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Prof. Koshmrl showed us a scene in KOYANISQATSI and Philip Glass's score embedded itself in my head, so I deliberately went with it. It was more obviously a Glass homage before I toned the brass down.
the visuals are further exploration of very simple close-up footage of something unknown moving and using layered digital compositing techniques to get the final result.
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Today is a big concert (the 3rd) for The Player's Big Band of Busan, so I did this one mostly last night after class.
Last night at the BISFF, Alaric Hamacher, one of the worlds foremost authorities on stereoscopic filmmaking, showed a wonderful set of eight short 3D films on an enormous screen in full surround sound, 4K at 60fps. It was pretty intense!
That marks the end (save the closing ceremony, which I never attend) of my year's favorite festival.
It was a cue ball break that sent my balls flying in all sorts of directions.. hm.. do I want to go with that analogy? nope.
It was a very catalyzing experience, sparking ideas and shedding light on what can/should/is/isn't done in filmmaking and music. This is why I go every year.
The sound source (the only sound source) for this was from a video that Patrick Carle sent to me yesterday. No text accompanied it, but I knew what he wanted me to do with it. Every sound you hear is a manipulation of Patrick running that walking stick (?) over a series of grates in the street.
The image source (aside from Patrick's original video at the end) was me slowly sweeping my phone camera across the floor as a subway came on my way to big band rehearsal yesterday.
Patrick has been contributing to my dailies going all the way back 13 years ago to the 2013 Daily project, only that one didn't include video like this one does.
The films that Pip Chodorov lays before us at his segments of the BISFF are a yearly pilgrimage for me. I learn so much and they are essential to my life now. I absolutely love experimental films and usually their sound tracks are equally brilliant and evolutionary. I feel that part of what draws me to do music is connected to experimental films as well.. more so than performing experimental music live.
I want to be an experimental filmmaker when I grow up. The problem is: I never will (grow up) and I have so much desire to jump in and do it that (right now) I only give myself one day per piece of music and video. It's a good way to learn, but it does put a cap on how "good" they are. (in my opinion anyway)
In any case, I'm not completely sure where I'm headed, but images are a part of it. Images and sound. So I love films. No big surprise there.
Tonight I'm going to watch a program of 3D films curated by my friend and colleague Alaric Hamacher. He is my favorite kind of maniac when it comes to the intersection of technology and art. He also happens to be one of THE authorities on stereoscopic filmmaking on the planet. I'm serious. I'll probably never actually make one bc who am I kidding? But one can dream.
Patrick:
Iron on concrete. Unison strings, open, sustaining. Air in them.
A pluck.
The scaffolding was already coming down.
The thing being built was always this.
saw a great short experimental film last night called Roulement, Rouerie, Aubage (1978, Rose Lowder) which examines light modulated through a waterwheel on a river in France. I love films like this and was held enrapt for the 15 minute duration, which felt like 4 minutes.
I shot this on my way up to the screening just before seeing that film. So many interesting coincidences between what I make and subsequently see at the festival. I feel that the festival is trying to communicate things to me. I don't buy into fate, destiny, or all that mystic crap.. I know that I'm simply very aware of my current work and am quick to connect it with what I see at the festival and I apply relevance as it suits my life right now. I composited the 8 second footage with repetitions and a little bit of time dilation.. you know my regular digital compositing things.. and combined it with audio that I'd captured with the Tascam field recorder earlier in the day. The workers were noisily disassembling an event in the big space outside under the beautiful cantilever roof, partly seen at night in this video.
I'm over the negative self-image stuff from yesterday and thinking a lot about how every maker of things has a different approach to, well, everything and as Pip Chodorov stated last night at the screening, they are all valuable.
Before that, I kept thinking, oh man, if he sees my stuff, he might not like it since it's not 8mm or 16mm film and not hand edited with a cutter and tape (or however the process has been for 100 years). His films and the ones he presents at the BISFF in his wonderful programs are all very painstakingly put together and I know that is a large part of what makes them beautiful works of art.
