So this is the topic to lure me out of my lines lurking!
Zen is actually what brought me to modular synthesis.
After going through a particularly difficult period in my life a couple years ago, I picked up Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki. I was immediately struck by the way he reinforced the simple and plain ways to exist in the world. “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” He’s funny and serious, lucid and confusing… His writing embodies the inherent absurdity but ultimate cohesion of existence in a way that really, really spoke to me. I started rather quickly with a meditation practice and since then have been devouring book after book on Zen and Buddhism. I had found a philosophy for living that seemed to stitch together all of the various ideas and thoughts that I had accumulated, and presented them with clear and ancient wisdom. It filled a spiritual hole that I hadn’t realized was so big. I have personal reservations about religious institutions and metaphysics, so I have enjoyed most the dharma that doesn’t concern itself with relying on either of those things. What I take from Zen is a simplicity unconcerned with anything more than being empty, present and observing what exists. The metaphysics and formalities of the religion are not required for the lessons to be believed.
Sometime last winter, after a lifetime of playing music and many albums worth of electronic (and otherwise) material made using the computer, I came across the youtube videos of Emily Sprague and Ann Annie, and loved the meditative nature of their compositions. I had played around with synths before but I realized that there was a quality to modular synthesis that dovetailed perfectly with a kind of beginner’s mind mentality.
I’m not a very technically inclined person and there was something very exciting to me about learning something new that seemed to have such a steep learning curve and that was endless in its possibilities… knowing that I would constantly be in that beginner’s mind with music making on a system that rewarded patience, attention, and discovery. So in February, I started building a rack.
Most recently, I was very lucky to attend a two-week residency in Vermont, and brought along my modular set up. Prior to the residency I had only a handful of modules, but filled out my rack before going with a bunch of things I didn’t totally know how to use. My practice during the residency was to start each morning with a clean slate, build a patch following the sound and whatever intuition existed, record a performance, and very satisfyingly removing all the cables to start over the next day. It was constant practice in emptiness, listening, and discovery.
The ideas found in Zen can be applied to every area of life, and it was a joy to discover just how well they work with music in the context of modular synthesis. As a musician, both Zen and modular synthesis have been inseparable and hugely inspiring sources for me.
So, there’s my zen/modular/creativity story. Thanks for listening. I promise any future lines posts won’t be so verbose!
And… If I could recommend a book (adding to the list of many great books already suggested) it would be:
Secular Buddhism, by Stephen Batchelor. He has extensive training in both Tibetan and Korean Sŏn Buddhism, and brings his understanding of dharma to the sphere of secular life, and has a few essays devoted to art that are really inspiring.
