The ConstruKction of FraKctured - from the diaries of Robert Fripp

Thursday 21st. September, 2000

08.07
Very few of the people involved in Guitar Craft have any sense of the enormity of what we are undertaking.

08.25
We hear what we believe we are hearing.
We see what we believe we are seeing.

When the disjunction between what we see & hear, and what we believe we are seeing & hearing, becomes two great, analytical mind presents us two choices:

1. What I see & hear is untrue;
2. What I believe I am seeing & hearing is untrue.

So, for analytical die-hard Crimson fans, the disjunction is growing. Their choices are:

1. This is not Crimson!
2. What I believe Crimson to be is not!

When the disjunction is too great, there are other choices. One of these choices is:

* Do nothing.
* While doing nothing:
* relax
* breathe
* be
* entertain goodwill
* suspend verbal intellectual thinking
* Listen
* Watch

Then, perhaps, this moves to:

* Seeing
* Hearing

That is:

* I am part of the event
* I am part of the music
* The music is part of me
* This is a whole
* This is a unity.

This represents a shift from the "quantitative" & analytical perception of what is happening - a linear sequence of discrete, separate players & actions - to a "qualitative" perception of a whole event unfolding, of which I am a part. We are in relationship:

* Music - Musician - Audience
* Music - Audience - Musician
* Musician - Music - Audience
* Musician - Audience - Music
* Audience - Musician - Music
* Audience - Music - Musician.

This cannot be experienced analytically. It may be experienced intuitively.

An experience of this: I hear the music speaking to me, directly, personally. When this happens, actually, the music is speaking to me impersonally.

Nothing has changed in terms of what is happening - the "content" of the musical event, what is available to the senses, is as before. What has changed is the mode & quality of my perception of what is happening.

"Shifting perceptual modes" is hard enough as it is: this requires our active involvement & active listening. When a significant element in the whole is acting to undermine the possibility that the "shift" might take place, our undertaking is prejudiced. "Lift off" might not be possible with leaks in the fuel tank; deliberately creating leaks is harder still.

Relationship is determined by the degree of "togetherness". In musical performance, photography & recording are forms of "untogetherness". If we do experience this as fact, rather than a bright idea, performance in our commercial culture is a form of ongoing heartbreak.

10.19
Toyah has 'phoned from London, a new draft of "How Popular Musicians Learn" by Dr. Lucy Green has arrived in the post, and Jennifer Batten's "Tribal Rage" is blasting away. How can a guitarist be this good?

So life is getting better. Now, to collect e-post & then off to Crimsonising.

21.00
First day's rehearsal. We have a new sound man - Josh. George Glossop has been with us since 1981 and is taking a break, so this is a new beginning. And a late beginning to rehearsals while equipment was being set up.

I enjoyed playing "FraKctured" and hope to do so on the upcoming tour. But that decision isn't entirely in my hands.

Now, very tired.

Wed, 05 Jul 2000 14:55:45 +0604
Subject: Enough is enough

This is a classic of its kind, and has attracted several responses from other ET subscribers. It is reproduced in full here so that its inherent rhythm, logic & argument is not undermined by my interspersed commentary.

On the stage, the "fall guy" is a trained pro who sets himself up to be knocked down by the superiority and wit of the front man. In some training establishments (not only theatrical) one learns to play "roles" and adopt the characteristics (physical, emotional & mental) of characters who are not naturally resonant with who & what we are. In the literature of various traditions one finds reference to "fall guys" of high attainment. Sometimes these are referred to as "holy fools", "fools for God" and/or "idiots". We also find references to the "way of blame" where practioners of very high accomplishment attract to themselves the loathing, enmity & negativity of the world; perhaps by presenting themselves as perpetrators of unacceptable acts, perhaps by acts of "idocy" and clowning. We can have very little knowing of what this might imply, or when it is taking place.

So, when a post as breathtaking as Alain's is submitted to a public forum, it attracts my attention, admiration & astonishment.

Alain Proulx (ET)
Wed, 05 Jul 2000 14:55:45 +0604
Subject: Enough is enough

I read what Fripp said about the fact he doesn't play Frakctured during a photo session and also that he feels the show compromised cause he is sure the concert is recorded. Oh my god, what the hell is that? I am a teacher and I teach despite the fact my students don't listen at all. Me, like almost the rest of the world, have to work in conditions we don't like. What is that Prima Dona attitude???

I am A long lasting and Die Hard Crimson fan since 1972. For me Fripp is one of the greatest. But I can't admit this way to do things. I played american football and we had to perform in any situations, rain, snow, dirt....... no place for complains. Anyway the artistic respect I have for Fripp, as a musician I could not share the stage with someone who refuse to play for such a reason. Belew played sick, what a man he is......a real one. Mr Fripp, for 2 or 3 non-respectful people who take photos, you accept to punish 1,000 and more people. I don't know, but we don't seem to have the same definition of respect. Just do that once to me Robert and no more I will accept to spend my so precious money to hear you.

