Sunday, October 14, 2007

Living in music


In a different frame of mind lately while recovering from being sick; been hearing music in my mind. Melodies, demanding notation, demanding to be heard in their entirety. Been at the piano the last three days, playing them out, penciling in the notes, chords, rhythms. Pulled out the tape recorder to capture what I couldn’t notate while in the flow of the songs.

Went to a music store yesterday to buy guitar strings. This store specializes in pianos; has Steinway, Kawai, Boston, Pearl River, Essex. A huge showroom filled with uprights and grands. I played nearly every piano in that showroom; checking out the feel of the keys, the tone and timbre of each one. Played bits of various songs and arrangements I’ve been doing for the past few years. Amazing to hear the room ringing with my music, especially from the grand pianos.

While in Ketchum, we went to an exhibit at the local arts center which featured maps. One piece was about 9 feet tall, built as a globe. Walk inside and you see maps covering the inner walls. If you stand directly at center and speak, something unusual and wonderful happens acoustically. As C talked with one of the staff, I went back inside the globe, stood in the center, and softly sang, just to hear the way different tones sounded, reverberated. This particular artwork was actually created as an exploration "on the relationship between cartography and war," according to the brochure. But for me, it was an exploration in sound.

And while talking with a friend today, she mentioned a book, "This is Your Brain on Music," which explores how the brain reacts when hearing music; what parts of the brain light up when listening, when composing, when performing; how it reacts to tonal dissonance and resonance, and more.

Pent-up creativity can cause illness, says C. Perhaps it’s like a flood-high river pounding against an earthen dam. Sooner or later, the river will explode through, and in the process, create a new channel.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Without music, life would be a mistake.
~Friedrich Nietzsche

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.
~Maya Angelou

i live in music
is this where you live?
i live here in music
i live on c# street
my friend lives on b-flat avenue
do you live here in music
~ Ntozake Shange

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The German mystic Novalis thought all illness came from persons "being out of tune." Robert Duncan when in Boise talked to the audience about "how a poet writes in order to tune him or herself up" Your photograph & writing reflect your coming into a rich tuning

Anonymous said...

Leaves are turning
green gold brown
staring at the moon
leaving this town

people can't see
into the future
people can't see
into you and me

-Sandy