ISP

Independent Study Project. It’s here. It’s finally here. This is officially day 2 of ISP time. Every day from here on out is entirely mine. In these two days I have actually been far more productive than I imagined. I’ve begun some archival sonic research for fusion music by Philip Glass and Terry Riley that incorporates Indian influence. I’m studying Passages, a collaboration between Glass and Ravi Shankar, and Atlantis Nath an album by Terry Riley featuring some loops from India and various Indian musical themes. Both albums will be prove to be fruitful for my paper as well as inspiration for my own recording.

Aside from listening to these albums, I’ve begun the process of contacting several fusion, classical, and rock/pop musicians in Delhi for interviews. Hopefully by next week I’ll be able to meet with a few of them and see what I can learn.

On my on creative front, I’ve begun the recording of my fusion album. I have one track “completed”. Especially with this ambient music that has such thick texture, I’ll never really be “done” with a track. I’ll simply have to stop myself from fiddling with it and abandon it onto the album. But, I think I am starting to find the sound that I wanted and this, in itself, is encouraging. The recording equipment that I’ve rented, will sufficient, is unable to effectively capture guitar, sitar, and other instruments with light timbres. So, I’ll either have to find a condenser mic somewhere in New Delhi or, more likely, rent some studio space where I can use their equipment and finish off the album in a few studio dates. Although, I’ll sketch all the tracks out out with my meager equipment before venturing into a studio to re-record parts that I was unable to capture with justice to the instruments.

That’s all for now. More updates to come in the coming days.