Mere Outline 2022

- Art Rat Studios, Roanoke, VA, us@

- Sunday, June 12, 2022E.V.

- During the time of the QUARANTYRANNY most opportunities for me to present my Low Classical Usic &/or Sprocket Science in front of actual human beings has been by & large squelched by the climate of fear. People who previously would've been inclined to sponsor me are now terrified of appearing to not be in their approved subculture - in other words, I'm censored as 'unsafe' - not just as a 'disease carrier' but also as a dis-ease provoker, as a challenger to the almost completely omnipresent brainwashing.

Having gotten thoroughly SICK of this utterly insane state of things I decided it was time to play a gig somewhere. I started with trying to arrange one in my hometown, Pittsburgh. Alas, the zombies have almost completely taken over. Pittsburgh's a neoilliberal town par excellance, the artists & political activists are too incapable of analysis & too willingly enslaved to ASTROTURFING to dare to support aything that might challenge the norms of the Medical Industry Police State, no matter how subtly. 'Better Safe than.. Alive' might as well be the motto.

SO, I decided to visit a friend of mine in Tampa, FLA. Then I decided to visit a friend in Savannah, GA, & another in Roanoke, VA. The next obvious step being to try to arrange a gig in all 3 places. My friends in Tampa could arrange one but not on the short notice I was giving them. I tried contacting 4 venues in Savannah, explaining that I'm the most prolific moviemaker in the entire 127 year history of moviemaking. None of them even had the courtesy to reply.

In Roanoke, my old friend Brian Gentry hooked me up with Ralph Eaton at Art Rat Studios. Ralph initially discouraged me somewhat from presenting either of the 2 programs that I had in mind. Adaping to his input, I simplified my plan to at 1st be a free improvisation duet. Then my duet partner was essentially told by his wife that he wasn't allowed to go with me because, of course, he would 'get sick & die' from being in the car with me. Regardless of how irrational that fear was my friend was too weak to not let his wife dominate him so I was on my own.

The night before the gig I only got 4 hours of sleep. The quantity of gear that I took with me was so heavy I could barely move some of it but I managed to get the car loaded. It took, 6.5 hours to drive there. After a little R&R time I then spent 1.5 hours setting up. The UNCERT was only 24 minutes long. It took another 1.5 hours to tear down &, of course, I was also trying to sell merch. That night I also only got 4 hours of sleep & then it took me 7 hours & 10 minutes to drive back. I was profoundly exhausted at the end of it all. At age 68 I was proud of myself for being able to persevere but I don't know how much longer I can keep going at such a pace - not much longer, I'm sure.

Ralph's Art Rat Studios has a fantastic setting made of 'corrected' stuffed animals. His psychedelic light show is truly impressive. The GoBos are wonderful. Rather than projecting my own movies I decided to use his environment as my stage set. Wearing a Kuba Elephant Helmet Mask from the Congo, I started off by pushing a Faventia miniature street barrel piano on its miniature cart out of the 'backstage' area, playing, in a deliberately disjunctive manner, Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine". After I wheeled that out, I stood up (I had to kneel to wheel out the piano) & introduced myself & said a few words about the "60 & over Club", the name I was using for the presentation. Then I read this text:

MOTTOS & SLOGANS: Anything is Anything / No More Punching-Bag Clowns! / Neoism Now! & Then! / Kill Normality Before It Kills You! / The Revenge of the Impotent is to Try to Neuter the Fertile / Before You Decide Against Biting the Hand That Feeds You, Ask Why It Has So Much Food in the First Place / When MONEY is GOD, the POOR are HUMAN SACRIFICES / WE are all UNEQUAL under the LAW & THAT is its PURPOSE! / USICIAN, Use Thyself! / Better a Psychopath than a Robopath / Better a Thought Criminal than the Thought Police / Better a Free Thinker than Thoughtless / Better Thought-Provoking than a Secret Police Provocateur / Nurture your Resistance to Medicalization & Iatrogenesis / Dreams, Instinct, & Intuition are more important than your new Techno-Toy / Would you rather be feeble-minded or a Force of Nature? / The Medical Industry compromises your IMMUNE SYSTEM & then gets rich renting you an inferior substitute /Mind Control succeeds when you're afraid to express a different opinion on Social Media / The Medical Industry has become a CANCER crowding-out HEALTH to make room for WEALTH / Live Fast, Die Old / Your mind is a vestigial organ, leave the driving to us / You've been ASTROTURFED into committing CIVIC SUICIDE / History Belongs to the Victor, but only the Loser Believes It.

