First blog posting in over a year. Looks like my last one was a random posting about an actor I thought would be perfect to play Brian Wilson in a biopic. Hah.
 
I just did a piece for an Art Gallery last Saturday night.


Restorative Ambience (CLICK HERE)

 I've never been involved with a gallery before (apart from frequent visits to museums). This was something that just kind of happened, and I put together an installation that I thought would be a good experiment and experience for me. 

I put together an audio-visual piece somewhat inspired by the Museum of Outdoor Arts "Color of Sound" exhibit last year in Englewood.

In my installation, you walked into a room set up like a mini-theatre, with chairs facing a projection on a wall. I made a one-hour long ambient album with my great friend Judd Siewert, and put together a series of colorful animated visual loops and some nature scenes to accompany the music. The video and music looped constantly so that at any given point in the album someone could walk in and immerse themselves in the sounds, visuals and general ambience I tried to create.

But the piece is really about the music.

Here's the write-up I did for it.

Restorative Ambience

by Blake Talley

Artist's Statement: This piece is a sonic/visual experience that can be enjoyed however you wish.

I'm primarily a film-maker and actor, but I have been passionate about creating and devouring music as long as I can remember. My intention in creating this comes from a pretty personal place.

I've never made an album like this; typically the music I make consists of a far more structured form of songwriting for indie bands (with verses, chorus', bridges, hooks, lyrics, etc) or for a score for one of my films. This is my first ambient album.

Ambient music first really appeared (at least as far as putting a name to the genre is concerned) in the late 70's and 80's. The musicians used mostly synthesizers and electronic instruments to create their soundscapes. I have been a synthesizer enthusiast since I was young, and this album resonates with the sounds of that era of early analog synth's. Sonically speaking, if I could trace the influence for the sound of this album back to any one artist it would probably be Vangelis, the Greek composer who is most widely known for his scores in films like Chariots of Fire, Bladerunner, and Carl Sagan's famous Cosmos TV series from the 80's. I love this era in both music and film.

Spiritually speaking, making this album is a small step forward for my journey in responding to something that has been on my heart for a long time. I have always had a disliking for modern worship music; growing up in a number of different church atmospheres, I've always responded negatively to almost every form of church-based musical worship I've encountered, from standing in rows of pews in a hyper-conservative small Texan church while singing old Hymns in unison with organ accompaniment, to standing in huge amphitheatres in mega-churches surrounded by crowds of people raising their hands in praise as a contemporary rock band loudly strums their guitars and the lead guitarist (who thinks he's U2's “The Edge”) sends a reverberating solo through the ceiling...all fully equipped with the spectacle of a modern rock concert; lights, smoke machines, and multiple camera angles to project it all for the crowd. 

This was never worship for me, and I am on a long journey of finding what musical worship is. I've gone through various stages of guilt, feeling that I am wrong for not feeling what all the people around me seem to be feeling. I've never doubted that the Lord does great work through that music, and that those people truly are worshipping, but I've never been able to find authenticity in it for myself, probably because I simply don't like the music. Part of my struggle through this even included the Lord asking me to play drums in different contemporary worship bands at churches, and even for big events like Promise Keepers; this kept me humble, and taught me service. But it still wasn't the whole picture for me as far as worshipping with music was concerned, and last year the Lord asked me to quit my drumming gig for a local church, and said, very clearly, “Sing to me a New Song”.

This piece isn't necessarily that song, but it is a step forward. If nothing else, I want to create an environment where you can sit and immerse yourself in the music and sonic landscapes in a way that might lead you to a personal space with God for a bit. If not, just zone out, watch the colours and visuals, or close your eyes, or fall asleep.

One question I often ponder about God and Art is this: If I believe in Absolute Truth in life, do I believe in Absolute Truth in Art? Is there absolutely “good art”, and absolutely “bad art”? If so, can I bring life into the world through the art that I make, and can God use that art to redeem, point to Christ, and ultimately restore?

Music and Visuals by Blake Talley, Music produced and mixed by Judson Siewert

Track Synopsis

1. Float

For the opening track, I just wanted to make a bed of synthesized texture for the listener to lay on and relax in for a while. Often when I try to enter a place of personal worship with the Lord, it takes a while for me to come down from my angst-filled mentality and edginess, and I end up just sitting and staring into space for a while. If I sit long enough, not focusing on anything in particular, I might begin to relax into the Lord's presence, escape for a while, and just float.

