Summa: diary (October 1-2, 2026)
October 1 (Thursday).
‘Wish you were here’.
7.30 am: Correspondence with friends and former colleagues. 9.00 am: Proof of presence.
In the studio, I continued constructing cells for the Magic Carpet [working title] sound composition. Progress is painfully slow, but as fast as it can be. Every so often, I interrogate my assumptions, if only to affirm the decisions that I’ve already made. To the 50 Hz sine wave tone, I added 100 Hz and 120 Hz overtones. These harmonics can be heard as part of an electrical main’s hum, by listeners with musical ears. The sound composition is exactly 20-minutes long. It cannot be either longer or shorter without compromising both the concept and the process. For this type and method of composition, 20 minutes represents a very broad canvas indeed. It’s like sculpting a substantial marble block using only dental tools.
1.30 pm: The composition is becoming increasingly layered, but not dense. The samples’ ‘voices’ need to remain distinct, even in combination. Some sections of the whole are now beginning to coalesce. The rate of composition will speed up from this point onwards. Presently, I’m just playing with sonic Lego bricks, seeing which ones snap and hold together, without being sure whether I’m building a house, a bridge, a car, or a spaceship. The process of construction will decide that.
October 2 (Friday).
From whence doth come this icy wind that chills my heart.
7.00 am: I woke from a dismal night’s sleep. Too much self-rumination on states of mind and heart: hot and cold; hard and soft; presence and withdrawal; engagement and avoidance; reality and delusion.
7.30 am: A review of textual materials submitted for the Magic Carpet collaboration, before returning to my sonic interpretation of such. Sounds can have such beguiling visual forms.
12.00 pm: At a local watering-hole, I met with the convenor of the conference to which I’ve been invited in November (along with my collaborator, Libby) to present a paper. The conference is called Science-Fictions, Faith and Futures. It’s always helpful to discuss the degree of the give and take possible between organiser and participant. I came away bubbling with ideas and excited at the prospect of negotiating a two-person delivery. This is something that I’ve never attempted before.
2.00 pm: I received my flu jab at my GP surgery. 2.30 pm: Back to manufacturing cells. 3.00 am: A collaboration meeting to discuss the outcome of my morning’s meeting. We were good to go.
See also: Intersections (archive); Diary (September 15, 2018 – June 30, 2021); Diary (July 16, 2014 – September 4, 2018); John Harvey (main site); John Harvey: Sound; Studium; Academia; Facebook: The Noises of Art; Bluesky; Instagram; @Threads; YouTube; Archive of Visual Practice