Focussed Light

by Milieu

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1.	Focussed Light (Part 1) 01:34:24	info
2.	Focussed Light (Part 2 / Section 1) 02:11:40
3.	Focussed Light (Part 2 / Section 2) 02:58:05
4.	Focussed Light (Part 2 / Section 3) 03:00:05
5.	Focussed Light (Part 3) 03:00:39

about

"Hear this our song,
accept our leaves,
love-offering,
return our hymn,
like echo fling
a sweet song,
answering note for note."

-H.D., excerpt from 'Holy Satyr' (1922)

---

'Focussed Light' is the 24th Sleepbuilding session to be published for free, originally broadcast on the evening of May 22nd, 2023. It is adjacent to the 'Apennine Hashish' sessions in the Vibratelepathos series in that it uses the same voice - the 3340 "Curtis chip" analog oscillator - although it diverges from those sessions in its exploration of the microtonal 5-HD2 scale (or five-step harmonic series scale). It was also the very first session to use the Strymon Starlab, a powerful multifaceted reverberation machine.

Initially, 'Focussed Light' may seem melodically different than most other Sleepbuilding streams, but after a little time passes, the unorthodox tuning is normalized, and the emotive qualities of the music become more apparent. I often find this to be the case with a lot of the microtonal music I listen to, where the element of time is arguably more important than other aspects of the composition, because it allows the ear to adjust to newer pitch relationships and timbral differences.

This music felt appropriate to revisit for this release, personally, because of several conversations I've had in various correspondence about purpose-led work versus progress-led work - the notion that development of art should happen simply for its own sake, in the vague pursuit of newness, rather than being created to address specific needs or curiosities. It came to my attention in these conversations that my work could be easily interpreted by others as belonging to the former category, given the sheer amount of recordings I've published, but I tend to disagree with this interpretation.

'Focussed Light' is an apt example of my feeling that anything I create, or facilitate the creation of, has been designed with a given purpose in mind, whether it was something highly specific, such as this example of writing melodic music within an unconventional system of temperament, or something more broad, such as the desire to offer a method of holistic escapism for free to the internet-accessible world.

I do not believe that randomness exists - only extremely complex systems whose chaos cannot be discerned in reasonable lengths of time - and following this, no creative act can ever be random either. Nothing can be free of calculation or decision, not truly - only at a topical and conscious level can we, as humans, find ways to act and express ourselves with only impulses - at a deeper level of consideration (and Sleepbuilding sessions such as this one highlight this point) it becomes increasingly apparent that all of my creative work is a decisive and directed act, and I have only momentarily managed to convince my self-awareness that it is not.

So, not only do I believe that art cannot be divorced from intent, but I also tend to feel that the notion of striving for progress and growth simply because you have the time and space and resources to do so is foolish. How bored must we admit that we are, when we feel compelled to surround ourselves with objects that do not yet hold any real meaning? The natural world is filled with meaning, inherently, despite all outward implications that a tree is merely a tree, the sky is only the sky, but this is again like the unfamiliar scale playing throughout 'Focussed Light' - a design is present, a system that functions according to directives, and the element of time is all we really need to discern the purpose and meaning of the things around us.

---

YouTube playlist of all Sleepbuilding broadcasts: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbcjgVJRSgeSHy00DZLB8zFFIJbIgcYjo

All prior Sleepbuilding releases to date (all FREE): campsite.bio/oscillog

For more generative ambient music delivered to your inbox automatically each month, please consider subscribing to my Vibratelepathos series: vibratelepathos.bandcamp.com

24/7 Endless Ambient Broadcast Station at Twitch: twitch.tv/analogbotany

credits

released March 1, 2024

W/P by Brian Grainger. Recorded and broadcast live at White Pillar Workshop, May 22nd, 2023, using the R-EW Audioholistics modular system. Mastered by The Analog Botanist. Text by Brian. Poetry excerpt by H.D. Design by ABM&D using visual sampling of 'Diagonal Planes' by Frantisek Kupka (1921-1923). This is Milieu Music number MMD098. (C) + (P) Oscillog ASCAP 2024. All nights preserved.

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Milieu Dayton, Ohio

Psychedelic electronic music, sun-warmed analog ambient and sci-fi braindance, for cats, aliens and epicureans alike.

I also release music as Coppice Halifax: coppicehalifax.bandcamp.com

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