June 11th session - Paintings!

Hello, and welcome to a new session of Permutations of 88. With this session, I tried a few new things. First of all, I went in to a recording studio - The Magic Closet, in Portland. That provided challenges in itself: I had to schedule my inspiration, then wait for mics to be set up, levels to be taken. Though I was playing in a room by myself, there was an engineer sitting (listening!) not fifteen feet away.

The second thing I tried was manufacturing inspiration. A friend had suggested that, in order to engage the listener (you!) more, I might try pairing each pieces with an image, perhaps a piece of visual art. I didn't want to do so after the recording was done, for that feels artificial to me (in the same way that I don't give titles based on the feel of the piece). So my friend suggested using paintings as inspiration. I was resistant to the idea, preferring to let the pieces burble up of their own volition. However, when it came time to record this session, I was not feeling inspired. So I dusted off the paintings idea in my mind and sat down to play.

I did not have actual images in front of me, only in my mind's eye, so I had to choose paintings I am quite familiar with. This process wasn't perfect – it was easy to forget what I was supposed to be imagining as the music would carry me away. But it did give me a bit of a foundation for each piece — a jumping-off point.

So for these next few improvs, I will give you the painting to look at while you listen to my music. Let me know if it is more or less engaging, and any other interesting effects you may experience. I am also curious if you notice a marked improvement in sound quality with these new "studio" recordings, as opposed to my previous lo-fi ones. Please keep me informed so that I can continue to make improvements to this blog and podcast.

Thanks!