I’ve been working a lot in the last few years with electronic, loop-based pieces which explore overlapping phrases of different lengths etc.
This piece began with the intention of turning it into a fully electronic “groove” piece, but as I was writing the themes (using a generic midi piano sound) I started to wonder if this could in fact be a solo piece for piano.
I decided to call it Locked in Orbit, and I think of it as a “deep space” piece, with the overlapping phrases representing different slow-moving things in orbit (planets, meteors, what have you) which circle around a star in different lengths of time.
Also, the static/still quality of it in some way reflects my lockdown brain… the feeling that things are motionless and yet somehow still moving slowly around… something?
I composed this piece for the Halifax-based pianist, Jennifer King. I’ve been enjoying her series of moon-inspired recordings over the last few years, including her O Mistress Moon album.
I’m really happy that Jennifer not only liked the piece, but wanted to record it and release it as a single! It’s available on all the usual streaming platforms.
Here’s a preview link to it. I hope you’ll check out the full piece when you have time.
The first collab between ‘zhorli’ (my electronic alter-ego) and songwriter-vocalist Sahara Jane releases today! This song, Dreaming of Flying, is a dreamy, trippy groove that we started last spring. Enjoy! (Spotify link is below… also available on other streaming platforms.)
I want this music to begin – to enter the listener’s presence – without it feeling like an intrusion. So much music these days is demanding, noisy, aggressive. I shut down at that sort of thing typically.
So the EP starts with a whispering sine wave melody from a tiny analog synth. This first track ‘from the ashes’ plays with something i’m quite obsessed with these days – layering two or more different loops of different time lengths, in different metres, together. It’s such a simple idea it’s almost not worth mentioning. But I never tire of this play of one slow phrase revolving and dancing against another.
The next track ‘come on now’ features the electric bass, set amidst my favourite textures of droning synths and a spacious beat. It takes its inspiration from a bass player who I admire a great deal. I don’t and will never play the way he does, but I’m happy with how the phrases came out. The bass parts are looped, but not quantized. That will mean something to some who read this. It does to me.
Listening to this EP now I hear how everything is so simple. I don’t have the brain for more. I can keep a couple sound-plates spinning in the air, but if I try to do more than that, I usually end up doing nothing.
The third track ‘old bells’ is inescapably in the orbit of minimalism. Synth arpeggios – again spinning, again overlapping in different lengths of time, pinned down by a steady bass loop and a simple beat. I try to let these looping phrases breathe. I can’t sustain the relentless urban energy that we inherited from Steve Reich’s minimalism, born in New York City. I live in the middle of nowhere, and my version of minimalism lives in the same nowhere… quietly wandering around the yard, trying not to trip in the dark.
The beats on this EP are all mid-tempo to slow. It feels good to me. What’s the hurry anyway?
The next track ‘i couldn’t say’ feels nostalgic… or maybe more like grief. Perhaps nostalgia is a form of grief? It drones away quietly, sitting by itself in the corner. There are hopeful fragments of my wife Sahara’s beautiful voice, sampled and scattered throughout, like little beams of light through the fog.
And the EP ends with a track called ‘do not follow’. This is the earliest track on this collection. I started it in India in early 2020 before the world locked down and got even more anxious than it already was. The message of the title comes from Krishnamurti, who I was reading at the time. He said ‘I do not want followers, and I mean this. The moment you follow someone you cease to follow Truth’.
After what seems like a VERY long time, I’m pleased to announce that my Beginner Frame Drum (BFD) Course is online and ready to accept registration! I’m really proud of this course, and I know that if you are new to frame drumming, you will gain a lot from it!
I designed this course specifically with beginners in mind. I’ve had the experience myself of registering for a “beginner” or “intro” level course (a course in how to speak Turkish comes to mind!), but getting frustrated midway through because it was too difficult.
But the BFD course is ACTUALLY a beginner course! You will be guided, step-by-step, even if you have had no previous experience with drumming.
Head over to my new Podia site for more info, a couple preview lessons, and to register. https://kenshorley.podia.com
Since I began to explore electronic music, around five years ago, it almost feels like I’m living a double life! I’ve spent the bulk of my time creating and performing as an acoustic musician, so it surprises me that I’ve gotten so attracted to creating and producing music which is distinctly NON-acoustic!
I’ve just released my first EP of electronic music under the name, zhorli. You can listen to it (and download it if you wish) at the link below. You can also find it on Spotify and Apple Music. It’s called Loop Street.
Like everyone on Earth, the past year has been strange to say the least. Disorienting, occasionally disappointing and, at times, oddly peaceful.
After returning earlier than expected from India last winter, Sahara and I hunkered down in our home in Nova Scotia, Canada. All our gigs were, like everyone else’s, cancelled, including a tour to BC and Alberta on Canada’s West Coast which we were excited about for April and May 2020.
But thanks to CBC Radio and a handful of local presenters, we were able to share music (live and virtually) over the summer. And we were chosen this fall to do a virtual artist showcase for the Atlantic Presenters Association, which was an honour.
Over the last number of months, I guess I’ve been alternating between periods of activity and contemplation – sometimes making plans, and other times staring into the distance. I did make an active decision a few months ago to step away from social media, especially Facebook, as I could feel myself sinking deeper into anger and confusion each time I spent more than a few minutes there.
