In 2019, Lisa Means and I started playing together to explore more deeply the question “What is hearing?” (Here are posts about this exploration: https://dejacusse.blog/2019/08/28/playing-by-ear-a-sonic-exploration-of-hearing/ and https://dejacusse.blog/2019/09/06/playing-by-ear-what-did-we-learn-where-do-we-go-from-here/ ) Our exploration got an influx of new information and awarenesses in the form of the book, Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World by Nina Kraus.

We are living in a time of realizing how adept and adaptive our brains are. We think about hearing as an ear to canal to drum to cochlea process that transduces atmospheric agitations into the electrical signals required for reception by the audio cortex. Much has been studied about the physical ear aspect of this channel. This is the domain of the audiologists. Once that audio signal becomes electrical and enters the complex world of the brain at work, we are just beginning to survey the territory. Kraus is a nuerobiologist and musician, so has the phenomenological experience to delve into these processes more deeply than standards of measurement can allow for. And her laboratory has studied and documented the positive effects playing music has on the brain, because- you know!- we have to placate the left brain!!

During the two years since Lisa and I last played together, I have focused on learning modular synthesis, and Lisa has been studying electric guitars, amps and pedals. In essence, we have both been exploring sound synthesis via sparks of electricity, waveforms and modulations. When we got last together, we listened to what we each brought to the moment. Lisa played several new guitars, amps and a pedal, and I played the Moog Subharmonicon. We talked and played and talked some more. Lisa understands the richness of harmonics, the edginess of rhythm and the wonders of guided randomness available in electronic sound. Electricity is life, after all!

Fast forward to the Spring of 2023

Lisa and I are no longer Playing by Ear as both our lives have taken a tumble. Lisa left her job and was not sure of her next move when last I spoke with her. Trudie’s daughter and my dear friend/stepdaughter, Sheila Kiliru was killed in an automobile accident last October, followed by the illness and death of our youngest daughter, Debra. We are aslosh in grief and dismay.

Still I continue to explore hearing/listening through sound synthesis. I enjoy improvising in The Field- the name for whatever configuration of synthesizers dejacusse plays in the moment. The Make Noise O-Control is the center of the singularity that is current-ly The Field. Three banks of pitch control voltages spew out in all directions from the O-Control into Behringer Neutron, Moog Subharmonicom and Cre8ate Audio West Pest. These pitch voltages convey pitch information via the touchpads to each of the synths. This makes the O-Control sequencer a common harmonic and rhythmic template that is then modulated within each of the 3 active synthesizers.

I enjoyed collaborating with Lisa and learned much about hearing and listening and being present with the grief of a major loss from her. I feel much gratitude for Lisa’s intense love for resonant wood in the form of well-made guitars. She was willing to walk with me into caverns of sound that our hearing mechanisms receive very differently. We tried talking our way through the gap in our sensory experience, but the best interactions were when we just played and responded to each other.

In 2019, we played the All Data Lost Festival and a 919 Noise Showcase. Here are some excerpts from our last public performance at Nightlight Bar 919 Noise in October 2019:

pbe919xcerptblog