SELF-DESCRIPTION: Mad Scientist / d composer / Sound Thinker / Thought Collector / As Been / PIN-UP (Postal Interaction Network Underground Participant) / Headless Deadbeat of the Pup tENT Cult / booed usician / Low Classicist / H.D.J. (Hard Disc Jockey) / Psychopathfinder / Jack-Off-Of-All-Trades / criminally sane / Homonymphonemiac / Practicing PromoTextual / Air Dresser / Sprocket Scientist / headitor & earchivist / Explicator / Sexorcist / Professional Resister of Character Defamation / Proponent of Classification-Resistant What-Have-Yous / tOGGLE nUT cASE / Princess of Dorkness's Right Hand Man / Human Attention-ExSpanDex Speculum / Imp Activist / SPLEENIUS / Cognitive Dissident / Criminally Sane

SOCIAL ASSOCIATIONS: nuclear brain physics surgery's cool founder & graduate / Krononaut / Church of the SubGenius Santa / Neoist / Anti-Neoist / Pregroperativist / talent scout for Olfactories Organized / S.S.S.B.ite (Secret Society for Strange Behaviour -ite) / A.S.S.S.B. (Anti-Secret Society for Strange Behaviour Asshole Son-of-a-Bitch) / member of the I.S.C.D.S. (International Stop Continental Drift Society) / 1 time supporter of the ShiMo Underground / Ballooning One in the Fructiferous Society / founder & president of the N.A.A.M.C.P. (National Association for the Advancement of Multi-Colored Peoples) / co-founder of the S.P.C.S.M.E.F. (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Sea Monkeys by Experimental Filmmakers) / Borderline Kneelite in the KNEEHIGHS GANG / emphatic member of the No-No Class / Street Rat Liberation Front / Money Against Capitalism / What?! Collective / Info Desk / HERETICS

After I finished reading the text, I went to behind the keyboard that I had set up with my "88 Instruments" score/map in front of it. I removed my African mask & started playing the samples.

Sustaining a looping sample chord I revealed a bronze Dali melting clock sculpture & played it as a percussion instrument with metal mallets intended for Crotales.

I returned to the sampler & played for another few minutes before sustaining another looping sample chord - this time using a Schalmei sample. Revealing the same Schalmei I played it while walking out ino the (v)audience.

I returned to the keyboard again, playing more & sustaining a sample chord loop that included the barrel piano. From there, I went to the barrel piano & played a bit of that returning, once again, to the sampler. Eventually, I sustained & looped some samples & switched to a piano voice in order to play a brief more 'pianistic' passage. For the finalé I reverse-wheeled the barrel piano back into the 'backstage' area, came out & stopped the sampler loop sustain.

- "roanokeydokey"

- shot in Roanoke, VA, at Ralph Eaton's Art Rat Studios on Sunday, June 12, 2022; uploaded on June 14, 2022

- 1920 X 1440, 30fps, Stereo

- 25:28

- on my onesownthoguhts YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/jfaokqYcEVY

- on the Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/details/roanokeydokey

- June 15, 2022E.V. recollection from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

446. "Consciousness Expansion Score Movie"

- Art Rat Studios, Roanoke, VA, us@

- Saturday, August 13, 2022E.V.

