Dear Friend,
Greetings–I’m coming to you at an extremely dynamic time with noteworthy excitement and hopefulness. Long-overdue changes are occurring that I feel you should be kept apprised of. It is the start of the second movement where I gaze out upon what lies ahead and humbly request your judgment on a pivotal proposition before this ship leaves port. But first, a recount of recent events.
Back in May, when I realized any further involvement would ultimately distract me from my own life’s purpose, I decided to split with Takenobu. Given the circumstances, my premonition probably appeared to defy all logic. Our collaboration had been gaining ground, our stage chemistry became effortless, and the scope of our abilities seemed to have few bounds. But like a warning light, in a flash I knew that if I were to take one more step, I’d be past the threshold of remittable curiosity. “This isn’t what I’m supposed to be doing,” I thought. “I have a duty to perform as cocreator of the music for our future.” Then I looked back to see my previous course, obscured in the distance by a labyrinth of delicate considerations, and then the tide rolling in to wash away each step. Still, I trust that each one was made with my highest ideals intact, and am thusly bestowed fortified confidence in my new heading.
As you know, in a year’s time, I plan to be living in New York, specifically Brooklyn. The city’s rhythm and pace so naturally parallel my own that I’m inclined to believe what is motivating me is a recollected sense of belonging, as though being called. There I witness a familiar precision and efficiency all around, like a social, collective machine. Every inch, every second of the day is contemplated, calculated, utilized–unallowing of excess, yet generously rewarding to the sagacious. If there exists a place which also longs to embrace such ideals, I do not want to be apart from it.
Since acknowledging these notions, I’ve begun observing each mechanism of my life willingly align to meet this goal, as if to encourage the effort. Now is the time to remove excess, eliminate factors that do not promote greater understanding, or the well-being cultivated therefrom, and to consciously proceed into an existence of amity and synthesis.
One major reality of this synthesis which most pertains to our correspondence is the current state of my music. Through my experiences, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is a duty which only I am capable of performing, and to neglect it would be sabotage. In short, I’m going solo, and readapting resources to fit this purpose.
To become a figure in the landscape of live electronics is a prospect to which I’m now quite dedicated. The successful artists of the field are using their technical ingenuity to move large audiences in the global community. I feel not only capable of joining their ranks, but excited as well to help progress and broaden the entire digital music platform. Before I can continue my work, however, there is a technical hurdle which I must overcome.
Version one of my instrument has proven reliably effective in serving its function, which I’m presently discovering is more fundamental in nature, like a sophisticated engine. Its implementation, on the other hand, is suffering because I cannot achieve a level of control comprehensive enough to command a live solo performance seamlessly and with crystalline accuracy. All the functionality exists, but remains relatively inaccessible due to cumbersome workflow.
I have attempted to supplement my setup with various auxilliary devices in order to get more direct access to each facet of the performance, but have found that to cover all my bases in this manner would call for a disparate array of conventional controllers. It would further complexify my approach by introducing a clumsy excess of features and physical mediums. So the question becomes,”How do I scale down and step up simultaneously?” Auspiciously, I’m reminded of the Lemur–a single, intelligent, 12″x14″ multitouch surface, freely programmable to become any control interface I could possibly need to perform.
The Lemur would not so much clear me of the next hurdle as it would lift me off the track altogether, thanks to some virtually unmatched methods of sound control. The open architecture supporting its modular, object-based operating environment even allows programming interactive mathematical scripts for use in audio modulation, much in the vein of physics. You want to animate a sine wave bass tone with some “buoyancy” on a moment’s notice? You want to fracture the hi-hats into a thousand pieces and slowly construct a melody from the debris? You want to poke a hole in the fabric of the universe, make it dissolve to 1′s and 0′s, then instantly resume the beat, taking off like a gangbuster and acting like nothing happened? Such is possible and need only imagined.
Undoubtedly surpassing the protocols of yesterday is this new cornerstone on which a dreamer may ground his career. With the Lemur rooted deeply in the Open Source community, and designed to harness the latest hardware and software advances, development is enthusiastically active. Support and collaboration of this kind, happening on all fronts, promises longevity for the platform and its users. Indeed, with a dedicated community in heart, I intend to integrate and explore this technology for years to come. It would appear the way is up.
My mission during the next several months couldn’t be more clear. I must ensure that all factors of the move come into alignment for maximum effectiveness, because once in Brooklyn, there will not be time nor funds in abundance to facilitate an extended period of study. Therefore I feel it critical that my creative process reach a technical clarity on par with artistic vision, in order to transition with ample momentum.
What I have identified is how my craft, and its many permutations, will find true residence. No matter whether it’s as a live sound artist, production engineer, soundtrack composer, or some record-making prodigy, it all hinges on the conscious synchronization of thought and form, and the removal of barriers that shroud a pure, uninhibited connection. In the area of my work, there shall be no distortions of excess or confusion, only an unabating will for unification, whose continuance I regard as my raison d’être.
