With this post, I’m inaugurating a new look for Free Floating, one that is more in tune with my personal and musical aesthetic. And so I am taking the site out of the dark, spacey look in which it originated and moving out into bright, clear open space.
The previous look of the site, captured in the header image below, was representative of one aspect of ambient music–the dark side.
The original Free Floating blog header.
As the blog, and my approach to the music, has developed I felt a need to open up to a new aesthetic.
While ambient music is very much about “space”, it is often treated in one aspect of that word–”outer space”. Hence the proliferation of space-themed artist/album/track names. As a proclaimed astronomy nut, this aspect of the music definitely has an appeal for me. Maybe it goes back to watching Cosmos as a teen and tripping out to Heaven and Hell by Vangelis. There is something simple and serene about a field of stars in a pitch black sky that is reflected in much of this music.
But the open spaces that this music creates also puts me in mind of the spaciousness of modern art of the 20th century. The use of white space, simple repetition and geometric forms is also reminiscent of abstract ambient music.
I am particularly inspired by the ways that modern architects created spaces that were simple and open, often using glass to open up the spaces into the natural world around them. A great example of this is the Milwaukee Art Museum (which I am very proud to be a member of), part of which is designed by the great Eero Saarinen and part (below) is the work of Santiago Calatrava.
View of Lake Michigan from the Milwaukee Art Museum. Photo by Flickr user tanakawho.
And so the new look is inspired by the simple openness of modern art and architecture. They allow us to better see the simple beauty of the world around us, both the natural world and that constructed by our own imagination and hard work.
These reflect my approach to the artistry of ambient music that I hope is characteristic of Free Floating.
I’ve uploaded my long-form (65 minute) live solo ambient 8-string bass performance from Sunday night’s Nightscaping show (August 29th, 2010) to the Stillstream Archives for your downloading/listening pleasure.Get it here: http://www.stillstream.com/assets/2010-08-29-Har_Live_On_Nightscaping.mp3The was performed in its entirety live on my 8-string bass, processed and looped via an assortment of pedals and rack processors, and totally devoid of any synths or samplers.Enjoy!