- This gig exemplifies the degree of my dedication to my work. From October, 2020, to October, 2021, I built an addtion on my house the primary purpose of which was to double the size of my (M)Usic Rm. I documented this process with 6 detailed documentaries:

"Consciousness Expansion - Phase 01"

"Consciousness Expansion - Phase 02"

"Consciousness Expansion - Phase 03"

"Consciousness Expansion - Phase 4: The Winter of 2021"

"Consciousness Expansion - Phase 05"

"Consciousness Expansion - Phase 06"

2 audio sessions were recorded in the new expanded space & these were also documented:

"In Progress"

"Consciousness Expansion Kenny & tENT"

All of these documentaries were then reduced to one single one:

"Consciousness Expansion"

THIS was then reduced further & turned into a Score Movie, a movie meant to generate its soundtrack:

"Consciousness Expansion Score Movie"

A rehearsal was held using this Score Movie & that, too, was documented:

"Consciousness Expansion Score Movie Rehearsal 1"

I then revised the Score Movie, eliminating most of the introduction:

"Consciousness Expansion Score Movie (revised)"

A larger group then rehearsed with that & that, too, was documented:

"Consciousness Expansion Score Movie Rehearsal 2"

A version of the revised Score Movie was then made using the soundtrack from the 2nd rehearsal. This could stand for the finished product:

"Consciousness Expansion Score Movie (revised) (w/ soundtrack)"

Now the time had come for the premier performance. SO, On Saturday, August 13, 2022, Eric Lipsky, Devin Sherman, & I (tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE) presented the premier of "Consciousness Expansion Score Movie". Eric played, cello, guiro, & Tibetan cowbell; Devin played guitar & cymbal; & I played ASR-X Pro sampler, micro-Korg synthesizer, Korg Kronos sampler, crotales, bongos, devil's fiddle, ratchet, Chinese gong, vibra-slap, & flex-a-tone. This was documented with 8 cameras, one of them operated by Ralph of Art Rat.

All in all, it was a phenomenal premier. Devin & Eric both contributed generously to the event, investing themselves heavily in it in support of my vision. I am deeply grateful to them. The playing was a challenge but I feel that we did an excellent job. It was as if we'd been airdropped onto a moving roller coaster, entrusted with the task of painting & oiling it as it moved with a prodigious speed (OK, so I exaggerate a tad). Thanks go to Ralph Eaton & Bill Counihan of Art Rat for the pleasant art ratmosphere.

Brian Gentry, an old friend who was generous enuf to host Eric & myself & who attended the premier wrote this email to myself & other relevant people expressing his analysis of the event & I gave some partial explanatory replies (in red):

Aug 20, 2022, at 11:38 AM, Brian Gentry wrote:

It was a privilege to witness this performance. While I imagine that as a performer it would be great to have had a larger turnout,

Indeed, yes, I wish there had been more people - but as is often the case w/ unusual events attracting small (v)audiences the (v)audiences are usually extraordinary people & such people are rare enuf to count for more than just one measley human.

I can attest that those in attendance were mesmerized.

Thank you for saying that.

I remember when the Willem Breuker Kollektief played at the 14 Karat Cabaret in BalTimOre in the early '90s there was a small (v)audience there. Possibly most of that (v)audience were in my big band, the "Official" Project (short version of the name). The Kollektief were booked for 2 nights, as was typical Cabaret practice, but after the 1st night they were considering cancelling the 2nd night b/c of the (v)audience sparsity. I talked to them & told them that while the 'crowd' was small they were some of the best musicians in BalTimOre & they definitely appreciated the music. SO, they played the 2nd night & the same people were in attendance again.

I wish that a few of the other Art Rat regulars and fans of tENT's work had been able to be there, such as Olchar, but that was down to the luck of the draw rather than lack of interest. Donnaah was completely amazed. IMO, it was a near-perfect setting - great space, comfortable seating, intimate and up-close.

Here is my official/unofficial expert/clueless insightful/rambling non-participant review, suitable for publishing!

& here's where a side of my personality comes to the fore that's probably a source of annoyance to many: what seems to be my 'contrarian' side but what's really my penchant-for-accuracy side.

I have been ruminating and kind of processing the performance since it happened. In my opinion, this is a sign of the best kind of work - one that leaves you coming back to it again and again. Not always in an analytical or thinking modality (though I have been doing that, too), but in a more experiential way. I suppose one could call it wrestling or engaging with the performance gestalt. One aspect in particular that I addressed in questions to tENT was the deliberate exceeding of sustained reaction time of the participants.

Brian & I did talk about this somewhat at the time but I didn't really explain it thoroughly.