For the visual portion, I chose layers of deep blue, images of clouds, slowly dripping water, and momentary glimpses of an ocean at night, transitioning into a violet sunset.

2. Light

This is the shortest track. It could possibly symbolise the first glimpse into presence with the Lord. In my quiet time, I have momentary awakenings of pure Joy; these are the times I know I'm simply sitting in the presence of the Lord.

(I say “possibly symbolise” because all art isn't necessarily symbolic; I made this track without any real theme or motif, it just sort of happened when I found a voice I liked in my producer Judd's soundbank. Of course, after the fact I can now apply metaphor to it, but it isn't necessary, as Art is very subjective).

I chose a violet/pinkish sky fading in and out to give the impression of laying on the ground, staring up at the sky and opening/closing the eyes, waking up to a beautiful scene.

3. Cave

For me, this song represents getting to a very deep place with the Lord, sometimes dark, sometimes bright and beautiful. I think that parts of life, and parts of the mind, are like a deep cave that you enter, with some trepidation, only to find that God takes you through to reveal Truth's about Himself.

I used warmer tones, yellows, oranges and reds, to suggest a warm cave. Some of the visuals make me think of the light of a fire on a cavern wall. At the end of the song, I used animations of light to represent leaving the cave, and end with a calm view of a forest outside a cave wall. I imagine that caving is both terrifying and spectacular, just like parts of our walk with Christ.

4. Melancholy

This is the hardest track for me to describe. I don't really have any definitive answers for what this song represents, but I have questions that inspired the creation of the song. Often worship music is hyper-positive, joyful, optimistic...and that's okay, but can we worship God through deep sadness? Why does the modern church often neglect this emotion during worship? Is it okay to feel melancholy in the presence of the Lord?

I chose images suggesting slowly falling rain, and deep blue, slowly moving clouds. I love rainy weather, and this track to me is peaceful, although sad.

5. Cosmos

This is probably my favourite of the music I made for this art gallery. The music for me creates imagery of floating in space, gazing in wonder at God's unfathomable creation, most of which we can barely glimpse even through our greatest telescopes and technology.

I used animated representations of exploding supernovae for the visual portion, and images of nebulae to give the viewer the impression of slowly floating through the universe. I love the exploding stars coinciding with deep synthesizer bass notes, and Judd's beautiful guitar dissonance slowly fading in. I also love the theme of life through death, God's trademark, suggested by the supernovae and nebulae imagery; when a star explodes, apparently the shockwaves can trigger the formation of new stars, and the space-junk or remnants of nebulae are known to form new stars and planets.

6. Breathe

As in “Float”, I just wanted to give the listener a chance to relax, find peace, and breathe.

I used no visuals for this track, but there is the sound of my breathing under the music; I hope it isn't creepy.

7. Life

To end this audio/visual experiment, I chose a soft synth pad and played very simple, repetitious chords that nearly lulled me to sleep while playing them. I looked for a while with Judd to find the right voice; one of the last ones we found was titled “C.S. Lewis' Mars”, and it was perfect. It was just icing on the cake that I knew the voicing title was undoubtedly referring to my favourite book of all time, Out of the Silent Planet, in which a man is sent against his will via spacecraft to Mars, or Malacandra, where he finds that God has created life on other planets as well; but some haven't fallen like Earth, the

Silent Planet.

I chose all green imagery to represent life, and used a backing sound effect track of nature that I have used in some of my short films. I ended with a beautiful still shot that I found of a green river somewhere in Japan.

Thanks for taking the time to read a little about my process in making this music. It's not the kind of music I want to make full time, and not the kind of worship music I would necessarily want to mass produce, but a big step toward my personal journey of finding new music to worship the Lord with. As a film-maker, I create opportunities for escapism; a short time to step away from the stresses we create in our realities. With this music, I hope that at the very least I created a space for someone to just chill out, relax, and escape from their problems for a bit; at the most, I hope it can help someone step into the presence of God.