AUTUMN ENSO [2005]
Format: Limited edition CDR release
Released by: Why Not LTD
Running time: 44.21
About the project
"Autumn Enso" began as a visual idea. In the winter of 2003, I attended an exhibition at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago entitled "Visual Mantras: Meditative Traditions in Japanese Buddhist Art" and was particularly struck by two pieces in the exhibition. "Sunrise Enso," a folding fan painted by Nakahara Nantenbo in 1920, and especially "Fire Enso," a hanging scroll painted by Setsudo Joen in the late 18th century, were simplecalligraphic designs that incorporated the enso, a stark black circle of ink that became one of the most important visual symbols in zen artwork. Embodying many facetrs of zen philosophy, the enso makes reference to the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation; the cyclical nature of the seasons; the shape of the planets; and the curved space of the cosmos.
Around the same time I had been thinking about making some visual pieces using autumn leaves. After seeing the enso brush paintings in the exhibition, I decided to make an enso out of autumn leaves. It wasn't until I decided that the leaves should be placed in a circle around the edge of a snare drum that I began to think of ways this concept could become the basis for a sound piece.
I decided to create the leaf enso as part of a recording session in my studio, and decided to document the process with photographs and audio recordings. I began with a starkly lit snare drum. Slowly, I placed a circle of autumn leaves, gathered from the sidewalk outside my home, around its outer edge. I then placed a piece of rice paper on top of the leaves and made a charcoal rubbing. The four photographs that documented this process became the basis for a visual work entitled "Autumn Enso".
The source recordings made during this studio session went unused until April of 2004, when the first piece (what eventually became "Autumn Enso III") was created for a live performance at Vadim Sprikut's AC performance series in Chicago. The piece used highly processed versions of the leaf recordings combined with several improvised synthesizer lines and samples of brushed snare drum and cymbal. A second live performance of the piece later that year was used as the final track for the CD.
Further studio work in spring 2005 led to the other five tracks which complete the album. The same batch of leaves from autumn 2003, now extremely brittle, were used for these sessions. Each of the other five tracks contains samples of the leaves being used as percussion instruments, primarily making circular motions around the edges of the snare drum, a hi-hat, and a crash cymbal; these "audible ensos" became the foundation for the tracks. Some of the performances were treated with a Kaoss pad, others were simply sped up or slowed down in Peak. Synthesizer parts meant to act as complements to the leaf and percussion recordings were composed in Reason, and the final tracks were sequenced and mixed in Apple's Soundtrack.
The six pieces alternate between short and long durations. The short pieces become progressively shorter, while the long pieces become progressively longer. The short pieces are meant to act as short periods of time when the listener is engaged by sonic ideas that progress quickly and serve to ease the transition between the longer, more dense pieces.
The three pieces entitled "Autumn Enso" are meant to encourage deep listening and contemplation. The pieces numbered "I" and "III" contain several distinct movements within them, while "Autumn Enso II" acts as the centerpiece of the album. It is the least complex piece of the six, and uses a circular structure to mark the exact center of the album. Its foundational drone was recorded, then layered on top of a backwards version of itself. The other sounds, including a pitch-shifted recording of a squeaking hi-hat and leaves on a crash cymbal, also appear in both forward and reverse parts. As the diagram below shows, the sounds begin and end in the same place, with the forward-moving drone mixed with the reverse version of the other sounds, while the backwards second half of the drone is mixed with the forward moving other sounds.
The pieces all make use of low frequencies, giving them a degraded, "static" sound which is meant to represent the decay of autumn - a nod to another Japanese aesthetic, wabi-sabi, which celebrates the beauty of imperfection and impermanence.
Intended for use as solitary listening and a catalyst for mindful contemplation, the album's packaging also includes an autumn haiku by the 17th century Japanese poet Matsuo Basho:
No one travels
Along this way but I,
This autumn evening.
Production notes
Composed, performed and produced 2003-2005
Created on a 12" 867MHz Powerbook G4 using Reason 2.0, Peak 3.0 and Soundtrack 1.0.
Sound sources: autumn leaves, rice paper, snare drum, hi-hat, crash + ride cymbals, synthesis, Kaoss pad.
Cover photography, enso painting and digital image composition by John Kannenberg, 2003-2005.
Track Titles and Durations
- Prelude [3:40]
- Autumn Enso I [10:07]
- Interlude I [3:24]
- Autumn Enso II [12:05]
- Interlude II [2:33]
- Autumn Enso III [12:31]