Sonic Schizophrenia by Daryl Smetana

As in life, this project has a beginning and an end bounding a continuous flow. The true adventure is the journey, the experience and changes along the path. A sonic tone poem through musical styles and soundscapes. The voice within and the music within; resonance of the heart are incredible guides along this path. “Why here? To do what? My purpose?” Questions every soul asks at one time or another, as I did in the summer. Ask and you shall receive! “Talk to me, I will listen; lead me on, I will follow.” This project is the result of listening to that voice and walking along the path. Extreme thanks to Drs Robert Schuller and Dr Bruce Wilkinson for their enlightening visions on dreams, purpose, the voice within, and the power of listening. I THANK GOD FOR MY SONIC SCHIZOPHRENIA. SONICS are the study of sound. Every sound in God’s creation is beautiful. It has a melodic nature, meter and rhythm, and like footsteps on a path can transition you from one time, one place, one thought, one feeling, to another. Sound travels through space and time, interacting with the surroundings in the process. Every interaction changes the character and nature of the sound. The more complex the sound, the more subtle the nature of the change and greater the potential for enriched emotional impact. Sonics create the ambient in which we live, the ways in which we communicate, the means in which our emotions are altered, and the music with which we celebrate. People are a lot like sound, every interaction becomes a part of the complex nature of what and who we are. We are forever changing, evolving, being shaped with complex overtones by our interactions with our environment and people we encounter. A wise man once told me, “Everyone you pass in your day-to-day life is put there for a purpose; it is up to you to determine how you use it and why.” Sonic Schizophrenia is a concept album, with various styles of music, increasing pace & intensity, with imagined sonic soundscapes I created with sound samples that get more diverse as the album progresses. The dove appears though out the soundscapes and one can play "Where Waldo?" with the dove! I’ll Fly Away is in G with 3-part harmony in the first instance, & the Reprise is in B with 5-part harmony in keeping with the increasing pace & intensity of the album. It is by intent that this sonic journey flows to the end without gaps to integrate the diverse styles of music into a cohesive whole with the soundscapes as glue. At completion, the dove takes flight.

I always played music since 3rd grade. I couldn’t read music, once, was asked to play a new piece & walked out! I asked for a guitar! I learned Mal Bay book & learned songs. I began writing songs to sooth my emotions. Friend John Courter played “Back Porch Bluegrass” & asked for a banjo! Found it in parent's closet, & learned! Recorded in my studio compositions before I was diagnosed with ALS.

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Daryl Smetana