after the darkness comes the light
sorry for the long absence.
as you can tell i didn't really feel like posting much for quite some time. some were personal reasons some were professional. overall i needed a break from myself. although the blog has been silent, life goes on. the group is doing fine and we are pretty far into recording the next cd. after the darkness eventually comes the light. i hate this, but it always is proven true. one of the practical limitations is it is hard to tell if the next idea has promise or is another cul-de-sac of banality. (sorry for the mixed metaphor... see what i mean)
part of it is the reality of the creative process. the conflict between what you hear in your head and what comes out on paper. its the desire to capture what is "in the air" that is so alluring and satisfying. i can see/hear it, but cannot i make it.(yet)
it reminds me of my experiences in stock market and gambling. when you are in the flow, of course there is nothing better, but the other side can lead to the worst lows ever. i'm not talking about writers block, i think that is different, but the fight to travel on the new path has been painful.
besides my aesthetic quest, i've spent the past 3 years on recording my first large scale work. (retrace our steps) i'll admit i have a real love hate relationship with the project. i'm real proud of the music, but i wrote it 3 years ago.
every cd i make i learn a lot about recording. if i could i would go back and change some things. the result is that the recording captures the clarity needed for a digital recording, but not the energy that we project in live performance. i wish it had both, along the way i have learned much through the process. at the end i now realize recording retrace our steps is how i learned what i like in the studio and how to get it. of course the problem is that every time i listen to it i hear the growth (in my technique as a composer and recording engineer). it perfectly captures a time in my life 3 years ago. of course that is the joke. by writing and recording a piece called retrace our steps, all i have been able to do is retrace those steps over and over again. learning how to record and mix such a large project. i know prison is bad, but i might choose it rather than of having to live with music i wrote in the past.
thankfully (for my mental health) my current recording project is capturing both the energy and clarity. its probably crazy to be recording the next cd while mixing the last one, but the forward progress and quick turnaround of the new cd is starting to make me feel better about the work done on the retrace our steps.
to make matters more complicated this fall i also decided to create an illustrated version of the retrace libretto.
the content of much of guy debord's text has little meaning (but great influence) in contemporary culture. i'm collaborating with a wonderful visual artist (jared rogness) to bring context to the work that most might miss through casual listening. obviously the music was created to stand on its own. i have no problem if it is listened to casually. but i have learned one thing from those neoconservatives and the libretto is my attempt to "control the message". think of it as a gateway drug to the spectacle.
as you can tell i didn't really feel like posting much for quite some time. some were personal reasons some were professional. overall i needed a break from myself. although the blog has been silent, life goes on. the group is doing fine and we are pretty far into recording the next cd. after the darkness eventually comes the light. i hate this, but it always is proven true. one of the practical limitations is it is hard to tell if the next idea has promise or is another cul-de-sac of banality. (sorry for the mixed metaphor... see what i mean)
part of it is the reality of the creative process. the conflict between what you hear in your head and what comes out on paper. its the desire to capture what is "in the air" that is so alluring and satisfying. i can see/hear it, but cannot i make it.(yet)
it reminds me of my experiences in stock market and gambling. when you are in the flow, of course there is nothing better, but the other side can lead to the worst lows ever. i'm not talking about writers block, i think that is different, but the fight to travel on the new path has been painful.
besides my aesthetic quest, i've spent the past 3 years on recording my first large scale work. (retrace our steps) i'll admit i have a real love hate relationship with the project. i'm real proud of the music, but i wrote it 3 years ago.
every cd i make i learn a lot about recording. if i could i would go back and change some things. the result is that the recording captures the clarity needed for a digital recording, but not the energy that we project in live performance. i wish it had both, along the way i have learned much through the process. at the end i now realize recording retrace our steps is how i learned what i like in the studio and how to get it. of course the problem is that every time i listen to it i hear the growth (in my technique as a composer and recording engineer). it perfectly captures a time in my life 3 years ago. of course that is the joke. by writing and recording a piece called retrace our steps, all i have been able to do is retrace those steps over and over again. learning how to record and mix such a large project. i know prison is bad, but i might choose it rather than of having to live with music i wrote in the past.
thankfully (for my mental health) my current recording project is capturing both the energy and clarity. its probably crazy to be recording the next cd while mixing the last one, but the forward progress and quick turnaround of the new cd is starting to make me feel better about the work done on the retrace our steps.
to make matters more complicated this fall i also decided to create an illustrated version of the retrace libretto.
the content of much of guy debord's text has little meaning (but great influence) in contemporary culture. i'm collaborating with a wonderful visual artist (jared rogness) to bring context to the work that most might miss through casual listening. obviously the music was created to stand on its own. i have no problem if it is listened to casually. but i have learned one thing from those neoconservatives and the libretto is my attempt to "control the message". think of it as a gateway drug to the spectacle.
posted by paul bailey at
9:15 AM
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