Musical Carving

    A very talented musician used to tell me, in reference to my flute solos, that I was just Whittling. It took me a long time to understand this. If one Whittles a stick for a short while, one can add a point to it and poke someone with it to express a point, but if one Whittles on and on instrumentally, then one Whittles the stick away to nothing. Sometimes this is referred to as Noodling. However, to Carve one needs many different strokes. One must sometime dig in and other times lightly accentuate a feature. One must have a vision and perform a complex set of maneuvers in order to achieve the expression desired, to creating a carving that is art and causes people to emotionally feel the music.

    With this metaphor we can see that if someone has a very short musical solo, then Whittling is appropriate, a very concise expression of a motif. A short solo contains a few phrases which come to a point: not painfully, but dramatically expressing the essence of the entire piece of music. A short solo with a few phrases which are at the heart of the many modifications which occur in the overall piece will stick in the listeners mind. But if someone has time to do a lead solo or an instrumental piece of music, then they will be most effective through employing many different techniques which carry the listener, working off of the essential motif and developing the theme to Carve out a musical feeling which resonates and remains with the listener in a numinous manner.

    Now that I have played for many years I see the tendency in many composed pieces of music to Whittle rather than Carve, especially with instrumental music. While some listeners may enjoy background music which sounds almost the same for long periods of time: music that Whittles away the time endlessly. It does leave a lasting impression with the listeners, meaning they cannot distinguish the piece from many other similar pieces. However many listeners will return to a musical composition over and over that is a Carving because something numinous in their listening experience lingers. There are many techniques that can be applied and often some very professional musicians do not realize they are Whittling. A Carving can be appreciated for a lifetime and lasts historically: consider the classical and folk traditions of many cultures. A Whittling composition may be impressive for a few listens as the techniques may be very refined, but the overall work is hollow and soon forgotten.

    Some of the techniques for accomplishing Carving out a masterpiece are to watch the elements of music: rhythm, melody, harmony, dynamics, feel, ... Rhythmically one can follow a beat Whittling along with it or one can Carve a masterpiece by holding some long notes while the beat cycles onward or add some spaces, or even a dynamic stop for punctuation; as well as syncopation or swing. Melodically one can bend some notes or add a note which is not a default in the scale being played for chromatic emphasis. Harmonically one can be aware of the intervals available within the scale and use them as part of the expression, implying an entwined harmony within the one note line being played as the melody. Dynamically one can of course use louder and quieter phrases, as well as variation over the whole composition, but one can also use different tone color or different types of vibrato on the same note at different places within the melody. Dynamics can create expectation or tension and then release it to present a pleasing feeling of satisfaction. Feel is the essence of the expression upon the Carving, that which coveys something which is transcendental to words: emotions which the music evokes. One can Carve a face, but to carve a face with emotions expressed is taking craft to the level of art.

    I would like to add more elements to the list: Continuity, Symmetry, and Flow. As notes drop through the present instance of continual creation they leave behind ripples in our memory and the patterns in the ripples weave the song. In a sense the entire song up to the present is in our consciousness while the sound vibrations are weaving through our here and now experiential sensations. Notes are often viewed as quanta, distinct elements, but they only exist through relationships: through the intervals with the previous notes. Every note in a song is an entangled aspect of the song vibrationally in terms of both pitch and time. Continuity, Symmetry, and Flow are the elements which transform random Whittling solos into artful Carvings. Even the use of dissonance can be skillfully crafted as an element which exposes the overall expression and feelings being communicated to the listener.

    Talking about music is a tricky thing and the techniques mentioned are just a limited set of examples to try and convey something which is very subtle and I hope my metaphor of Carving, rather than Whittling (noodling), conveys this lesson which took me a long time to feel. Of course different people like different things in music, just as different people would be attracted to different original Carvings, but statues spit out of a mold are not considered as treasures by almost anyone. Music that Whittles follows long existent formulas without the creativity of Carving a new and original sound with Feel. Music is a craft of adventurous exploration and an art of continual learning. An Artist is one who is ever evolving and exploring, seeking to Carve out new dimensions of possibilities and to express their essence to share new amazing sculptures of sound to touch their listener's quintessence.