Imagine if you will- a tech-dominated world where people are slowly trickling in. Their one domestic responsibility is to have responsibility for their own laundry. In divided groups at certain times, they trek down to the last slow-running river in order to beat the shit out of their clothes. This is their way of staying connected to nature and need. However, the scene is always distorted somehow by the leftover frequencies that pollute the air.
This piece is about a woman trying to remember the “other world” she uses to live in, and she feels a very strong desire to share these memories with anyone who will listen. In this world, it is rarely silent, but there are only certain times when it is permissible to speak. The tones of the reception are measuring the frequency of the output from the people, and if the speaker derails into topics not meant for discussion- the frequency reflects that.
This is a personal compilation of solo creations I have made in the last month. I would like to add more stories to this because I want to introduce you to Maggie- and her story is incredible. We wouldn’t know about the Laundry Lady if we didn’t recognize Maggie and her participation in bringing her to view.
Ale and I have been continuing to pass each other soundbites through the ether in hopes of finally healing some dark human wound that we all possess and would like to ascend from, so you can imagine that sometimes things get weird.
These albums are no exception. They are audio journies in long-form. They have the power to take you where you need to go- if you have the patience to listen and relax into it.
These compositions have been a pleasure to make and they really force me to be present with all synapses firing. I am not in a preconceived attempt- I simply do what I feel like doing in a moment; that may be a vocal reading, collecting sounds or beating the shit out of an instrument in a way it was not designed to be used.
This process has developed into quite a conduit of expression and creativity that keeps me on my toes when it comes to imagination. This is what I want to share with you.
I want you to take the grit with the beauty and awkward and the graceful interlude. To feel all of it for yourself with no preconceived notion of where it will lead you. All I ask is that you invite your imagination for the journey. And thank Alessandro Muresu for any grace that comes from these compositions- he has the gentle touch that balances everything you hear within these gifts.
All of his contact info is in the video description. Subscribe to his channel, he makes new music EVERY DAY!
For some months now- Ale has been intent on this story of “How Wang Fô was Saved” and he found inspiration to record an Italian translation of the story accompanied by music made specifically for this creation.
I was honored to be asked to create an English translation of the story- which Ale also created accompaniment for.
I had not read the story before the recording. I wanted to test my voice with the words- and once I began reading out loud- I said: “screw it- start the recording.”
You are hearing the story unfold for me for the very first time. I am not exactly sure how it will weave. There are moments you can hear my voice fall because I am shocked at the revelations the text is painting.
I was left with some beautiful insights and contemplations. I hope this story can do the same for you. Please join us as we share the story of:
Alessandro has again outdone any expectation I may have toward his Mastery of sound.
My part- at first appearance seems somewhat meaningless- just recording what would be overlooked as mundane sounds of normal life- at times with a little extra manipulation. It doesn’t seem like a symphony.
It sounds like a person walking- or a train sitting at the station. It sounds like wind in a microphone and the chime on the convenience store door. It sounds like an audible story where the only context and relation happens synaptically- charging the heart by overlapping imagination and experience. That is all I do.
Then, I send these files of sounds to Ale- and he embraces the sonic story in his vibratory flux. He modulates and gives structure to my foundation. He weaves the fabric and smooths the edges. All of a sudden- the story becomes rich, a new memory can be made, the synapses fire with a longing and a nostalgia- foreign and familiar.
Without further ado- here are our most recent collaborations. Enjoy! Please share! (Best through headphones, and closed eyes- it is a sonic journey after all!)
No words- just a soundscape for you to let loose your imagination. Grab a pen and paper and draw or write for fifteen minutes, and see where the sounds take you. I created this track with some editing of older sound files- thereby taking some old things and making them new and absolutely different from their original form.
I challenge you to take this fifteen minutes to expand your creativity- it will change your day.
If you take my challenge- Post your writing or drawings in the comments and share the fruit of your inspiration, but above all, enjoy the process! I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
The topic of Love keeps falling into my lap. I had to sit down and talk about my personal inner perceptions and insights.
Thank you to my friend Alessandro Muresu who continues to inspire my heart to explore what Love means.
The backdrop of music is Alessandro’s creation, I would love for you to check it out and a just sit with it to let your own inner voice navigate the terrain. I promise it is worth it and priceless.
“great period of revival of classical-based art and learning in Europe that began in the fourteenth century,” 1840, from French renaissance des lettres, from Old French renaissance, literally “rebirth,” usually in a spiritual sense, from renastre “grow anew” (of plants), “be reborn” (Modern French renaître), from Vulgar Latin *renascere, from Latin renasci “be born again, rise again, reappear, be renewed,” from re- “again” (see re-) + nasci “be born” (Old Latin gnasci, from PIE root *gene- “give birth, beget”).An earlier term for it was revival of learning (1785). In general usage, with a lower-case r-, “a revival” of anything that has long been in decay or disuse (especially of learning, literature, art), it is attested from 1872. Renaissance man is first recorded 1906.
I like the parts of this etymology that says “grow anew” or to be “born again” , “reappear.”I like it because it is true, time is not linear and more and more these days we are allowed to reconnect with deep soul kin… essentially elongating our interaction through these different wave lengths and time lines.
I am living this now and I want to share some of it with you. Obviously my series about My Best Friend(‘s Journey) is some of the amazing proof of this reality.
My creativity is expressed in many ways: these blogs, the journals, the scraps, the paintings, the music and the spoken word I can’t contain. So much content with context.
I wanted to create a post with all the links to the music up to now because my creative collaborator Alessandro Muresu is some sort of vibration soul mate born on another continent. He is precious to me because he brings out the best in what I struggle with in experiment AND his passion bleeds through his work, for whatever reason he also found me a compatible collaborator and what happens through sound files is soothing for us both. Feeling old and familiar, but new and extraordinary.
I shall not build it up too much more.
Preface- All of these sound qualities have a drone, which is the specialty of Ale. I am the chaos that interferes but can also create soothing. Ale brings all of the balance in composition. My success’ are accidental. I am sloppy but focused. I have no idea what I am doing, but I love manipulating sound. My voice is a tool to those ends. These are posted from earliest to most recent. I invite you to listen to the evolution of it over all and to visit the rest of Alessandro’s Archive of Wonder.
If you don’t want to listen to all of them, pick one for now out of what you are drawn to. It’s probably the right one for you in the moment.
Listen to Yourself
FTC Part 1
FTC Part 2
Squeaky Floor
Save
Ode (To Us)
173 Part 1
173 Part 2
173 Part 3
173 part 4
177
Karibu
Recording 21
Rudiments
Recording 15
*Credits to my late Grandfather Edward Lee Chapman for the heading photo in this post. He really had an eye for light and shadow.
Madge Midgely 