Dear Diary
Every now and then you come across something that will stick with you for the rest of your life. This week I followed a concept in some post I was reading to Wikipedia and beyond and somehow stumbled upon In Lak’ech and Pensamiento Serpentino by Luis Valdez.
In Lak'ech
Tú eres mi otro yo. / You are my other me.
Si te hago daño a ti, / If I do harm to you,
Me hago daño a mi mismo. / I do harm to myself.
Si te amo y respeto, / If I love and respect you,
Me amo y respeto yo. / I love and respect myself.
This Mayan philosophy and greeting is similar in concept to the deeper meanings attributed to “namaste”. The understanding of the interconnectedness of all beings is something I’ve carried with me since childhood. Another version I learned came from a class I took on Kabbalah a decade or so ago, stated as “there is no separateness”.
It’s often difficult to hold the fullness of this idea in a world filled with hatred, violence, and bigotry. But maybe if we can just greet the people we meet with this intention, the world will eventually be a better place.
Progress
About the track
This track has several names. I always found naming instrumental tracks absurd, especially improvised ones. It’s a moment in time, but just like this post, it needs a handle to hold on to, so ultimately you just make something up that seems meaningful.
It was originally saved on my iPad as “1. Receive from Bus A - 20 bpm - 001.wav”. I normalized it and trimmed it and then renamed the final track “092823-01-C806.wav”. I went on to record another two tracks of free improv, decided I’d put an album together, and somewhat arbitrarily named the album “Unprepared Guitar”, which would have made this track “Unprepared Guitar, Part 1”. But then I needed a title for this post and landed on “You Are (Another Me)”. So I’ve renamed the album and the track, and here we are.
This track completes about 5 hours I spend noodling on 806 over the past month or so. I didn’t record all of my improv on this xenome, but this is hopefully a decent representation, or at least an interesting one.
This is the first appearance of AudioThing’s Valves, which I’m really digging, and I think it adds a lot to the guitar tone. There’s also a new beta app I can’t talk about.
Tools and stuff
Gear: Strandberg Boden NX 7, M-Audio Air 192/14, iPad Pro M2
Pedals: Gamechanger Audio Plus, SSS SRV, Strymon Deco, tc electronic Subnup, electro-harmonix Mel9, electro-harmonix Ravish
Apps
Audio Damage: Other Desert Cities, Replicant 3
AudioThing: Gong Amp, Mantis, Noises, Valves, Texture, Springs
Blue Mangoo: Attack Softener
Igor Vasiliev: GlitchScaper
Jam Origin: MIDI Guitar 2
Kymatica: AUM, AudioShare, AU3FX:Push
Paul Driessen: PD Space Guitar
Sugar Bytes: Looperator
… and an app I can’t talk about.
Xenome 806
806 is a 3-note Xenome containing the root, major 6th, and minor 7th. While there is no common name for this set of notes, the Universal Encyclopedia of Scales calls it Phrygian Trichord Mode 3.
C-806 scale diagrams
Xenotuning
6-String Guitar
Keyboard
Magic Square
You Are (Another Me)