556 / falling

welcoming autumn and all that it brings.

…Long hoped for calm, the autumnal serenity…

October is here with its crisp mornings giving way to the still bright sun and warm afternoons. It is getting darker earlier and objects of all shapes and sized have been falling from the trees. Fall is my favorite time of year in Cascadia. As much as I enjoy the summer and all it brings, fall is the time of year when I feel like I start to be comfortable in my own skin again. I feel most at home underneath sweaters, coats and thicker socks while drinking hot coffee. I know eventually the days will grow so dark and wet that I will wish for the light again but until then I will be content to enjoy what is just barely in front of me rather than took too far ahead.

Since the last Dust Breeding entry, Wild Card (the trio I have with Paul Dickow/Strategy and William Selman) released a long form piece called Outside Music. It is the first in a series of digital only releases we are calling Foray. Outside Music as the name implies is focused on the outdoors. It was performed and recorded outdoors and much of the source material in it were recordings Paul and I made in a tunnel that goes up the side of Rocky Butte. Outside Music is a piece that slowly unfolds over the course of fifty-three minutes. I think it is best absorbed using headphones while out on a walk but playing it back at low volume in a room while you attend to other activities is also recommended.

Sound collecting for Outside Music. Rocky Butte tunnel, Portland, Cascadia.

I was invited to perform at the final Modular on the Spot of the year in September at Cathedral Park in the Saint Johns neighborhood of Portland. The park sits beneath my favorite bridge in the city and is a very special place. For this performance, I decided to perform live using the Buchla Music Easel for the first time. I’ve owned parts of the easel for years but hadn’t put in enough of the time that it really takes to get comfortable with it. I am much more at home with tape recorders or misusing samplers than I am with synthesis. I devoted a few hours nearly every night this summer to creating patches on the easel and playing though some things and finally got to a place where I was feeling more comfortable making something that felt like me on an instrument that does not sound or feel like what I would normally make. It is a difficult thing sometimes to step outside the prison of your own aesthetic and try something new. The show went well and was a very eclectic event with a very decent turnout. A few visitors from as far as Florida and Austin turned up as well as N + G which was a nice treat. By the time I played it was pitch black out and it was wonderful to hear the sound of the instrument pinging off the bridge and into the night.

Here is a little video I recorded of one of my practice patches. I will eventually see if I can share the recording I made of the performance at MOTS.

Thank you for reading and continued support.

I appreciate it very much.