western classical music one sometimes finds a quality similar
to rasa, manifested in more concrete terms. I am referring to the concept
of program music. With rasa, a performer weaves together an assortment
of recognizable musical threads to create a setting in which an action
could occur -- adoration of a beloved teacher, longing for an absent lover,
the dread of uncontrollable destructive forces, happy memories of childhood.
The listener may conjure up their own story, but there is nothing about
the music, save for the occasional quote of a popular folk song, to suggest
any specific action. Program music picks up at this point, and extends
all the way to a statement by the composer as to what inspired his or her
creation and musical events intended to depict specific actions.
What I chose to do here is to create a set of songs which convey my
experiences riding my bike. Furthermore, I arranged them into a programmatic
sequence that depicts a hypothetical day. The sort of weekend ride that
covers fifty miles. Kahala to Kailua and back, by way of the south shore.
Still, it's not as if I wrote about places along the way -- Hawaii Kai,
Sandy Beach, Makapu'u, Waimanalo, etc. Instead, each song conveys a situation.
Getting started, meeting someone on the road, zipping down a steep hill,
riding in traffic, and getting tired out.
Dawn
0:57
This is an arrhythmic piece, vaguely like the alap portion of a raga
performance but much shorter, that suggests the calm feeling of sunrise
combined with the urgency of preparing for the long ride ahead. It is made
from sound samples glued together in Cubase, without the use of ReBirth.
Dark Highway
5:11, Millenium mod - Download MP3 single
Getting underway, riding along a tree lined road where the sun has
yet to appear. Stiff muscles that are not quiet ready to work hard. Made
with Massen's Millenium mod, which includes some nice guitar grunts and
some sustained sounds reminiscent of an Indian tamboura.
The Chase
7:29, Orbit mod
It is not uncommon to meet another cyclist along the way. Being rather
old, I find it a challenge to keep up with most of the younger riders.
Flat Out
5:06, MSM mod
Picture a long, straight, smooth strip of road without traffic, where
the only limit is what your legs can put out, where the only distraction
is the incessant rise and fall of your knees.
All Bonked
0:55
The body can only store so much sugar for the muscles to work, and
when it runs low, you don't go. Bonked. Find a 7-11 or a Zippy's, chow
down on a sugar covered donut and a bottle of soda, and get back on the
road.
Downhill
3:49, Red Stripe mod
The feel of fast. A scribble of steel under you, and the world singing
by like a bullet. Blink and you change lanes. The Red Stripe mod includes
some nice jazzy acoustic bass samples.
Traffic Jammin'
4:30, Plasma Fire mod
I am a strong believer in comic relief. R2D2 and C3PO keep Star Wars
from being just another outer space adventure flick. I ride because I enjoy
it, and without a sense of humor a long ride would dissolve into an ordeal.
Tailwind
9:08, Standard ReBirth
On my usual long ride I return along Kalanianaole Highway, and on most
days the tradewinds coming from the east make those last few miles a lot
easier. At this point in a ride the expectations of the morning have been
replaced by memories, but that film won't be processed until the ride is
over. The world consists of the saddle, the handlebars, and the twenty
yards of road ahead. |