1st, it's important to understand that while a great deal of information is fed to the (v)audience thru text in the Score Movie the players have actually rc'vd even more information in advance. The original Score Movie:

681. a. "Consciousness Expansion Score Movie"

- 1920 X 1440, 30fps, Stereo

- 1:26:49

- on my onesownthoughts YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/YBYB_jfJR0s

- on the Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/details/consciousness-expansion-score-movie

was 6:55 longer than the revised version presented at Art Rat:

b. "Consciousness Expansion Score Movie (revised)"

- 1920 X 1440, 30fps, Stereo

- 1:19:54

- on my onesownthoughts YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/OoyP35lrIhI

- on the Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/details/expansion-score-revised

The missing material was more explanatory bits at the beginning that were mostly just introductions to the terms used in the movie & were, therefore, felt by me to be excessive at the beginning. I removed them b/c I felt like the explanatory introduction was too long. This is the gist of what's left that's relevant to this discussion:

This is a Score Movie.

That means that the movie

is a score for the

production of its soundtrack.

In the movie there are

the following types of activities,

imagery, conditions, & objects.

Each of these is intended to

trigger correlative types

of playing & expression.

Instructions are presented in

roughly the order they 1st

appear in the Score Movie.

Most meaning(s) of scenes

are presented in writing.

There will be times when 2

or more meanings are present.

One can be chosen, or more

if possible.

Players aren't expected to respond

to every instruction but are,

instead, expected to go at the pace

of change that they feel comfortable with.

However, the more scored changes

they manage to respond to, the

stronger the overall form will be.

dates = motifs

Motifs should be no longer than 4 seconds.

A new motif can only be played when a

new date appears but a motif can continue

over the appearance of a new date.

The player can use a minimum of 2 motifs that

alternate OR use as many motifs as occur to them

OR use the 6 provided motifs OR use a

combination of these 2 latter. These motifs

are like templates, they can be transposed

in any way, to any octave. If played by

a sampler or any instrument that's not

necessarily conventionally pitched they

simply function as key-down instructions.

Their goal is to potentially produce

synchronicity & simple harmony without

having such results be mandatory.

The middle 3 of the above paragraphs were also removed. If I had kept them in & people had read them then what was happening wd've been clearer but I thought that they provided too much reading so I stripped the intro text down to just motif basics.

The video score simply moved too fast for anyone to keep up for an hour and twenty minutes.

SO, to quote from the excluded (edited here) paragraphs:

"Most meaning(s) of scenes are presented in writing. There will be times when 2 or more meanings are present. One can be chosen, or more if possible.

"Players aren't expected to respond to every instruction but are, instead, expected to go at the pace of change that they feel comfortable with. However, the more scored changes they manage to respond to, the stronger the overall form will be."

To digress on a musico-historical note: It's common in avant-garde classical music for composers to be sd to be challenging the players beyond their capabilities. That was sd, e.g., about Franz Kamin's piano music & probably about the piano music of Pierre Boulez & Karlheinz Stockhausen. Brian Ferneyhough's music has probably been similarly described.

As you can see in the above instructions, that wasn't my intention. When I was building the addition to my house I shot something like 700 hrs of footage. I made multiple documentaries from this that were discursive. These were all laboriously whittled down to produce the Score Movie. The result was intended to show all of the relevant building activities w/o necessarily producing a discursive narrative along the lines of the other documentaries already made.

These building activities were then described in musical terms, primarily but not entirely expression markings. These terms were interpolated into the movie simply where they were relevant - they weren't placed w/ any convenience or inconvenience to the performer considered. It was never my intention for the players to try to follow every instruction. In fact, some instructions are only relevant to certain instruments, others are simultaneously occuring contradictions, etc. Hence, "There will be times when 2 or more meanings are present. One can be chosen, or more if possible."

