Drone Music & Organising The Particulars

The above paragraph was my initial intention for a body of work that has come together in rather a scattered manner. This, I must admit. At the time of writing the above statement, I had just finished reading L’éloge de la fadeur (In Praise of Blandness), an insightful essay into a very specific aspect of Chinese philosophy and aesthetics that opened up a window for me. Indeed, a window is an apt description here because this little essay had lots to say on that most slippery of subjects; perception. To summarise my understanding, suffice to say that François Jullien, the author of this essay, makes for a wonderful argument towards another way of perceiving the world around us. A particular mode of thought that seeks a certain detachment, neutrality, blandness towards one’s experience of the everyday. As Jullien likes to express it, it is about valuing “the flavourless rather than the flavourful” which may seem to most a paradox. For me however, it made a lot of sense. Perhaps because I already had knowledge from my studies on Chinese thought and also it seemed that I had come to a point in my life where such a regard for what may appear of utmost banality to most, was in fact a bounty of wondrous joyful possibilities to me. After all, it is often the simple things in life that bring the greatest joy.

From here I decided to make a conscious effort to put these ideas into practice and through artistic expression. My first line of work was visual - I was already exploring minimal works with a series called ‘Dither’. Sound however soon grabbed my interest and drones could be heard from afar. Music is no stranger in my artistic work but I’d yet to explore the realm of the drone. My curiosity delved deeper as I met an artist working in this mode of music and after exchanging had suggested I listen to some Elianne Raddigue. This particular style of sound composition is minimal, sustained and has a long evolving quality that induces a state of active listening. This music had meaning, for me who was looking to strip down sound to its raw state of tone and timbre, distancing myself from the more popular and perhaps indeed more stereotypical manner of eliciting emotions through melody and beats. There were also undertones of a message that are inherently related to my world view. That may sound very grand and pompous but it shouldn’t. I have no intention to be pretentious, nor pertain to make some important statement. Suffice to say that the slower, more meditative nature of the drone is a bold form of expression in a world that is fast, all-consuming and not always conducive to reflection. 

My drone work is akin to navigating a sparse yet subtle and forever changing landscape. The more I listen in an open manner, the more I discover the micro sonic elements. Oscillators sound out in unison, slightly de-tuned and modulated with low frequencies to add surprising yet minimal mouvement. They can sound like horns or sometimes didgeridoos, resonance giving rise to various partials that are rich with emotional state. Rhythm can be perceived in the underlying vibrations, at times excited and fast, at others subdued and mellow. There is a contemplative field of frequencies which come together as a whole, tonal patterns, fed into delay and reverberating rooms to extend their presence. This hum of the drone is like the light and shadows of a sparse landscape in movement. A perceptual window that opens directly onto a continually updated field of emotional possibilities.

Through a state of deep listening, I experience various layers of frequencies, at times my attention is drawn to one particular field. I hear the sound differently, catching a moment in a detail never before noticed. The more I listen, the more I navigate and the more I map out these various parts of the sonic fields, time being my only means of reference to check each sonic position - To check I was not just simply having another auditory illusion or hallucination. My state of mind is never the same is it not? Somehow the drone brings me back to emotional states that quite simply resonate with my being. 

The fundamental concept for the drone works is really about attention - that necessary resource of ours to be fully in a state of awareness and heightened perception. A state that is conducive to committing thoughts and images to memory. This thinking comes directly from observing my own experience of times when my memories are scattered and I sense a mental state in which it is increasingly difficult to maintain focus on anything that requires some form of deep thinking. Due to this debilitating state, I began to wonder if I could make a difference, to change this state I found myself stuck in. The theme of memory is a recurring one in my thoughts and artistic work but I had so many angles - collage, emotion, time, patterns, looping… I see now that I needed to slow down. Creating time to explore. This is where my thoughts take shape and this is where I need to return, to concentrate efforts in order to organise the particulars.