Respect is a two ways deal. You have to assume the fact that a crowd is not only a whole. It is made of people who deserve respect at least as you do yourself. And most of all, they are the reason why you could live from your music all these years. They pay for the albums, they pay for a concert. You take all the cash, play ALL the concert. If you want to cut it, be honest till the end and pay them back for the unplayed part.

A frustrated fan, but still a fan anyway

Laurent Masse (ET) (masse@geocean.u-bordeaux.fr)
Mon, 10 Jul 2000 09:22:30 +0200
Subject: Re: Enough is enough

AP: I read what Fripp said about the fact he doesn't play Frakctured during a photo session and also that he feels the show compromised cause he is sure the concert is recorded. Oh my god, what the hell is that? I am a teacher and I teach despite the fact my students don't listen at all. Me, like almost the rest of the world, have to work in conditions we don't like. What is that Prima Dona attitude???

LM: So you assume playing a concert is RF's "work" and he gets money out of it. I always assumed the exact contrary.

When you teach (I can speak, I do it myself as a "work"), you are obliged to do it because it's a contract between yourself and your employer. But RF? Is there a contract somewhere stating he is obliged to play whatever the conditions? Btw, if I was not contractually obliged to teach in front of uninterested students, I would leave more than often. Plus we always have the right to fire anybody not respecting the house rules, set by ourselves. Unfortunately, Robert cannot do it

AP: I am A long lasting and Die Hard Crimson fan since 1972. For me Fripp is one of the greatest. But I can't admit this way to do things. I played american football and we had to perform in any situations, rain, snow, dirt....... no place for complains. Anyway the artistic respect I have

LM: You can always choose to refuse to do something, whatever the conditions. If you do not, that's your problem. Ever asked yourself why?

AP: for Fripp, as a musician I could not share the stage with someone who refuse to play for such a reason. Belew played sick, what a man he is......a real one. Mr Fripp, for 2 or 3 non-respectful people who take photos, you accept to punish 1,000 and more people. I don't know, but we don't seem to have the same definition of respect. Just do that once to me Robert and no more I will accept to spend my so precious money to hear you.

LM: I am sure if Robert dared to respond, he would tell that you are exactly the kind of audient he can easily do without, and that you must feel free to do so.

AP: Respect is a two ways deal. You have to assume the fact that a crowd is not only a whole. It is made of people who deserve respect at least as you do yourself. And most of all, they are the reason why you could live from

LM: The problem is that, from the stage, you never see individuals, but a crowd, (RF interjection: not strictly so) which always is the lowest common denominator, no matter how good and well behaved the individuals in it may be. Taking place in a crowd implies you are aware of this and accept the responsibilities. The problem is that most people taking place in a crowd 1) always assume they are better than the others 2) want to be individually acknowledged and do everyting to have the energy drawn onto them and 3) do not understand that their behaviour changes the very nature of the crowd.

As a teacher, have you ever noticed how the working atmosphere within a group of students is a subtle balance, and how the apparently invisible skepticism and non acceptance of the rules of one individual totally fucks up the group and makes it impossible for the teacher to reach his aim?

AP: your music all these years. They pay for the albums, they pay for a concert. You take all the cash, play ALL the concert. If you want to cut it, be honest till the end and pay them back for the unplayed part.

LM: I always assumed buying a ticket for a mass event is taking a big risk. Anything can happen, and you must be prepared for it. So this last statement is really very difficult to understand for me. And, BTW, assuming RF takes ALL THE CASH is incredibly naive.

Peter Clinch (ET)
Mon, 10 Jul 2000 16:04:12 +0100
Subject: Re: Enough is enough

PC: In ET 708, Alain Proulx bemoaned:

AP: Oh my god, what the hell is that? I am a teacher and I teach despite the fact my students don't listen at all.

PC: I do some teaching. I do a much better job of it when the students are fully engaged with what I'm trying to communicate. Difficult concepts cannot be usefully imparted to students who don't have full engagement, partly because they're not paying enough attention, partly because my ability to impart it has gone down because of their (lack of) engagement (which might be my fault, of course, but whoever's to blame, the conditions aren't in place for anything hard).

Compare and contrast with FraKctured, described as a *very* difficult piece indeed to play. Might it be the case that a player requires to be truly in top form in order to do a decent job of trying to play it, and that form is impossible without a fully engaged audience?

(RF interjection: I don't need a fully engaged audience, even an engaged audience. But I have to duck when members of the audience fire arrows into my heart).

