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- shrine / structure
we’re back in action nov 16 at my favorite venue in the city:
the shrine is a special place. sunday evening show—see you there!
man, where to begin?
with math, perhaps. here’s a question: what’s your favorite math concept?
I never really had one. I couldn’t wrap my head around the purpose of math, and for me, that was a barrier. the quantitatively ambiguous nature of the humanities suited me, enabling the creativity I craved.
yet to manifest, creativity requires structure—and structure is governed by numbers. I would run into logistical challenges, underaccounting for the constraints of the real world and accepting them as the price of doing business.
thus, while life decisions created the space for my creative ability to develop, I couldn’t find peace in the output. it cost too much.
creativity is also difficult to measure, and in a post-industrial, rationalist world, what you can’t assign value to ceases to exist. AI, mankind’s love note to itself, extends this theme beyond human limits. “yeah, give me the artificial one.”
but here’s the thing—assigning value based on what’s measurable reduces our systems to those we’ve created. there’s still so much to be discovered.
hence the name of this newsletter: in the model of Alan Chadwick’s garden, honest work begets honest outcomes. nature can’t be controlled, so we submit to her and treat her well. in return she provides for us.
western tonality bases itself on the overtone series—a naturally occurring logarithm that divides itself into a consonant-sounding sequence of pitches.
look at a guitar neck to see the below visual illustrated in real life: frets shrink by equal ratios with each step, inversely related to the pitches they produce.
when I tell you I’ve been crash-coursing math over the past month, I mean that I’ve been trying to decipher a concept fundamental to my passion from an angle I haven’t considered in over a decade. my brain’s been twisted in a knot translating written equations into a language I speak fluently.
and I couldn’t have done so without the help of AI. the more clearly I articulated my pain points, the better the guidance became—connecting me with books and pieces of music that illustrated the very concepts I was chasing.
I see the structure in my music now, as in my life. at times, it has restricted me. the more I understand it, the more it frees me.
other updates:
ooooh album mixing is almost done it’s so close I can’t wait
my youtube channel continues to dominate the 55+ demographic:
new videos every saturday morning
that’s it for now. talk soon!