02/07 jahaha

 

a couple of wonderful comments from friends:

Patrick relates a kind of synesthesia-like experience when listening to 01/02. he recalls the feeling of a temple he visited once in the rain and a “looming bass” puts him on edge. He’s a musician I respect a lot and he also has a great talent for verbally articulating abstract things concisely and coherently. I’m pretty bad at that, I think.

Mary asked me if her getting an ominous feeling in one of my recent ones (02/04 improbably) was my intention. it was, in a way. Though it made me think about what the role of composer is in relation to the listener. While it’s a perfectly valid question (what was the artist hoping to express here?), I feel that the burden of communication lies with the composer and not with the listener. Whatever the piece makes the listener think or feel is legitimate and real, even if it’s not what the composer was aiming for. Maybe this is through my experience with film music, where most often the music must highlight the film’s emotional intentions from moment to moment. 

During my last go at dailies in 2013, I had a friend kind of chastise me for terrifying him with a piece I made. I just thought it sounded cool, but it gave him the legitimate creeps and I think he was not in the mood for that when he heard it. Maybe, I thought, since he was a father of a little one at the time, that his protective impulse took over. I don’t know. 

When I was starting out composing things in my early teens, my dad once remarked, “why is everything you make in a minor key?” I thought it was a strange criticism, but now I think he was wondering if he was a bad father for raising such a depressed kid. I wasn’t depressed, just a bit emo. 

Mary expressed joy over “getting it right”, but I don’t think it should be a puzzle to figure out. Mary’s impression means more to me than whatever my intentions were. I’m honestly happy that people listen to my music with their honest feelings. As far as I’m concerned, any feelings that they register are CORRECT, and the composer’s intentions are secondary at the most. 

If it evokes, emotes, and/or provokes, I’m happy.