For tours and T.D.I.Q. and stuff, I make S.E.'s for the live shows.
I shut myself in my basement all alone.
I imagine the live.
Depending on the songs the band's going to perform, my images and the sound design changes.
It's a song I create entirely on my computer, so things like BPM, measure patterns, register...
I try to get away from that a bit.
A sculpture you can enjoy with your ears [objet]
Music you want to decorate your room with [interior]
The first drop of my musical idea starts to fall from there. [awakening]
Then I put restrictions on it, and I play with the sound.
An opening image...a moody melody...a sexy riff...
A pleasant sense of nihilism...romantic noise...urgent beats...
Holiness--confusion--enlightenment--the underworld
Angles--curves--a huge globe...
Make it hard, make it flat, make it rough, give it a coating...
I go around and around adjusting the sound, ride down the chain of connections between ideas. [listening]
It started as a simple design but now I see the parts are piling up in the arrangement window.
Now the song has changed into something complicated and three-dimensional.
I shift my focus.
I shave off parts that stick out, exchange them, listen and compare, keep honing, add new parts, take some more off, and listen again.
This is where the song starts to get a mind of its own.
If the song and I agree, then things proceed smoothly. [first turning]
If we disagree, then we have to talk things over.
If we still can't agree, then I....go to sleep!
Sleep and cool off my head.
The next day, we approach each other again. [second turning]
Now, I find a new expression in the song, and proceed again. [third turning]
I imagine the live.
The house lights drop, and the opening S.E. starts to play.
The tension builds.
That soaring feeling keeps up, and I hear the first drum count, and start to play guitar. [conclusion]
IMAI 10:20PM
