Date of Submission

Spring 2011

Academic Program

Music

Advisor

Robert Bielecki

Abstract/Artist's Statement

My senior project consists of two separate, but related parts. Both parts are representative of a greater process, which is an ongoing source of inquiry for me concerning my music. Like any artifact of human behavior, I feel that to fully understand and appreciate the work I have produced, it is important to be informed of the process from which my creativity has been informed. I have struggled to comprehend the nature of recorded music, and my project is both an interpretation of this struggle, as well as a manifestation of such.

I have been playing music for a very long time; pots and pans quickly turned into guitars and drums. I began taking guitar lessons when I was 8 years old. Possibly more important than an early start as a musician, was my early start as a listener of recorded music; though there is nothing extraordinary about that fact. When it comes down to it, the most significant portion of my exposure to music, as well as my musical education, has been nurtured by a deep devotion to recorded music. The music I make is a product of recorded music, and I believe that this has caused a lot of confusion for me with regard to the way that I view myself as a musician. My senior show was an expression of the way that I feel about the aspects of production, and reproduction, which constantly convolute my experience of myself. The five-song album I have completed is as much a product of the confusion portrayed in my show as it is a celebration of such, and the same could be said for the show itself.

I got a lot of questions from people about the stockings my band and I had on our heads during our performance of The “Reel” Blues. I suppose the best way to explain why we covered our faces, would be a satisfactory explanation for the entirety of my project. Many things from medium to materials, location, lighting, company, social implications, and state of mind color our experience of something, and the list goes on. Just as tape and analogue outboard gear colors the sound of my recordings, the sound of my recordings color the experience of the listener. With that said, we covered our faces in order to alter the listeners experience of the music, and any interpretation from that point on is quite valid. Thank you to all of those who helped me make something.

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