Ever since that time, in 2012, that I was captivated by the Ciat-Lonbarde Cocoquantus oscillator cluster, which Peter Blasser called the Quantussy, a Nabra or analog brain, I have sought more clarity on its attraction for me.\u00a0 I have expended considerable effort in try to make sound generation happen that produces interesting, and unexpected patterns.\u00a0 Why am I so riveted by this?<\/p>\n
I related some of it to the idea of removing myself as a performer, along the lines of John Cage’s abdication of the ego.\u00a0 But the act of creating and arranging the hardware to make the sounds seems to me an act of composition that involves me and my interest very strongly.<\/p>\n
The words to describe what I’m trying to do are hard to find.\u00a0 It’s not really generative, in Brian Eno’s sense.\u00a0 It is not automatic, which sounds too mechanical.\u00a0 I seem to be seeking an organic result, to be teased out of the behaviors of silicon chips, energized by electricity.<\/p>\n
The structures I use start out as simple elements:\u00a0 oscillators, sample and holds.\u00a0 The combination of these in quantities, with feedback loops, as epitomized brilliantly by the Cocoquantus design, produces results that approach what seem in my judgment to achieve a sort of organic effect, as if natural, not artificial.<\/p>\n
Immediacy.\u00a0 Ephemeral experience.\u00a0 Hearing without thinking.\u00a0 Non-referential.<\/p>\n