Advice to Musicians

Advice to Musicians Musical Warriorship for the Young Artist. The world has changed. While we stand at the beginning of a Second Golden Age of Islamic Civilization, there will be no return to the past. What is arising will be very different from what has happened in the past. Or perhaps the Last Day is within sight. Allahu Alim. One of the things that has crept into the consciousness of people is the unpredicted use of sound as an art form: not in the way we normally think of as music, but pure sound. Hip Hop DJs, Avant Garde artists, Free Jazz musicians, the electropsychic onomatopoeia of Jimi Hendrix, etc. are all sound art. I have done experiments with sound art, both electronic and acoustic, since I was in my teens. We acknowledge the potential of sound art as being legitimate and authentic art. The operative word in the last sentence is "potential." There has been a horrifying trend in the 20th century that is known as "Art for art's sake". Some half-baked dilettante make some kind of mess with neither method, knowledge, or authentic insight that means and accomplishes nothing. Then they point to it and say "This is art because I say it is art!" And of course, there will always be a group of people who will accept their nonsense because it flatters their egos to be part of some kind of quasi-elitist inner circle. I reject these ideas with extreme prejudice. It is the ultimate degeneration inherent in democracy; and deliberately invites all and sundry to turn authentic art into its lowest common denominator. I see little difference between some stupid avant garde noisemaker and Beyonce Knowles; except that the later is more easily marketed (for reasons so obvious they do not bear mentioning). Now, as I said, this doesn't mean that sound art cannot be authentic art. Nor must it remain chained to a tradition. Indeed; it must innovate and explore uncharted ground, or it will become incestuous, stagnate, and die. But it must embrace the same ontological and metaphysical qualities as all art, which deal in absolutes that contain infinite potential and variation (without it, this cannot be an absolute). And it is particularly dangerous because it all too easily permits the talentless to produce worthless facsimiles that are easily pawned off to the unaware. Nietzsche drew a sharp distinction between the elite and the masses, especially in the realm of art. He noted that the elite will have virtuosos and nothing less, while the masses are content with charlatans. To be sure, fortune favors the bold. Having said that, if one dares venture into any realm of artistic expertise, one should pay attention to what the masters said with the respect due their station, and learn the actual language and procedures of the territory before attempting to establish a presence and exercise the will to power. This, especially, when one is attempting to venture into uncharted artistic territories, and establish tomorrow's traditions. It will not do to present the subtle and subconscious insinuation that one is their equal; until and if it became an actual and provable fact. Had he failed to do so, he would deserve every disaster his arrogance and ego deliberately invited. This, especially after having been warned every step of the way. In my youth, I became interested in poetry. When I began writing, my poetry was amateurish and sloppy. I first had to clarify who and what I am and what I wished to express. Then I had to refine my understanding of the language. Then, I had to refine the techniques of poetry and how to make it into authentic art. Only then did I dare say I am a poet and share my work in public among the merciless scrutiny of true poets and connoisseur of poetry. Same with my music. I learned a long time ago - and the process was quite painful and crushing to my ego as I recall - that the capacity to enjoy and appreciate music does not in any way qualify me or anyone else to make music. I had to earn the right to make music. Musicians are like martial artists in that they have a higher awareness of the self. As artists we must truly know ourselves. Sooner or later, each musician / artist enters a crisis in the development of their artistic self. An initiatory trial by fire. We must pass through it and emerge a higher embodiment of our self - or be defeated. Some might not make it. Few have what it takes to do so. But few have the guts to take the first step on the path. If they knew what awaited them, they wouldn't try. Some turn back to the comfort zone whence they came, stagnate, and watch themselves become extinct and obsolete. All true artists know what I'm talking about. Enlightenment waits on the other side of fear: and nothing is more frightening than the annihilation of the illusions and vanities that seduced us. Nothing is more painful than the acknowledgment of the Non-Self. This is a statement of my personal experiences. I learned these lessons by having my "bread broken" and my "grapes crushed" (a shameless reference to a poem by Rumi). As you're doubtless aware, while there are ways and ways of crushing grapes, there is no other way to make "Wine". We crave the "Wine", but are these crushed grapes too painful? We must endure the process; or drink tap water and be silent. (I am confident that the intelligent reader will know that my reference to "Wine" is purely metaphorical)