This resulted, from my pov, in a kind of phasing in and out of stricter adherence to the score and deviation from it. This was not periodic (as far as I could tell at the time), but rather seemed to be very much influenced by the interaction between performers,

The interaction between performers is not really of the conventional sort. There's very little spontaneous interplay - although that happens. For the string players there's the "Soli", a time when the string players were instructed to play Motif 1 in unison. They don't always notice when "Soli" appears. There was also a time when I played Morif 1 in unison w/ them as a deliberate deviation from the rules. There's also an instruction, "Bartok Pizzicato", when the string players are instructed to play pizzicato by pulling up their strings & causing them to slap on the neck. As I recall, there were 2 instances when this happened. There're also other instances when a following of instructions might seem like conventional interplay: e.g., players are instructed to play percussion. This is basically to provide a change from the more frequent tone colors. This happened fairly often. But, mostly, what might've seemed like conventional interplay was more likely players being simultaneously on top of the instructions. E.G.: I tend to use the excuse of "Melisma" to play intricate figuring & Devin seemed to play hammer-downs in response. Also, it was my impression that Eric & I both played:

painting = cantilena

a vocal melody or instrumental passage

in a smooth, lyrical style

once or twice & possibly more times together - but, again, that was more in response to the score than it was interplay. This is not to downplay interplay, wch I enjoy very much, but to emphasize that one of the challenges of this score is to try to respond mainly to the score rather than to meander off on other paths.

so that one or more of them could temporarily influence the direction. This seemed to include initiation or directing tempo or tone or instrumentation as well as a kind of counteraction of a (usually short-lived) dominant direction. Sometimes all three performers were clearly playing in a manner that could best be described as entrained (though not in lockstep), and at other times one or two or all three were either "doing their own thing" or appeared to be out of step or otherwise not coherently or cohesively connected in any way I could fathom. But keep in mind the time scale here - this was happening very fast so as soon as I had what I thought was an identifiable insight it had most often changed and they were on to another thread.

All in all, we responded to the instructions that we found easiest to respond to. The

hoisting = doit

Jazz term referring to a note that slides to

an indefinite pitch chromatically upwards

& the

dropping = drop

Jazz term referring to a note that slides to

an indefinite pitch chromatically downwards

were absent b/c those are best played by a saxophonist or trumpeter.

As far as I know, we all played all 6 motifs, wch is fairly simple to do. I, personally, responded to the following instructions:

still = held note

lifting = ascending pitch

sawing = Sforzando (sfz)

Loud sudden attack

drilling = Rubato

Not in a strict tempo

time-lapse = Prestissimo

As fast as possible (180 + )

building = Maestoso

Majestically (80 -104)

moving = Andante

In a walking tempo, moderately slow (80 96)

hammering = Marcato

Marked with distinctness, every note accented

opening = Fortepiano (fp)

Loud then immediately soft

raining = Agitato

carrying = Piu mosso

more motion; a little faster

drawing = Espressivo

With Expression

safety glasses = Lento

Slow & calm (but not as slow as Largo) (50)

screwing = Melisma

Ornament ordinarily held notes

cutting = tronco, tronca

Broken off, truncated

snowing = calma

Calm; so con calma, calmly. Also calmato

meaning calmed, relaxed

sweeping = alla valzer

In the style of a waltz

unrolling = Accelerando (Accel.)

Gradually increase the tempo

vacuuming = Fortissimo (ff)

Very strong or loud

ratcheting = playing ratchet

For the purposes of this Score Movie this

instruction is for a percussionist only & means

to literally play a ratchet

cleaning = morendo

Dying (i.e. dying away in dynamics, and

perhaps also in tempo)

insulating = Diminuendo (dim.)

Gradually softer

peeling = arpeggio

A chord in which the notes are not played

at once, but in some more or less consistent

sequence. For the purposes of this Score Movie

this can mean that instruments incapable of

producing chords must be temporarily

substituted for those that can so that the motif

can be played as a chord OR electronics can

be used to add an extra harmonic layer.

showing = bravura

Boldness; as in con bravura, boldly, flaunting

technical skill

spraying = triplet

For the purposes of this Score Movie, 3 notes

should be substituted for every two, keeping

those 3 in the same duration that the two

previously were.

installing = percussion

Switch briefly to playing percussion,

if not already a percussionist.

assembling = Ad Libertum (ad. lib.)

