Musings on Music and Technique.

--Listening to Willie the Pimp from Frank Zappa's Hot Rats album, my I-tunes on shuffle through most of his music.

How could I ever hope to match it? I don't think that the language of painting is sophisticated enough articulate what 5 minutes of pure music can communicate to the soul. It a far more abstract language.
Yet, we dream in visuals, the dark cryptic language of the unconscious, individual and collective, is probably my best hope to match the state of mind music evokes. I must speak not just to minds and hearts, but to souls.

--playing Five-five-FIVE

Interesting observation one day as meditated through the use of continuous instrumental music, courtesy of Frank Zappa. It occurred to me that the purpose of technique, in any art form is to hypnotize the mind, to give it something to chew while the artwork communicates with the unfathomable aspects of the soul. So there is essentially no difference between the so called kitsch and high art in pedestals, except the articulation of a message that either succeeds in transcending the limits of rational mind, or not. Its very personal from one individual to another, thus why its so hard to define where one ends and the other begins. Much like Lon Milo Duquette's explanation of the Cabalah as the Zen of the west in its goal to occupy the mind in endless calculations and allow consciousness to expand beyond it's grasp. Music, for example, attempts to connect the listener to the same blissful mental state by various means depending on the endless varieties of tastes, as though they're all roads leading to the same place. Some can have very simple requirements and have an easy time finding pleasure from simple pop tunes. Others however, may suffer from an overdeveloped sense of musical taste and the average three minute generic rock song doesn't do it anymore. This individual then needs to find something of greater technical complexity as if searching for a drug, to get the same high, and perhaps revel in that high in ways most folks aren't curious to explore.

--playing Rat Tomago

Anyway, the point is, as I've always said to myself, but never internalized, the technique is a mean to an end. A Story is only as good as how its told. Some people are happy with children fairy tales like the Bible, others need a Divine Comedy or a Dark Tower.