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Sharawadji

The Sharawadji effect is an aesthetic effect which characterises the sensation of plenitude sometimes created by the contemplation of a complex soundscape whose beauty is unexplainable. This exotic term, which travellers introduced to Europe in the 17th Century from their journeys to China, designates the beauty that comes about without perceiving the order or economy of the object in question. The effect comes about as a surprise and will carry you elsewhere, beyond strict representation - out of context. In this brutal confusion, the senses get lost. A beautiful Sharawadji plays with the rules of composition, manipulates them and awakens a feeling of pleasure through perceptual confusion.Whether in a dreamlike or anxious state, we are sometimes completely deaf to the environment. However while on a walk or on a journey, our spirit can combine availability, attention, perspicacity and therefore become receptive to new things, including sonic fantasy.The beautiful Sharawadji affirms itself in contrast with the banality from which it originates. Sharawadji sounds, as such, belong to everyday life or to known musical registers. They only become Sharawadji by decontextualisation, by a rupture of the senses. The sonic matter that encourages the Sharawadji effect is up to the appreciation of each individual, in a given context, however the soundscape, and in particular urban soundscapes can, as a result of their unpredictability and diversity, favour it. The sonic wealth of nature is also susceptible of creating the Sharawadji effect.

-- Jean-François Augoyard and Henry Torgue, À l'écoute de l'environnement, répertoire des effets sonores (a dictionary of sound effects) , 1995 (translated by Claude Schryer)

I wish he would just

John Luther Adams on renewing human consciousness and culture

"Music," Adams said, "has a particular power not just to illustrate or instruct but to allow us to be more fully present in the world. I actually do believe that music can serve as a sounding model for the renewal of human consciousness and culture."

Naviarhaiku190 – Poisoned Waterhole

The haiku shared by Naviar Records this week is the fifth and final in the Crossing Streams collaboration with Western Riverina Arts as part of an exhibition planned for Narrandera this October.

My response employs a technique promoted by my sometime collaborator Garlo Jo, where the wind plays the guitar. See his Vent de Guitares website for more.

The passing traffic worked well to vibrate the strings, then it started to rain and the effect was magic.

It's a small thing but I decided not to edit the recording other than to enhance it with reverb and delay, as well as EQ and compression and re-amping effects as it was a direct recording from the guitar.

So those arpeggio-like notes near the end as the rain falls are the water droplets hitting the strings, which become increasingly muted as the shower continues.

Modern recording

Disquiet Junto 0294 Offline Status

The Disquiet Junto this week continued remembering Bassel Khartabil, a Creative Commons web developer who was killed by the Syrian government in 2015.

Black Sabbath matters

Naviarhaiku189 – Verdant town of trees

The haiku shared by Naviar Records this week is by Narrandera Library manager Sue Killham, who has supported workshops I've held at that venue.

My response aims to sound busy, as the town Narrandera has a wide river flowing past and is on the junction of two highways. It's no coincidence roads follow rivers, as I learned developing a soundtrack to the Reimagining the Murrumbidgee exhibition in 2013.

The result hopes to sound like a jazz sextet with double bass, percussion, drums, clarinet and flute. The video, my 65th responding to Naviar haikus, doesn't present verdant trees because the blossoms of the wattle are much more eye-catching as they announce that spring is on its way.

Want the red stuff?

Disquiet Junto 0293 Emerge/Immerse

Not sure I paid enough attention to the Junto instructions to: "record a short piece of music, up to two minutes, that is about something emerging — something being brought to life, or coming out of a cave, or otherwise coming into being."

My track brings into being a chord progression I've been playing over the last few days.

I've used the Rhodes-style instrument with the MIDI guitar and kept the guitar part too.

It was recorded quickly and you can see at least one edit in the video.

Naviarhaiku188 - A sepia wash

The haiku shared by Naviar Records this week is one of mine.

I've been writing a haiku each day during 2017 and this was from the coldest morning of winter.

The photo was taken as I stopped outside Narrandera on the way to a meeting near the Murray River.

My track uses a Rhodes-style keyboard for a sepia wash and I've kept the vibe mellow because that's how Naviar roll.

What's your song chorus?

Disquiet Junto 0292 Eclipse Music

The Disquiet Junto this week asks musicians to ponder the solar eclipse occurring in the US on 21 August.

I've only seen lunar eclipses, so I pondered the majesty of a solar eclipse for a while and then set about finding ideas on the guitar.

It took a little while and then I worked to record my part before dinner.

There was only time for a single take and at first I thought I'd need to return and record another, but I decided to use the MIDI recording rather than the electric guitar.

Marimba is an instrument that appeals to me for its percussive quality but the low E of the guitar only triggers a few sampled instruments, so I've used tuba and double bass.

There's also bowed vibraphone in the mix, adding resonance in the higher frequencies.

Led Zeppelin primer

Daniel Levitin on composers

“It’s the job of the composer to bring us pleasure through choices we didn’t expect.”

Naviarhaiku187 – flood waters recede

The haiku by Julie Briggs that was shared by Naviar Records this week is the second in a series about Narrandera.

Having seen the flooding in that town in recent years, as well as having been isolated in Leeton during one event, I took the final line "Which way is up?" to reflect turmoil.

My musical response uses a string section for their emotive qualities with plaintive cries from oboe and clarinet.