Blogger Book Club III: Embracing the Chaos

"I have never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will." Henry David Thoreau

Last month I finished an evening length score for a dance piece that ran four nights at the Ailey Theater here in NYC. All four nights were very well attended. The pre-performance publicity included an interview with the choreographer on WBAI, publicity in the NY Times, New York Magazine, and Time Out New York, as well as blasts via email and facebook from all of those involved with the show. I even maintained a blog to describe the rehearsal process and discuss how I was going about putting together the score.

The first piece of music I brought to the dancers in the rehearsal process was composed very quickly with very little thought on my part. I was alone when I tracked it and mixed it and I played all of the instruments. The dancers flipped when they heard it, and it became a template for much of the final score. Now here's my point...

I wasn't twittering, facebooking, and/or blogging when I wrote that piece. And if you asked me to explain how I created it, I couldn't tell you exactly. It's a mystery to me. And the piece still leaps out of the speakers at me whenever I listen to it.

The process of composition is magical - I would even say spiritual. And I feel that this process can be seriously compromised when you attempt "share" it via these online tools. The medium of the blog or twitter can denigrate what is a profound experience and even - due to unnecessary outside influences - create a compromised piece of art. Instead of digging deep and "letting go of the rope" creatively speaking, an artist may try to please everyone or at least not make any waves (if I can mix my metaphors here...)

I value the time I spend alone in part because I understand that those periods of isolation - where I'm not thinking about bills, music critics, lunch, etc - is crucial part of my creative process. My best work has always come out of time spent very much alone. And I don't really see how I can get to it any other way.

I completely agree, Chris. I don't use Twitter or Facebook, for instance, but I know how they work, why they're useful, and I understand what I might be losing in, um, whuffie, because I don't want to devote the time to using them right now. It's a choice that involved weighing multiple factors. But we can make these decisions about how and when we use such things, so the tools themselves need not be a source of anxiety and can be applied powerfully when they would be of great use. Unlike the digital natives, we've already made it through adolescence and have a pretty good handle (I hope) on what to share, when to share, and when to turn it all off.

"Unlike the digital natives, we've already made it through adolescence and have a pretty good handle (I hope) on what to share, when to share, and when to turn it all off."

I agree, very well said. And this is another topic perhaps, but a lot of people a generation behind us do not understand the danger of posting personal information online where it can be accessed by not-so-nice people. Even college aged kids are kind of clueless about this.

I'd like to point out that one of my favorite bands Einsturzende Neubauten recorded an entire album while broadcasting the process via a live Internet video feed to fans who signed up for the experience. Even Blixa Bargeld had good things to say about the experience. And EN's music is about as uncompromising as it gets.

Meanwhile my hero Bob Dylan griped not too long ago about iPods, the Internet, etc (he too quoted Thoreau), but his last album had a HUGE push via online services like Amazon and iTunes. And certainly his fans chat and compare notes via the Internet.

It's important to ask questions. Even to contradict ourselves. I think that's part of my job description (as a composer).

I have no problem with chaos. It's homogeneousness that freaks me out.