chance

Stalking the Aleatoric Whales

Yesterday I wrote about randomization and chance as compositional tools, and they show up again today, but in a very different way. And with a very different result. I was in a different mood today. Darker. Sadder. As gravid and grey as the sky. As has become usual, I had no ideas as I sat down to write. While I should now be used to this as a common starting point, it’s never comfortable, though I have become slightly more resilient and capable of just starting something. Quite often, it’s a sound itself that sparks the creativity, but my brain … Continue reading

Dagian

Pastiche. Nearly every time I’ve heard that word used in conversation or read it in an article, it’s used at least partially as a pejorative. It’s a French word, which came from the Italian pasticcio, which came from the Latin pasta. Which means “paste.” (Which makes the Italian pasta interesting, because the dough for pasta is essentially paste – just wheat flour and water – before being shaped and cooked). But in this sense, it’s paste as in “copy and paste,” which is apparently not a positive trait in music or art. Or is it? Where is the line between … Continue reading