Chapter 6

Sound Energy

Try to see what you do with your guitar as making sounds, rather than finding notes or following scales. Sound is a physical thing. It is a vibration of the medium around us (the air). There are sounds that you recognize as sounds of motion. There are sounds that you recognize as more specific types of motion, such as an electronic buzz, or a whirring sound, or the sound of a splashing liquid. You recognize it by experiencing the same vibrational relationship that you do when experiencing that type of activity. These few examples are easy to discern. However, all vibrational experience is definitive of the interactive perspective component of an experience. That is to say, all sound reflects experiences of motion and is a resulting effect of that experience. You will NOT be planning out and constructing sound based on this knowledge. But it is important that you understand this principle because the way that you color the sound with accentuations, style, and emotional content are drawn from how well you relate to the various perspective components.


Trust yourself. You know what "really" sounds good. If you are sincerely expressing your self, there are no mistakes. I think of it a little bit like surfing. I may know how to move with and across the water, but the water is different every time I set out. So my movements will be different as well. It is not as if there is one set of expressions that are correct. They are all correct from the proper perspectives of each. And which perspective you end up expressing with, is based on the level of emotional content in the expression of the song and the corresponding energy level of the moment of performance. To give a personal example, there are a few songs that I wrote during that period that will never be made public because they are unflattering "selves". They are unflattering, yet they are truly self-expressive - the self-expressions of a fool. This is no quandry for me personally. I do not wish to go on stage and present myself in an unflattering light. The songs that I do publish are truly self-expressive without that unflattering quality. This should serve as an example of choosing, from all possible states of BEing, the eventualities of the "self" that others could or would want to relate to or feel some connection with. And like consciousness itself, an emotional flow when performing is derived from the selves contributing to the expression of a particular state of being. It is a dynamic process that is never static and never rests in any one place. Like consciousness itself, you redefine yourself from moment to moment, yet try to maintain continuity in your projection of self, your persona. So this continuity of self is something that you are always attentive to, always interacting with. Therefore, the best approach is to eliminate that which compromises continuity of self and maximize that which makes it both fluid and channeled. Again, these are mechanical details which you will not be focusing on while expressing yourself on the guitar. They are described here to assist in understanding how to fit into the structure so that you can express your self. You must be able to recognize the terrain that you will use to express yourself. That is to say, you can't move with any confidence at all if you can't see what's around you. And the terrain in this case, is not something that you see with your eyes. Understanding of the fundamental structure of reality. That is how you will see. When you can "feel" the flow of energy as you play, and "feel" your "self" in the sounds and your emotional content as an actual component of the sounds, then you have found your "self" and can begin to expand on your ability to express your self. If you try to expand your self before you find your self, then it is obviously not possible to succeed because you don't even know who you are yet. I know that my earlier performances were awkward as I was developing my approach to expressing myself. But the sheer driving energy from my pain and rage pushed me through the moments that I had not fully developed, right there, in front of the audiences. The awkward parts were overshadowed by the sheer energy that I was pouring into my guitar. Consequently, I was well-accepted. So, do the work, be absolutely honest with yourself about what sounding "really good" or "really cool" really means. Sincere emotion beats out "cool" synthetic sounds every time.


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