Dark Soul Night:Inner Reality Set [Part 1]

This is studio version of the first half of a live Laptop/DJ set I did at Dark Soul Night: Inner Reality event at the Vibe Gallery on the 23rd of March. This was the blurb introducing the set the set…

“Artist Dan Westlake will be play a Laptop/DJ set exploring the spaces, links and relationships between sacred and secular musics. Expect a spiritual journey that maps the connections between the polyrhythms of West African drumming and the minimalist compositions of Steve Reich and Terry Riley, the meditative chordal progressions of Arvo Pärt and Górecki, and the Drum and Bass of Goldie, the ragas of Ravi Shankar and the free jazz of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders. Also en route the Shinto music of Japan, the roots reggae of Augustus Pablo, the celtic folk of the Cocteau Twins and all destinations between on this mystic voyage. The set will include special re-mixes, re-edits and dubs created exclusively for this event.”

Track Listing:

Alan Watts: Lecture on Ecstasy
Pauline Oliveros: Lone
[unknown artist): Heart Chakra Resonance
[unknown artist]: Tibetan Singing Bowls
Tajima Tadashi: Ukigumo (Floating Clouds)
Ravi Shankar: Raga Kausi Kanhra
Badmarsh  & Shri: Appa
Steve Reich: Nagoya Marimbas
Steve Reich: Music For 18 Musicians
Terry Reily: a Rainbow In Curved Air
John Cage: Dream
Gorecki: Symphony No. 3
Augustus Pablo: Nature Dub
Scientist: Dematerialise
Scientist: Cloning Proccess
Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes: Meditations
Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes: Devika (goddess)
John Coltrane: Body & Soul

Effects, Delays & Sonic Manipulation… Dan Westlake

Sound & Traffic

John Cage talks here about the nature of sound and listening. I was reminded of this clip a few days ago when sat in front of this screen on a warm night like this experiencing the sounds outside my window. The sirens of two police cars in hot pursuit - two notes and glissando going in and out of sync as the distance between the cars alternated between getting slightly nearer and slightly further apart. This created a fluid merging and dissolving effect similar to Steve Reich's use of phasing but with a fluid pulse; plus the Doppler effect as the tones smoothly shifted in comparison to the distance between the cars. This in turn reminded me of the turntablist technique of mixing with pure sine wave records using only the turntables pitch control to vary this otherwise constant tone - a technique first deployed in Cage's 'Imaginary Landscape No.1' composition of 1939. Everything begins and ends with John Cage.