We humans, though we exalt our individualism and protest notions to the contrary, are really, deep down, one and the same. Blue might be your favorite color and rock & roll your favorite music, but we can all see a rainbow and we can all experience individual notes as a single chord. Neophyte artists often do not grasp this important fact, and many go out of their way to differentiate their art for the sake of being different. The best artists, however, know that the only way a work resonates is if it communicates an aspect of ourselves that is universal. The infinite ways in which we differ are nowhere near as exciting as the relatively few ways in which we are the same. Good art reveals new forms of commonality. A work of genius does more than reveal—it compels you to understand its unintuitive truth. And the revelation of truth is necessarily beautiful.
Our universality is fractal in nature. If you compartmentalize it, it fractures into a myriad of expressive variations, and from these fragments develop disparate disciplines such as oil painting, clay sculpture and electronica music. But digging into any of these disciplines reveals their interconnectedness. And the deeper you dig, the more evident it is that at some abyssal level, all disciplines are one and the same.
It has been a long time since I’ve discovered music that has resonated with me in such a fashion. I’ve spent a few bored nights wading through albums in iTunes, discovering music that almost piques my curiosity only to discover the rest of the album is mediocre dross. But a few days ago I discovered that Brian Transeau, who is better known by the moniker BT, was releasing a new album.
BT is a geek like me. Geeks are a misunderstood animal. They revel in the discovery of the peculiar (and many times inane) details of a subject, a quality that is usually mistaken for unnatural obsession. But it is this facility and willingness to immerse themselves that enables geeks to stumble upon hidden forms of universality. Bill Jay said it best in his book “On Being a Photographer”:
I once watched a television interview with a great violinist. The interviewer asked him to describe a typical day. The musician said he read scores over breakfast, then composed music in the morning, thought about music during a walk, practiced the violin in the afternoon, played in a concert in the evening, met with musician friends to play together, then went to bed dreaming of the violin. The interviewer was aghast: it seemed such a narrow life. “Yes,” said the violinist, “initially my life was becoming narrower and narrower in focus. But then something extraordinary happened. It is as though my music passed through a tiny hole in an hour-glass and it has since become broader and broader. Now my music is making connections with every aspect of life.”
Universality. Whether subconsciously or otherwise, BT gets this concept. It’s this reason that even though I haven’t heard his new album I am already excited about it. Almost fanatically excited. He writes in his own blog:
I wrote a lone piece of music a year ago now. It was the culmination of years of though [sic]. The integration of some of my more esoteric pursuits such as software design, micro rhythms, harmonic rhythm, glitch, classical music and asymmetrical meter. In short a meeting point for the academic and my great muse in music, the transmission of truth.That piece of music is called Dynamic Symmetry. When I wrote it, not only did I not really know what it is, but I had (and honestly) still have no idea what to call it. It was an important turning point for me aesthetically and artistically, and one that I am now just realizing, its overwhelming significance.
It is a piece written in thirds. The introductory statement of a theme, variant of a theme and then a recapitulated interpretation of the theme. It is almost 11 minutes long and still as beautiful and magical to me, and near and dear to my heart as the day I wrote it. Its a proud moment. But I had no clue what to do with it, or where its potential home could be.
I believe BT has tripped over a universal musical truth.
I try not to get excited about the things that I anticipate. It’s probably a defense mechanism that I’ve built up as a result of being let down too many times. But despite myself I can’t help but be excited about this album. I am excited because perhaps listening to his new compositions will show me a new way to experience our commonality. And in turn I hope to learn something about myself.
“This Binary Universe”, BT’s fifth album, is unleashed upon the world on August 29th, 2006.