At the performer's discretion, improvisation

raising = Crescendo (cresc)

Gradually increase the volume

taping = bridge

For the purposes of this Score Movie,

spontaneously create a transitional

passage connecting the current motif

& the next one to be played.

painting = cantilena

a vocal melody or instrumental passage

in a smooth, lyrical style

tarring = bellicoso

Warlike, aggressive (English cognate is

"bellicose")

weed-wacking = Forte (f)

Strong or loud

stirring = Animato

In an animated style

sewing = tremolo

A rapid, measured or unmeasured

repetition of one or more notes.

unlocking = stornello

Originally truly 'improvised' now taken as

'appearing to be improvised'. For the

purposes of this Score Movie, the player

should have a stock phrase to use.

shelving = abandon

free, unrestrained, passionate

credits = tacet (Lat.)

Lit. "he/she keeps silent": do not play

But w/ varying degrees of success. E.G.: my "Abandon" was not necessarily distinquishable from my "Bravura". Other instructions were ones that were too hard for me to pull of quickly so I tended to pick the ones that were easiest for me. My "Bellicoso" was too simple-minded. Those criticisms of myself aside, I felt like I pulled it off impressively well. Eric & Devin tended to stay closer to the provided motifs, wch is as it shd be, but I tended to just try to be expressive & to return to the motifs as a sort of default. The combination of those 2 styles of playing tend to nicely compliment each other.

After a short time this resulted in a kind of cognitive dissonance that can be a very nice place to reside if you can relax and let yourself sit with it. It can be uncomfortable and I think a lot of folks don't like it,but I sure do.

For me, this rapid-fire phasing brings to mind as an analogy the complex interplay of excitatory and inhibitory inputs in neural networks in which very subtle intermediate states between extremes can be achieved. It makes me wonder about the role of stochasticity

I wdn't say that stochastics were involved - at least not in a Xenakis sense.

and randomness in the process

nor wd I call it 'random'.

(i.e., notions of 'structured improvisation').

Structured Improvisation, for me, is a way of upping the ante in a way that Free Improvisation can't & doesn't. It generally discourages players from falling back on their standard tropes - including conventional interplay (in this instance). At the same time, it's intended to be free enuf so that players are making creative decisions on a constant basis. This makes the process more fun for everyone - (v)audience & players alike.

From one perspective, each player interjects random elements from their own interpretation adding a stochastic or "noise" element (pun intended). From another, one could question whether or not these interjections are truly spontaneous, as they could be directly attributed to very immediate outside influence. Of course, they could also be due to other internal influences, such as a performer's feet starting to hurt that results in shifting around, a sense of boredom or lack of enthusiasm with a particular thread, a distracting itch, a perverse desire to mix things up, etc. It raises questions about sentience and self-consciousness, and to what extent we are really in control of anything or just responding to inputs at such a level of complexity that it appears as 'free will' because the process happens at scales that exceed our ability to differentiate the inputs, outputs, and nodes in the network. Perhaps it was an emergent phenomenon, and the distinction between these perspectives does notapply. As I often like to say, maybe that's asking the wrong question. However, going down these kinds of rabbit holes is a good way to not get invited to parties, to seriously reduce your number of friends, and to annoy your partners, so engage in this kind of speculation at your own risk. But if this is your cup of tea, it comes highly recommended.

brian

THX again for yr thoughtful analysis,

yr pal,

tENT

**********

On Aug 22, 2022, at 2:10 PM, Brian Gentry wrote:

But I have found that claiming one's ignorance and asking any sort of thoughtful question is usually better than remaining ignorant, as I am sure you would agree.

Indeed. If people did this more often there wd be less ignorance.

This brings up questions about the extent to which you did influence one another,

That's a hard one to answer accurately. Trying to stay on top of the score is pretty demanding but I'm sure there were times when one player's playing one motif wd influence another player's choice of motif at that time - either choosing the same one or a different one. That's, essentially, built into the piece.

