[NetBehaviour] Filling the Void

[Alan Sondheim]

Filling the Void

https://youtu.be/zasmcwC4O4g VIDEO (turn up bass somewhat)
http://www.alansondheim.org/fillingthevoid.jpg

The void is silence; the fill is played speedily and nonstop for
now thirty-five plus minutes, all I could do in one go. It may
not look like much but it is. Please listen with bass turned up
and earphones if possible; the Di Giorgio guitar is tuned low. I
was inspired by Ashley MacIsaac's birthday solo concert which ran
for roughly forty-six minutes but with breaks and talking.
Breaks! I ran full out and it wasn't my birthday. Of course I
don't play fiddle the way he plays fiddle. I couldn't possibly
and he's absolutely and understandably world famous for his
fiddle playing - on the other hand I'm doing something different
and perhaps a bit odd and my hands suffer the consequences of
off-and-on stretching beyond what the muscles normally do. But I
love to play this way with bursts of speed, my right hand still
hurting now from the exercise, and that's good; my left hand
stretching - well, my left hand is used to stretching at this
point and used to the pain that might ensue, it goes away. I
played until I couldn't. I tried to find a suitable end to the
whole thing and then just decided to stop. While I did this,
evening fell, but it didn't hurt itself; it stood up, walked a
bit, and disappeared. Everytime I play like this - and it's
always been shorter I think - I learn something new, although you
might not be aware of it, but it's true! I find new things to
focus on and hold mightily to them until their forms are
exhausted as well. Afterwards when I listen to it, I think, so
that's how I did it. I do realize the playing looks slower than
it is - there's an economy of movement involved that ensures I
can continue without flair; my left hand moves above the
fingerboard as little as possible and may look stationary
(perhaps it is, ah relativity, perhaps it is my mind that is
doing the moving), and my right hand looks as if it's mowing the
lawn or giving a backrub with back-and-forth rocking that's in
reality much more accurate and working with particular strings
than it appears. That's the miracle of music, a kind of seamless
undertaking, visually, although there is a lot that is naturally
visceral. And in so many musical stylings (I like the perversity
of that word) such as jazz, rock, improvisation, etc., exploding
and magnifying the movement and complexity is an inherent part of
things, showpersonship and a real desire to push the limits of
the possible. I'm meandering and of course entirely wrong here.
So what I'm only saying in reality is that we all have our
demons, although no, that's not it, we all have our ways of
filling the void, a void the void, and most of us probably don't
think that way at all. I actually have no idea how most of us
think. We've been watching too many Vloggers the past couple of
months. I do know I couldn't do these things on a boat that's
internally just a little less than seven feet wide, although it
might be interesting to see just how the usual gentle rocking
affects the music if it does at all. I can generate my own form
of sea-sickness, thank you just the same. I'd like to say
there's either a prize or an easter egg for those who listen to
the whole thing, but there isn't, just the happy thought that
you've done a lovely thing today, and the music is a reward in
itself, etc. etc.