As I write this, I’m just finishing up teaching at Acadia University for the fall term. It was a challenge, finding online ways to share my passion for drumming and global musics, while sustaining my own energy and enthusiasm for this “distanced” way of teaching, and I really appreciate all the students who stuck around until the end of the term!
The big recent news is that Sahara and I commissioned our brother-in-law Jegan to design and build us a studio on our property. It’s a completely separate outbuilding, overlooking our front garden, with two separate rooms, one for Sahara and one for me. There is still some finishing work to be done, but my plan is to have my space up and running soon as a dedicated YouTube studio. I’m excited to share more lessons and tutorials in drumming, rhythm and percussion.
Autumn shot of the new artist pod at Triangle House Studios. (My room is on the left!)
As well, Sahara and I have begun offering our skills in video and audio production through Triangle House Studios. I’m just about to launch a new website which outlines the services we’re offering, including video production, audio production, and multi-camera livestreaming with high-quality audio for performances and workshops. In December, we produced live streams for Measha Breuggergosman (presented by Music in Communities) and Ardyth & Jennifer. We also just finished up filming a live concert for Halifax’s Open Waters Festival, and there are more to come. (Get in touch if you have audio or video needs for your self or your business.)
I hope that, wherever you are, you’re finding ways to continue connecting with your creativity, your humanity, and your sense of humour! See you on the other side of winter!
I am writing from Mumbai, India where I have been working on a number of projects – getting caught up with my Canadian Percussionists series for one! Soon I will have a number of new episodes to share through my YouTube channel.
Portrait of Ken thinking big thoughts by Richard Bennett (Instagram: @richbenn_tpt)
I have also been creating a series of Video and PDF lessons, under the project name Inner Time. Each lesson is designed to strengthen a musician’s confidence with rhythm and with the flow of rhythmic time. This highly advanced internal awareness of time is, in Carnatic (South Indian classical) music, known as laya.
These lessons in Inner Time are the culmination of a long gestation period of thought, reflection, and practice.
Over the years, in my encounters with students and practitioners of music, I have wondered why some people seem to have an ease with rhythm – a natural, comfortable rhythmic “flow”, while for others it seems to be a constant source of struggle. For some, the difficulty is in staying “on the beat”, or in maintaining a steady tempo, or playing “offbeat” or “syncopated” rhythms comfortably. For others, it’s learning to improvise and express creatively without losing track of the musical framework of rhythm, without getting “lost in time”.
What I’ve observed is that, in general, rhythm in “Western” music education is ignored, and music students are rarely trained to deepen their rhythmic awareness beyond a shockingly basic level. Also, any discussion of rhythm is usually limited to notational concepts (“this is a quarter note, this is an eighth note”) without helping young musicians focus their attention and train their musicianship to understand and *feel* the depths and nuances of musical time.
Developing my own connection with this inner sense of time is an ongoing practice, one which continues to enhance and improve my musicianship in numerous ways. These new Inner Time lessons have been created as one possible way to assist musicians with their own rhythmic development. I will keep adding to this project over time, beginning with a set of rhythmic lessons and exercises which can be applied to any instrument or voice.
Some excerpts from these Inner Time lessons will be posted as free offerings to my YouTube channel, while the full sets of lessons and practice videos will be available as online courses for subscribers. I’m still developing the technical aspects of how this will be shared, so stay tuned for more information!
In the spring of 2020 , I will be touring around British Columbia and Alberta with my partner in music and life, Sahara Jane, in support of our new album, Between Worlds.
I am also looking forward to offering drumming and rhythm workshops while we’re on the road (between mid-April and June). If you would like to organize a workshop in your area, or if you know someone who would, please message me and we can make it happen!
Here are my current workshop offerings: 1) Frame Drumming (Intro, Intermediate, or Intricate) 2) Turkish and Arabic Bellydance Rhythms for drum circles 3) Solkattu : the magic of South Indian spoken rhythms 4) Beatmaking with Ableton Live and Novation Circuit
One of my most exciting musical projects began emerging over this past long, cold winter. Sahara and I have, for many years, been dreaming about a globally-inspired dance-oriented show that we could share with listeners and movers around the world. And it’s finally come together as Worldbeat Underground.
Now that the technology for live integrated electroacoustic audio is reliable and relatively affordable, we can now perform the way we’ve always imagined.
Our setups each involve a laptop with Ableton Live software, a USB audio interface (we use Focusrite because they’re awesome), a MIDI foot controller to facilitate live looping control, microphones to capture vocals and acoustic instruments, and additional MIDI controllers – keyboards, mixers and Launchpads – for creating beats and melodies on the fly, and for processing real-time effects.
In addition, our two laptops use Ableton Link to time-sync them together. When one of us changes tempo, both machines respond. It’s organic, intuitive, and so easy to set up.
Technology aside (I know, gear talk….) this project has taught me so much about intuitive listening, and moment-to-moment musical communication. As a challenge for our first series of Fridays in March, Sahara and I prepared NO material beforehand – no songs, no bass lines, no beats. EVERYTHING for a continuous 90-minute dance flow was created live and in the moment. Amazing? Yes. Exhausting? Definitely!
This project is continuing to evolve. The next challenge for us is learning how to travel efficiently with all the equipment and instruments we need for a Worldbeat Underground show. We’re looking forward to sharing this music (for starters!) in Europe, in India, and across Canada.
In the near future, we have some summer gigs in Nova Scotia. You can follow our Facebook page for details, or join Sahara’s and/or my email list.
