An Imaginary Dialogue

Michael Thomas Jackson - Space Projective 1 (2004)
 
1. Space Projective 1
2. Feldspar In Ballast

Local avante garde composer Michael Thomas Jackson and other artists, were commisioned to construct sound pieces by Project Space 211 for a May 7, 2004 Art Installation. Joe Morgan was on the board of directors for P.S.211 at the time, and conceptualized the exhibition entitled; ECHO CHAMBER. A West Coast artist was flown in and received his commision, but there were not enough funds to pay Jackson as planned. This change compromised his resources and original intentions, resulting in a shorter, more simply fashioned piece. However, what was created might be of greater historical value for our purposes than the originally planned piece! Jackson captured sounds within the building, in several separate sessions; mainly in the empty room beside the performance space. Previously this room had been the site of the Creature Tease experiments (which we hope to feature later), and become a storage space over time. By this point it had been cleared out and a hole cut in the wall, for a second floor doorway leading to the back lot. This was in anticipation of future plans for an art gallery, and artist studio space (which is what currently exists there). In the empty concrete shell with a gapeing hole into open space; Jackson rolled objects around the floor, captured toilets flushing, water in pipes rushing, snippets of conversation, and other sounds. These sources became the sound collage titled, "Space Projective 1". In Jackson's own words:

"Space Projective 1 is a work of musique concrète. I assembled a variety of sounds from inside The Wherehouse with a variable-speed cassette recorder and realized the composition on a multi-track hard disc recorder. In a way I guess I was trying to breathe sentience into the walls and floors of the space or create an imaginary dialogue between its many ghosts, but that proved a ridiculous idea. It is what it is and was composed asystematically with the intention of providing some sort of dramatic trajectory. The title is a bit of a pun since the work has nothing to do with geometry. The term projective was borrowed from the lexicon of psychology, thus considering the work a subjective commentary on the space emerging from my subconcious. Whatever, right?

The exhibition aspect of the piece consisted of a CD player and 2 speakers mounted on one of the space's mighty wooden posts. Ah, so many nights spent leaning on that post. The same source recordings were used in the concert I performed the night of the opening, a piece entitled "Feldspar In Ballast." In addition to the tapes I also employed a deer hunter's call, a short wave radio, some signal processors, and both electronic and acoustic feedback. This is a slightly edited version of the piece...I kinda like."

http://www.4shared.com/dir/21312264/276a383c/Michael_Thomas_Jackson.html

Rho your Zenta one Iota across the Omicron

Sambson - Core To Harmonization (2004)

1. Alphagion
2. Betaric
3. Gammallah
4. Deltadaross
5. Epsilonifon
6. Zetarus
7. Etabo
8. Thetallus
9. Iotaprox
10. Kappaupa
11. Lambdadurion
12. Muklouten
13. Nuq
14. Xij
15. Omicronos
16. Rebirth Of The Ruthless Republic
 
Tracks #1-15: recorded solo in 2004 in one long improv
 from 1am until there was no more space on the
 disc. Burnt straight to CD with momentary pauses
 to contemplate.
Track #16: "Rebirth Of The Ruthless Republic" from 1998. 

100 years ago, the Italian Futurists attempted to expose the elements of noise within pure sound. They believed that noise was richer in harmonics than pure notes and contended that if audiences failed to understand this, they should be trained through concentrated listening to hear the musicality of noise and understand its emotional effect. There are a number of moments I cannot explain in this recording, as there are no overdubs. They are 'extra' notes that don't seem to belong to the guitar, but there they are. At low volume these notes sound like faint chimes or bells. At high volume they are piercing tones that go beyond the tone of the note played.

I don't know where creativity comes from. When something truly unique and wonderful is created it moves beyond this realm and into another. We don't own any words to describe this place. I dare say we never will. Perhaps magical will do. When I have been in this situation, it is as if I am no longer human, no longer me, no longer here. I am a funnel that music pours through. The beauty is not mine, nor the mistakes. Somehow this makes the mistakes seem beautiful too. I cannot own this thing; it is beyond me.  At this moment I am in love. I am a life. Perhaps you will feel the same.

The name of each of the 15 songs/pieces is based on a letter of the Greek alphabet. I picked the names of the 4 Greek letters I found most pleasing, and anagramed them. The result was, "Core To Harmonization".

The setup for this recording was an electric guitar (strat) through a practice amp (epiphone) with built in echo. This went through an old 5 channel mixer (radio shack). The guitar was stereo in 2 channels, and I made an additional channel looped back into itself. This channel produced feedback when turned up. This effect becomes evident in #8. My controls were; guitar volume, amp volume, mixer volume, feedback volume, echo, string tension, plectrum, screwdriver and vibrator. The vibrator becomes evident on #10 & 11.
  
Alternate anagrams:
Mohair Icon Tarot Zone
Aromatic Horizon Note
Coronation At Rhizome
Too Notarize Harmonic
Atom Horizon Reaction
Razor Tooth Mini Canoe
Motorize A Thin Racoon

Thanks to John F. Szwed for the Futurist info.

http://www.4shared.com/dir/20535096/da4112c1/Sambson_-_Core.html