Holy crap

["Tony K" <bigtony@softhome.net>]

Hey all,

Stupid email server was down for 3 days.  Erg.

I'm not sure if I should apologize for starting a flame-war, or take 
credit 
for a few days of entertainment! :)

As I've told a few of you offlist, I appreciate all the comments.  ALL of 
them.  Everybody has a different perspective and if I didn't want to hear 
it, I would not have asked.  The reaction of "I didn't like this about it" 
is better than no reaction at all.  No reaction means it had no effect, 
and 
we are going for effect, right?  Does it make you feel good?  scared? 
annoyed?  did it do something?

A few comments on the comments.

Yes, it is a bit busy and doesn't fit into the 'ambient' mold.  I probably 
shouldn't have used that term.  Ah well, live and learn. It is what it is. 
It's experimental, it's improv, it noise, it's sound, it's playing with 
the 
tools.  It's throwing sound at the canvas and seeing what sticks.  My mom 
said it was like Jackson Pollock's splatter paintings, only in sound.  I'm 
not sure I'm confortable being compared to him, but hey, if she wants to 
give me a complement, who am I to complain!

And yes to the preset/general midi feel to some of the sounds. Much of 
what 
I'm trying now is playing with the synths and effects and seeing what I 
can 
do with the tools at hand.  Presets are a place to start, and since I'm 
using 10+ year old synths, those sounds are old hat to many of you.  On 
the 
other hand, I LIKE some of those presets!  In the same way I still love 
the 
sound of a Les Paul cranked straight through a Marshall.  ya know?

Kudo's to Kris for hitting the nail on the head as far as the inspiration 
goes.  Much of the feel of what I've been trying to do lately revolves 
around the passing of my grandfather who was a potter and abstract artist. 
He also LOVED astronomy and so, I'm trying to bind those influences into 
my 
music.  He very much believed in breaking the rules when it came to art. 
Ironic though, that he didn't like much music besides classical.  He 
firmly 
believed that the tools were merely a means to an end.  They are very 
important in that they are necessary to create the art, but the point 
isn't 
the tool, it's the art.  He constantly experimented with clay, glaze, 
color, 
shape, texture.... For me, music is very much the same, we have to 
experiment, absorb, listen, learn, read, play, all in order to be able to 
create what we hear in our heads.  In the end it's all just vibrations. I 
don't really care how I got there, as long as I got there and the trip was 
interesting.  But, knowing how to use the tools I have is necessary in 
being 
able to get where I'm going.

Thanks again,
Tony