I could be completely wrong.. he might not have a problem with digital. I haven't discussed it with him and I doubt he even is aware of this project of mine. I only see him once or twice a year and we mostly talk about other peoples' works. He's a great guy and I shouldn't assume things. But I do. This is my floundering self-esteem talking.
I see why people look down on non-old-school ways of doing things. It makes sense to me, and I often stage this battle in my head when reflecting on my own work. It usually takes the form of when I use sample libraries of acoustic instruments to achieve an orchestral sound. Film composers call these "mockups", temporary sketches of what the final recorded-in-studio orchestra will sound like at the end. It saves time and money and provides the director (et al.) with a better idea of what it will sound like before committing tons of money to finishing the sound track. I suppose another reason for calling them "mockups" is to remain in a state of grace with the very talented musicians whose livelihoods depend on the work that they do. I'm quite aware (being a professional studio musician myself) of the fact that the digital sampling of musicians cuts off a lot of work for them. (AI cloning of voices is the more current analog to this problem)
These days, the sample-heavy digital mockups sound quite good (never as good as real musicians recorded expensively in a good studio, but good) and are very often mixed in with live recordings in the finished mix. And in the film music work that I've seen, there is zero budget for live recording of any sort, least of all a full orchestra. It's prohibitively expensive to all but very well funded productions. Sadly, much of what you think was recorded in a studio by live musicians is actually not.. well, the samples absolutely were recorded in fine studios by professional (and paid) musicians but we arrange them using the DAW to sound close to live. That's just the reality of the situation. (these orchestral sample libraries are not cheap, but far more cost/time effective for we composers living on a shoestring.
So the guilt is real. I'm not a monster. Having said that, I do harbor a small (ok large) amount of resentment for the doors closed to us plebian composers who have dreams of sweeping scores of lush strings, flourishing woodwinds and blazing brass chorales. I was the first kid in my town to get a 4-track cassette recorder for making songs in my bedroom in the 80s with my CZ-101 synthesizer and guitar, and didn't see the inside of a proper recording studio until I started getting hired after college as a trumpet player. I didn't move to LA to become a film composer as planned. Besides, I wanted to do things my way. I make do with what I can afford. It's either that, or simply never do orchestral music. Period. The last time I had access to a large live ensemble to record was in university and grad school. The moment I graduated, that door closed to me. And I love working with orchestral music too much to just give it up. So I "cheat".
For visuals, I work in digital formats and I carry a little shame in that. But I don't think I should. justification incoming: All of the experimental filmmakers that I'm watching at the festival were using techniques that were made possible by new/old modifications to film cameras and editing equipment. These were once new, such as the ability to select and view the frame number and rewind the film to make multiple exposures, etc. What I'm doing is essentially the same thing, only the digital tech. And I really enjoy it. So that must have some value.
I understand that digital compositing can be seen as cheating, but I see it as simply exploring the uses of existing technology that are available to me and my budget. I like that a lot of wacky shit can be done using open-source software.
For what it's worth, I am currently taking a course in Introductory Video Production with Matthew Koshmrl which I'm really enjoying and learning a lot from. Ever onward!
I don't plan to stop, so I'm silencing that voice in my head and people can (and should) think whatever they want about what is made. I'm just doing stuff.
alright. today is the 3rd day of BISFF and in the first 2 I've seen 17 short films, some of them 20-30 minutes in length, all of them well made, some of them not to my taste, some that blew my fucking mind, most of them have somehow expanded my understanding of cinema, art, sound, storytelling, life, being, etc.
This week is (almost) all about the festival and when I'm not watching amazing things on a large screen with beautiful sound in a big dark room with people who appreciate more or less what I appreciate (I assume), I'm thinking about, internalizing and reflecting on what I've witnessed. This includes what happens at the guest visits (GV) and guiding commentary by the programmers (PG) before and after the screenings. I deliberately prioritize these to the non-GV and PG screenings.
Then I wake the next morning and make a piece of music and do accompanying visuals. Today I'm alternating between excited inspiration and creative paralysis due to imposter syndrome.
