artists :: Jeph Jerman : sound extracts

jeph jerman - an excerpt from an animist orchestra session
an excerpt from an animist orchestra session, recorded by mike shannon in our old house in seattle washington. the animist orchestra was formed in 1999, to work on a method of music - making wherein the sounds themselves were given top priority, as opposed to most western music, where structure is the guiding factor. We worked on making sounds with natural objects (stones, shells, driftwood, pine cones etc) and listening intently, without trying to force the sounds into a structure. in this way, we were able to make sounds together for long periods of time, during which, organisations and micro-structures were constantly suggesting themselves. correlations and coincidences of sound happened quite often. i came to realize, after a time of working in this way, that the "structureless" sounds we were making mirrored the way that sound happens in nature. there was no human will or ego involved, and i liked this very much. i also noticed, as did the other members of the orchestra, that this practice was often very meditative, and could be quite helpful in reducing stress. about this time, i came across a quote in an interview with john cage: the traditional reasons for making music are:
1. to sober and quiet the mind, thus making it succeptible to divine influence, and 2. to imitate nature in her manner of operation.
i believe that the sound-making practices of the animist orchestra fulfil both these criteria.
the members of the orchestra were: jeph jerman, eleanor gallagher, mike shannon, dave knott, rob millis and jeffrey taylor. though we recorded frequently, we only ever gave one performance before eleanor and i left seattle. a recording of the animist orchestra will be made available at a future time.