Second, I am still curious about randomness and noise, but this shifts what I was thinking. Now I wonder about apparent vs. actual randomness. In short, oftentimes it appeared random to me,

For me, none of it's random but that's a matter of how one defines what's happening. 1st, the Score Movie has a narrative trajectory: it's built around the progression from no addition to completed addition w/ related parts such as the pants, instrument case, & vest. Then the expression markings are simply tagged onto the actions depicted. The motives provide a sort of melodic glue - they're composed to work to my satisfaction both horizontally & vertically, in sync or out-of-sync. The parts of the soundtrack that're kept in are all construction sounds or other sounds that contribute to the overall sound - speech is excluded. As such, if the appearance of hammering, e.g., seems 'random' in terms of a musical form that's conventional but not in use here it's NOT random b/c it fits into the narrative trajectory. I didn't take it out of that trajectory & put it into a particular location for 'musical effect', I left it where it was. The player's choices of motives might seem 'random' but that's only b/c their timing was chosen by them for reasons not obvious to the (v)audience. E.G.: I might choose Motif 6 (the one w/ the 2 glissandi) during a Prestissimo section b/c it's conducive to speed. OR I might choose Motif 1 b/c it's the easiest for me to play when I'm trying to plan something else.

I would imagine the structure to be very much more apparent to the performers than to the observer,

Eric & I had rehearsed it twice before, Devin had rehearsed it once. During the rehearsals I'd clarified things that the players had questions about. They also have hard-copies of the score that're enormously informative resources.

at least at first. Or maybe this is just my experience. What would be cool would be to see it performed multiple times, and with different players. Would the players rely less on their easiest motifs and begin to try others with more "practice?"

Well, of course, I try to 'master' some aspects 1st & then try new parts w/ each new iteration. I imagine everyone else does the same. I'm sure that every time I play it I'll tackle more challenges. It's fine, tho, if I/we don't b/c it's challenging & fulfilling enuf just to get thru it at all. None of the people I'm fortunate enuf to play w/ are lazy so there's no gratutitous irrelevant playing.

I wonder if it would still produce a Lem-like situation in which it is never fully grasped by the observer, or if there would be some kind of deeper understanding eventually.

'Fully grasping' it wd require telepathically following the process that every player undergoes. I don't expect that to happen. To me, it's probably most thrilling for the (v)audience to just pick up on relations between the score & the players's actions to whatever degree their alertness (or lack thereof) enables. That is a sort of oddball sport, a sport where there's plenty of action but not necessarily any aggressive competition.

695. "Consciousness Expansion Score Movie @ Art Rat Studios"

- 1:24:57

- 1990 X 1440, 25fps, Stereo

- shot at Art Rat Studios, Roanoke, VA, on August 13, 2022

- edit finished August 16, 2022

- on my onesownthoughts YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/VQy-6Su-JUI

- on the Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/details/2022-highest-128k

- Art Rat Ralph Eaton's footage: https://youtu.be/IVip-ASP-JM

- August 21, 2022E.V. recollection from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

447. "Consciousness Expansion Score Movie"

- Harris Theater, Pittsburgh, PA, us@

- Sunday, October 2, 2022E.V.

- Having already written extensively about this piece in the preceding entry about its presentation at Art Rat Studios in Roanoke, the reader is referred back to that for details. For this realization of it, the previous performers: tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE; Eric Lipsky; & Devin Sherman were joined by Ben Opie (see the instrument credits in the 2 end images here).

Devin Sherman, mostly seen from the back by the audience

Ben Opie of the left & Eric Lipsky on the right

tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

Perhaps this is the 'bifocal view'

I used 6 cameras to document this + the Score Movie (shown centrally)

One of the few shots that shows all of us more or less in focus

Unfortunately, Devin shows the least in all the shots

699. "Consciousness Expansion Score Movie @ the Harris Theater"

- featuring Eric Lipsky: cello, distortion, Tibetan cow-bell, guiro; Devin Sherman: electric guitar, effects, cymbal & cymbal stand; Ben Opie: plastic alto sax, school bell, ratchet; tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE: 2 samplers, micro-Moog, devil's fiddle, crotales, ratcher, vibra-slap, flexi-tone, squeeze toy, 8 bell schalmei, bongos, Chinese gong, cymbal

- 1:26:35

- 1920X1440, 29.97fps, Stereo

- on my onesownthoughts YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/Lgd7ME0U-1A

- on the Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/details/consciousness-harris

- October 7, 2022E.V. recollection from tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

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