Brother mine,
Happiest of birthdays to you, who have always been the North Star in my life's journey.
Whenever I look to you, I suddenly remember who I am in the marrow of my existence and that I do actually like that person.
Our paths in life are different in various ways, but our bond is steadfast and always true.
May this year of your life be fulfilling, enriching, fun and adventurous!
As ever,
Rob
music: (Cubase 15 Pro)
visuals: (all open source apps)
The retina is the photosensitive layer of the inner eye which converts light information into electrical signals and passes them through the optic nerve to where the brain processes them into what we see. Different animal species process the signals in different ways, making sense of our environments in different ways. How might life on other planets "see"?
Retina evokes a prehistoric sense of calm experienced at dawn's first light while connecting imaginary wavelengths of visible and nonvisible light.
it's a little mystical and daydreamy, but closer to what I want. Should I say something about how the music causing the pulsating motion of the shapes implies that emotion involves itself with our sensory perceptions? or is that obvious already?
no blurb today
[note to self: didn't master this.. so in the future, if it stands out as obviously not mastered, master it, fool!]
[future self to 4/21 self: I'm a fool? You're the one who neglected to master the thing while the project was open... FOOL!]
[4/21 self: I didn't have time/energy/gumption/etc. after spending all morning cleaning and organizing the studio! you have no idea what my life is like!]
[oh shut up. nice job on the visuals, though.]
[aw I love you, future me. let's never fight again.]
[yeahright]
update 4/23/26:
mastered and replaced
here goes:
version A:
Forces deals with the universal dance of tension and release, the ebb and flow in and of all systems, molecular, physical, interpersonal, emotional, societal, structural, universal in every state of being and timescale.
(too pseudosciency)
version B:
We observe things reacting to other things, from the simplest to the most complex. The way things react with each other determines their properties. We conceive meaning in this ebb and flow, and the meaning-giving becomes part of the reaction sequence.
(tries to be all philosophical and stuff)
version C:
Shit happens. Whoa.
(for fun and to wipe the slate)
version D:
Sound and visual forms are grounded in physics. When we recognize the logic of how these change from moment to moment, we understand its language.
I really like this one. It offers a way into the piece if anyone wants it. Once in, the audience can be as pseudosciency, sciency or philosophical or "whoa" as they like. (or not)
most time-consuming part: selecting photos
last step: learning how to ease in and out keyframes
I suppose this is about subverting visual assumptions and how we are always wrangling nature to suit us.
I'm half-assedly working on my ability to come up with concise blurbs describing the artist's intention of a work. We go to tons of exhibitions in Busan and I'm stunned by what some artists manage to write about their work on those little placards and gallery flyers(?). By stunned I mean everything from profoundly impressed to roll-your-eyes embarrassed at how ridiculously obfuscatory and pretentious these can sometimes be. When I look back at what I've written attempting to describe my music, I'm more often than not cringing at how bad I am at it.
Anyway, my career goals necessitate the improvement of this skill.
so I'll try to improve the one I wrote above (without AI):
Razor is an attempt to subvert visual assumptions while implying a certain violence of human encroachment upon natural landscapes.
Better? Less hesitant and conversational maybe. But still kind of pretentious and sterile. But at least it's short. I can't stand the ones that go on and on. Leave long analyses and observations to the critics and zine copy writers. Save the in-depth explorations for future guest visit talks and Q/A sessions, if you're lucky enough to be asked to do them. Until then, no one cares enough yet. Is that harsh?
I'm almost certain artists today are using AI to polish their exhibition blurbs. Many of them have that same sterile academic drone to them.
