Synthphonic Poem- "Chaos to Order" A polyinstrumental Keyboard Improvisation

[nickc]

This was created and performed on my Korg Sv-1 Keyboard. It's quite the ride... looking forward to discussing this improvisation with you all. Take care,

Nicholas

[ted]

The most attractive feature for me here is the continuous nature of idea transition. I employ discrete transition a lot from one cell to the next, but here there are no cell boundaries, no clear point at which one idea ceases and another commences. Listening to it has a strong hypnotic component, rather like the effect I used to enjoy while watching my computer programs invent a succession of gradually changing algorithmic patterns. The added dimension of spontaneous orchestration must surely add a fearsome difficulty to improvisation though ? Or do you operate in tracker fashion, adding layer upon layer, each influenced by the sound of the previous ones ? Either way, I’m not at all sure it is something I could do, although I would certainly like to try.

Curiously, it seems to me certain distinguishing features of your piano improvisation emerge clearly, especially near the beginning, but I suppose one would expect musical personality to be invariant over instrument ? Never having tried it I am unsure. I am out of my depth with it functionally, but certainly not musically; I intend to listen a few more times and think about which of its properties I might bring into my own playing. Continuous cell transition, for one, will be thrashed in my next couple of recordings.

[quantum]

I listened before reading Ted's comments above, and have arrived at a similar point of interest.  While listening I was inclined to describe the notion as flow elegance.  There is a definite grounding to it, but one is not drawn to yearn for gravitational points such as cadences, but rather bathe in the soundscape and discover where it takes oneself.  A gradual transition just out of the scope that one perceives one is going from A to B, but rather being present in both A and B. 

I would be interested how you constructed this. 

[nickc]

I would be interested how you constructed this. 
[/quote]

200 micro grams of LSD did the trick...

 I forgot about this one. It came to mind this morning so I gave it a listen again. It's just musical freedom. Ted was spot on... just algorithmic evolution. No conventional rules (cadences, rhythm, modulations etc...) Just freedom. I do remember layering it like a cake as Ted also mentioned... but not with any specific intention.

Somehow I missed these comments... never did get around to chatting about it.

[nickc]

Also, the random "computational" electric piano solos from 7:40 onwards had me laughing... I was clearly having a good time haha. Twinkle twinkle, Jeopardy theme, star wars, x-files, and Debussy.

[frodo3]

I200 micro grams of LSD did the trick...
 

You have a lot of talent.  I don’t hold anything against a work if the composer (or improvisor) was high on drugs when creating the work.  I love Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz, for example.  Your improvisation here is not in my preferred style, but I can imagine how LSD may have contributed to its development. 

I would like to think that being under the influence of drugs is not a requirement for creative thinking and is in fact a hinderance to the greatest creative thinker.  IMO Beethoven was the greatest composer of all time and perhaps the greatest innovator in music that changed music forever.  For example, his grosse fuge was maybe 80 years ahead of its time.  Although Beethoven drank wine (heavily at times) in the evening, he did his composing in the morning with a clear mind. 

I heard other improvisations of yours that I prefer more than the example you post here. I commented on a couple as frodo1.  (I have since morphed to level 3 in the frodo world. )  I would like to think that your mind and body were free of drugs when doing those performances.

[ted]

Nice to see you are still extant. Over the time since first hearing this I have followed through with implementing continuous as opposed to discrete transition and it has led me into many new and vital regions of the musical landscape over several hundred hours of recording; so thanks for that  prod, the necessary external stimulus to the elliptic pendulum, so to speak. If one must have a meta-level analogy then I prefer to embrace biology rather than architecture as a generative principle, but that is just me, the usual minority of one. Of course these considerations are invariant over the actual vocabulary of notes played, which can be anything, a fact that appears to elude tutors of improvisation.

Stay puft !
Ted.