October 18ths

10/18/1998, Sunday

Sunrise call from Murielle from Paris...

[10/18/2024: In retrospect I realize this was this inspiration for what became Saved By The Sunrise, and now inspires Murielle].

Murielle (10-18-1998) by meta4s

10/18/1999

Urgent call that D’Arcy quit the Smashing Pumpkins--thinks the ad she answered was placed by them.  

10/18/2003          

Article in paper about “virtual orchestras”. This is sort of like photorealism: simulating one medium with another and looks (sounds) virtually the same. But the problem with virtual is that it assumes artificiality, with no hint of commentary or parody in it. But audiences ultimately start to see the differences, the primary one being the difference between sound from speakers and sound from actual instruments. At some point, I think audiences always prefer live sound as opposed to simulacra.

[10/18/2024: It was a dream in 2003 to have the orchestral sounds we now have available, even in the cloud. The interesting thing about digitization in general is that it is inuring: without a continuous A-B comparison, we get used to pixelation, and even like it. (Remember Neil Young’s Pono Player from 10 years ago?) But there is nothing like the sound of a string orchestra standing right next to it, or standing in front of paintings and framed photographs–even if they were digital prints.]

[10/18/2025: It remains to be seen if people would prefer live performances in both the studio and in shows. AI-generation raises the bar for songwriters and composers to write music that is beyond what AI can in a purely music sense. One thing I always notice about AI-generated music is the harmony–not inventive at all. You’ll never get XTC or Steely Dan, or any other artist whose work featured interesting chord changes. In terms of orchestral music, sound libraries can often suffice, but lack depth because you know it doesn’t involve human nuance].

10/18/2014            

Went to Bowie show at MCA. Fabulous! Most people stood in lines to see each “station” separately, but I thought it was more interesting to explore at random. Of particular interest to me was the diorama for Space Oddity, with a bass heavy mix where you can hear Herbie Flowers’ beautifully contrapuntal and melodic bass part up front in the mix.            

What this show does is displace the past to the present to shine the light of relevance on it. You see the Art Nouveau, Pre-Raphaelite, Buddhism, Dada. Fluxus, German Expressionism influences in the artwork. What you don’t see is pop.            

There will always be some relevance to it all because there are artists who are the adhesive that keeps the generations together. If one was just discovering Bowie they would be discovering generations going back to the ———. If you use Bowie as your inspiration, you stay connected to that point in time. A future that doesn’t include a deep past would be a very stupid one.            

[10/18/2024: While AI-generated art and music can be drawn from data sets that are full of the deep past, there’s no attribution to anyone. Imagine in 2044 going to an exhibition of AI-generation from 2024 and what the caption cards would be with just a title and year, and no human artist listed, and could just be made-up names].

10/18/2017 

Creating titles for instrumental music is difficult. Same with photographs—but at least with photos you can always title them “Untitled”. You can’t do that with music. I am thinking about the final title while composing under working titles, and they can inform the music in subtle ways. They often get added at the end as more of the visual concept of the album. The album title is usually the concept, and the song titles follow it accordingly. I’ve always thought of myself as a “packager” of ideas, and titles are a part of the final product.            

Computer-assisted creative work (especially multi-track recording) typically creates a blizzard of files that have to be “shoveled” once it’s over. In retrospect, tape was so much more efficient for storage rather than hundreds of files strewn around hard disks. Archiving is like cleaning up after a huge party by yourself. The cooking and all the other preparation can be the fun part, but I hate doing the dishes.            

[10/18/2024: AI-generated music solves the entire problem of production, but I’m not sure convenience itself, or “streamlining” a process is ultimately what we always want. You don’t want to make things so easy you’d miss its difficulty or complexity later. Personally, I like rigorous craft. You can’t get into flow without it. I wasn’t a “quotidian” artist back in 2017, but the Songday project has made me one].

"Discuss how titles can resolve a piece of art"

10/18/2021

Playing music (or dancing) requires a rhythmic “coupling”, or a form of imitation or mimicry. Sometimes odd rhythms can make you want to move your body in certain ways, for example when a groove has a snare hit on the fourth sixteenth note in a bar, or is otherwise irregularly syncopated. 

10/18/2024

Listening is different for musicians. Looking at art is different for artists, reading is different for writers, watching films is different for filmmakers, etc. Making things involves a different cognitive mode. As a musical artist you’re playing things hundreds or thousands of times. Artists can be looking at the same painting for months or years. For the lay person, looking and listening is a free, selective experience based on what one desires at any given moment.

10/18/2025

NO KINGS rally in Oak Park. Larger than previous protests. Brought SLR wanting to get a shot of protests against Unity Temple, other churches on Lake Street because of Oak Park's Christian history. The Unity Temple is emblematic of the idea of democracy, as it was core for Wright, as expressed in his book, When Democracy Builds. Such a radical design for a church in 1911 explains how America was changing even then.  

After the march I watched live coverage of the post-march rally in Grant Park at the Petrillo. I realized this is where I saw Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock, the Mingus Orchestra (perhaps Miles but I don't remember), and many other jazz and R&B artists, now in context with racism and fascism--things that were unthinkable then, but obviously were the designs on people's minds all along.