To be fair, 10 years ago I didn't think much of these things, assuming that I was just too simpleminded to get what they were on about, and that often does still hold true - I have so much to learn and understand. But now that I've read a ton of them, I can better see where the strata lie. Some of them at least kind of deserve a chuckle. Some of them are super good: very well written and are astutely helpful in the understanding of the artwork. Most of them are fine and do the job they set out to do with a minimum of grandstanding. But a few are reaaaally bad. They really seem to be compensating for a repressed inferiority complex of some sort. These are the ones that I really want to avoid imitating when I learn to write them. It's like that one person you went to college with who blew your 18-year-old mind who now you look back on and think, yep, their mouth wrote checks their actual work couldn't cash. I can think of a couple from music school.
Well, that kind of got away from me. Sorry to indulge. Anyway, I'm trying to develop in good ways with my feet on the ground. And I'll never, never ever use AI to write those blurbs, I promise you that.
somewhat related:
It has dawned on me recently that if someone asked me, "What is your dream?", I would have difficulty answering. I suppose that's good, but not having a dream to work toward seems.. wrong. Sad. Of course I have a dream.. what is it? I had to think about it a bit, and I think I've got it: I want to be an AV artist that does everything themselves: the music, sound design, all the visuals and puts the hardware together to install it and can possibly perform it live for small audiences. I want to work solo and collaboratively. I'm kind of wading into that ocean now and I have a ton to learn, but at least now I know that that's my direction these days. I'm about to start a course on Video Production this week taught by an Emmy nominated documentary filmmaker friend of mine and this daily project is giving me a lot to work on. So.. Ever onward!
this one surprised me
I set out to NOT spend 9 hours on a daily piece as I did yesterday and leapt into it with a simple idea about cutting up a piano recording and rearranging the pieces
the music ended up sounding pretty serious
heading into my old videos folder, I put together something that quickly became deeply personal and (maybe too) emotionally honest
from start to finish: 2 hours, 45 minutes
I'm reminded that inspiration is not something that comes to you while you sit passively before starting to work.. but rather find through activity.
thought of calling it "tessellation row" but nah
visuals:
photos of 24 varyingly crumpled up pieces of paper
and a lot of manipulation of color and texture
and of course.. compositing.
I imagine real visual artists might look at all this and think, "seriously, more compositing??"
but I haven't worked it out of my system yet
every time I find something new and cool to do with it.. it's cool to me anyway
woke up
got the tripod out of the closet
set up the camera in the LR
Misun did some subtle dance moves w bossa nova playing in the room
selected a 2.8 second bit of it that kind of loops well
exported every third frame (30 fps to 10 fps) to GIMP
printed each as reference
Misun sketched 28 frames
made music and adapted recent PureData patch to handle them in various random playbacks and speeds while she worked
I photographed each (nts: buy scanner)
messed with the images
exported those into a folder
finished Pd patch to animate them
captured 4 performances using OBS
dropped those into Davinci Resolve w music
messed around with them
exported, posted
did a little dance of my own with no one watching
Patrick Carle writes:
First nice day in a while. Along the Nakdong, staring at the restless water.
The piano opens — short phrases, tentative. The clarinet answers, or doesn't quite.
"You know..."
Monosyllabic, halting. Like two people who've said the necessary thing already and are now just sitting with it. Eye contact. A sigh.
Said enough. The piece ends unresolved — but somehow that's ok.
This mission has captured my soul
By the end, human beings will have extended the distance we have ventured from our home
We stand to learn much about the moon and earth
and will be another step closer to returning to the moon's surface (hopefully in a few years)
Things like ethnicity, gender, nationalities, religions, wealth, tribalism..
these divisions all fall away into ridiculous pointlessness at this scale of perspective
Last night the moon shone through our window, illuminating the floor at midnight
Since I was a child, the moon seemed to beckon to me
It fills me with a sense of wonder and melancholy longing
I always think the same silly thing:
I wish I lived there.
The earth could be a paradise
were it not for the power of greed and stupidity
So I imagine being far away
somewhere quiet.
REPOST FROM:
Brother mine: That soundtrack represents everything we got into music for in the first place. [Takes a drink.]
On Saturday, Alissa and I went to see the Madison Symphony Orchestra perform the score for Raiders of the Lost Ark in sync with the film itself on a large screen suspended over the orchesta. The conductor, Kyle Knox, stood facing the orchesta and the screen, but he also had his own small screen positioned just above his score. That screen showed timing cues and other information he needed to keep in sync with the action.
