During a recent overnight power outage with little to do, I decided to create a couple of drone tracks. The result is Blackout.
My goal was to create music that captured the feeling of being in the midst of a blizzard inside a dark house without electricity. I spent several hours and about 70% of the battery power on my iPad composing these two 10-minute drone tracks.
The first track is light and airy, the second is darker and heavier. Take a listen. I hope you like. – dse
Almost anything can be creative or considered art.
My second musical work as Anderhill played with the sound of radio static. I used static and noise sampled from short-wave and AM radio to weave into the music. The result was unique and continued to pave the way for my career as an experimental composer. Listen to Out of the Radio Static.
The point is simple. Don’t wait for the perfect time or for what you believe are the right elements to be creative. Start now and use the things that are in your immediate grasp.
Not only is what we create who we are, the materials for our work are all around us. If you listen closely, you can find endless music in the radio static. – dse
Creativity might have a mind of her own, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be purposeful in what we do. There’s no forcing creativity. Still, you can choose what you create.
Anderhill was a purposeful project. I’d written a couple of albums of electronic music as Dan Erickson but wanted to do something different, darker, edgier. That’s when I created The Beginning.
I sat down with my iPad and purposefully worked at creating something edgier than I’d ever made. The Beginning starts with my first drone piece, “Welcome.” From there it gets heavier with “Echo of Things to Come.”
Throughout the 7-song EP, the sound that would start a long journey into the world of experimental electronic music as Anderhill was born. It was a purposeful endeavor. I invited creativity in and she worked her magic – dse
New Anderhill music is out. This is my first full album since The Beauty of Infinite Sadness.
The Mandolin, the Ghost, and the Machine is a concept album that makes use of a mandolin on each of the nine tracks. As the composer of this experimental electronic music I have mixed feelings. Take a listen and see what you think and I’ll be my own critic below.
The album was made quickly. I created the nine tracks in a matter of a week. I often compose music quickly but this time only some of the tracks felt like they came together and others seemed oddly incomplete or not good enough. However, instead of killing tracks or the entire project I pushed forward.
The music is hard to fit into any category. It’s not ambient. It’s not house. It has some drone qualities. It’s experimental. As I worked through the project I became critical of the music and my own creative processes. Whereas I liked my opening track, “The Ghost in the Mandolin,” I became less inspired with some of the other tracks. The music began to feel too repetitive and machine-like. So I commented on that problem with the tracks, “Bloody Machine” and “Bah Bah Boom Chick.” The track “Almost” is just that. It’s almost good enough, but not quite.
Next there’s my use of the mandolin. I’m almost ashamed for bastardizing such a beautiful instrument. Rather than playing the mandolin I just haphazardly plucked and strummed short bits, sampled them, and programmed them as the first track of each recording. Then I built music around them using ghostly sounds. Finally, I added manipulated and distorted drums.
Some of the tracks feel a bit too cluttered for me. Instead of editing some of that clutter out as I often would, I decided to leave it. This work is exactly how I created it.
You might wonder why I’d even release The Mandolin, the Ghost, and the Machine if I dislike it as the composer. Let me explain. First, I don’t dislike it. I think it could be better. I think I’ve composed stronger works. I feel less passionate about the album than others I’ve created. That doesn’t make it bad.
Second, it’s art. Some might disagree. My process was simply to use a concept, in this case samples of a mandolin as the building block for the music. I created nine pieces quickly and in the order you hear them. And although I was critical of my own process I forged ahead.
Finally, it’s often been my observation that the works we are most critical of as artists, creators, and composers are often the viewers, readers, and listeners favorites. I can’t count the times that I’ve been about to throw something away but several people told me it was one of my best works. In that spirit I decided to release this album for better or worse. – dse
New music coming out on Valentines Day.
Behind the scenes I’ve been working on a new electronic experimental music project. It’s titled The Mandolin, the Ghost, and the Machine. You can expect release in mid-to-late February as I’m still considering a few more compositions and remixes.
The idea came to me after taking a short trip back to the Northwest and retrieving my mandolin among a few other belongings. It’s a middle-of-the-road instrument, not a cheapie, but no classic Gibson either. It can be finicky. It’s had issues with fret buzz from time to time, but also seems to resolve those issues on its own. I blame the weather. Or perhaps there’s a ghost in the mandolin.
“The Ghost in the Mandolin” is the opening track. It’s a spooky soundscape that might work well on the Grey Castle Podcast. From there, things get even weirder.
The idea behind this project is simple. Take short recorded samples of the mandolin, turn them into programmed bits, and build music around them. Originally, I was going to call the project, The Ghost and the Mandolin. But after adding clock-like drums and noisy synths to several of the tracks the sound of the machine entered the picture.
The project also becomes a criticism of itself. As much as I love to create electronic music, there is often this underlying feeling I get. Something is wrong. It’s not real. It’s a machine. Tracks like “Bloody Machine” and “Bah Bah Boom Chick” are simple semi-chaotic pieces that are critical of the entire idea of programmed music, including my own. Those tracks may or may not make the Final Cut.
After all, I am completely bastardizing a beautiful instrument in the making of The Mandolin, the Ghost, and the Machine.
But it’s art. Or is it? In either case I won’t lose any sleep over my non-traditional use of the mandolin, but perhaps I should practice some good old live bluegrass licks instead. – dse
New music from Anderhill. This is Winter.
This new track has a classic Anderhill vibe and is reminiscent of earlier long-play tracks like Clear Black, Waves of Light, and Keep Faith. The track is both bright and mysterious, ambient and minimal house. Take a listen.
This might be the beginning of a new album project, or it might remain a single track. Time will tell. I’ve been spending some time composing but am still in a preliminary stage of finding the voice for my next album project.
The photo was taken the day after a snow in Old Orchard Beach Maine.
Learn more about Anderhill by checking out the Anderhill BandCamp page. – dse