Knox gave a 30-minute talk before the show to a small crowd of interested ticket holders about John Williams and his place in cinema score history. He also talked a lot about leitmotifs. It was a good little lecture, with examples.
Out in the lobby there was a small display about archeology in Wisconsin with a couple of experts there to answer questions. There were Native American artifacts like arrowheads and a video about an ancient canoe found at the bottom of lake Mendota, archeological dig tools, and a real field notebook. You know I enjoyed thumbing throught that.
Many concertgoers were wearing their idea of Indiana Jones-style fedoras and leather jackets. None of them were even close. I wore my normal fedora, but I checked it with my coat. I wasn’t going to wear a hat in concert hall! What kind of uncouth nerd would do that?
I was wearing my Alden Indy boots, though. Only I and Alissa knew how cool I was.
I didn’t bring my whip.
The performance was thrilling. Many was the time I forgot there was a live orchestra there. But I brought my opera glasses so I could get a close look at the percussion section, with the snares, bass drums, timpani, triangles, bells, chimes, tamborines, and especially the slap-stick, which they repeatedly percussed while Toht’s face melted off his skull. Music to my ears.
There were some noticable flubs, especially in the horns and some of the more difficult flute and reed parts. That is to be expected. It wasn’t the London Symphony, and they only had 24 hours to rehearse. But it sure was fun to watch the strings pizzicato through the tarantula scene and the trumpets blaring out the Raiders theme!
You would have loved it, Rob. Vale.
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Brother mine,
I'm sure I would have loved it.
I assume they mixed the music out and left the other sound in the film playback (sfx, dialogue, foley, all that) but have to ask: was the orchestra mixed in higher then in the cinematic version? (not super important, just curious)
Wow, what a super tough score to play. I can imagine there were some flubs.
When I listen to the truck chase scene, I think: "oh those poor French horns"
and "those glorious trumpet solos!"
One day of rehearsal for that would positively terrify me as a musician.
I'm listening to the the OST as I type this and between this and Williams' 1977 score for Star Wars, yeah, this is the music that first fully introduced to us the magical, transformative, evocative, life-changing power that music holds. All the music we fell in love with since then sort of followed through that opened gateway, didn't it?
John Williams has a lot to answer for. ;)
I've seen a ton of interviews with modern working film composers from obscure to household names and they all bend a knee when talking about Williams, for good reason. Zimmer is critical of the space opera approach, but he still respects Williams.
I used to teach a course called Music on Screen and I always did two full sessions (4 hours) on Williams alone. He's perfect for introducing things like orchestration, thematic development, scene transition, leitmotif, and his work dovetails beautifully with Wagner, Mahler, and Erich Korngold who laid a lot of the groundwork for film music as we know it today. The students at that time mostly knew his music from the first Harry Potter film, and everyone knows the Darth Vader theme. :) Showing them scenes from Star Wars, Superman, JFK, Jurassic Park, Lincoln, and even the Olympic fanfares, it's easy to get swept up in his music.
The archaeology display thing sounds like it was a nice touch. I wonder how many archeologists today were originally drawn in by this film? Honestly, if I had chosen a path in the sciences, that would have been a tempting option.
Was that part of Sylvia's way into her studies?
as ever,
your brother and fight choreographer who always got killed by your Indy in the movies we made in the basement
various influences here but I hope to have taken it in a newish direction;
thinking about how the world seems to be run by quantization analysis.. the few ideas that come from large businesses begin on spreadsheets and if they look good there, they are implemented in the real world, despite their impact on living beings beyond wealth extraction.
but I like numbers and I like the mathematical side of music: the interconnection of music, sound and physics and time.
so in these Pure Data experiments I'm playing with math a lot, but the element of living in an increasingly digitized/quantified world is not lost on me.
this is the patch for today, very similar to the one I made for 0329 threshold.