AP: I played american football and we had to perform in any situations, rain, snow, dirt....... no place for complains.

PC: Not what I consider a great metaphor here, but say you had a sprained ankle and were thus partly incapacitated. if you show up on the field, hobble and all, you're not necessarily doing your team any favours. You can only perform what you can perform, be it on guitar or running for passes and tackles Sometimes "the best under the circumstances" simply isn't good enough for the job in hand.

AP: Mr Fripp, for 2 or 3 non-respectful people who take photos, you accept to punish 1,000 and more people

PC: Surely it's the "2 or 3 non-respectful people who take photos" who are accepting a punishment for the 1,000 and more others? They are the primary cause, the effect is known in advance and a matter of record. Otherwise it's like blaming gravity if you push someone downstairs.

AP: You take all the cash, play ALL the concert. If you want to cut it, be honest till the end and pay them back for the unplayed part.

PC: I think it's a matter of public record that a fan complaining he couldn't see Fripp for 55% of a show was sent a 55% refund and asked not to come back. If you find that missing FraKctured, even a very poor rendition, removes a percentage of the effective show, I'm sure a similar arrangement could probably be made for you...

(RF interjection: It's true, I sent a refund for Sylvian Fripp at the Royal Albert Hall; on the basis that the complainer would never come to another show of which I was a part. I believe I suggested that 45% was more accurate than 55%).

Alain Proulx (ET)
Wed, 05 Jul 2000 14:55:45 +0604
Subject: Enough is enough

RF: Not Enough Is Much Too Much

RF: The reportage of an experienced professional player whose performance was being consistently prejudiced & undermined during a European tour by members of audiences; whose presence of absence compromised the subtleties of performance; and whose behaviour spoilt the show for everyone - even if they were unaware of the opportunities which had been lost.

AP: I am a teacher and I teach despite the fact my students don't listen at all.

RF: How is this relevant? Alain has a tough life, so everyone should have a tough life? Alain's working conditions are hard, so everyone else's working conditions should be hard?

AP: Me, like almost the rest of the world, have to work in conditions we don't like.

RF: I'm not looking for working conditions which I like, but for conditions where my work is possible.

AP: What is that Prima Dona attitude???

RF: This is assumption & projection. Alain provides no sign of insight into how I work, nor why, nor what my aims might be. If he is seeking to establish the nature of my feelings on having my contribution to Crimson & Crimson performances abbreviated, limited, constrained or spoilt by inappropriate behaviour, then here are some words which are applicable:

heartbreak
frustration
disappointment
righteous anger
violation
a sense of failure
a sense of impotence
a sense of futility

AP: I am A long lasting and Die Hard Crimson fan since 1972. For me Fripp is one of the greatest.

RF: Then this is a great pity, for both of us. But if Fripp were "one of the greatest", why is his opinion so valueless?

AP: But I can't admit this way to do things.

RF: A healthy scepticism & loving criticism is encouraged, welcomed & invited.

AP: I played american football and we had to perform in any situations, rain, snow, dirt....... no place for complains.

RF: Fripp / Crimson perform in inappropriate & discouraging situations on a regular basis. Performance places are rarely built for performances, playing or listening.

AP: Anyway the artistic respect I have for Fripp, as a musician I could not share the stage with someone who refuse to play for such a reason.

RF: I guess that's my loss, then. Adrian can keep his job.

AP: Belew played sick, what a man he is......a real one.

RF: That's put me in my place. And Adrian deserves to keep his job.

AP: Mr Fripp, for 2 or 3 non-respectful people who take photos,

RF: Alain confuses the quantitative with the qualitative dimension. Surely, as a teacher, this distinction is established in his life?

AP: you accept to punish 1,000 and more people.

RF: How does Alain arrive at "punish"? I though the group was being "punished" by photography, and the audience as a whole "punished" by several of their number?

AP: I don't know, but we don't seem to have the same definition of respect.

RF: Alain now moves to sure ground.

AP: Just do that once to me Robert and no more I will accept to spend my so precious money to hear you.

RF: This is an easy one: Alain should not spend his precious money to hear me.
No problem here: Silken Pockets are unworthy of further lining by Alain's precious dosh, hard-earned in front of uncaring students.

But I am intrigued by Alain's assumption that his money has power over my behaviour; and that it might make me accept his demands on how I respond in a performance context. Why would he make that assumption?

AP: Respect is a two ways deal.

RF: No it's not.

AP: You have to assume the fact that a crowd is not only a whole. It is made of people who deserve respect at least as you do yourself.

RF: We each deserve respect as a member of our common humanity. This I accept & support. It is a very high state.

But in any world lower than the world where we are the same person, recognise and know each other as the same person, we earn the respect of others by our being, presence & conduct in the world. A demand for "automatic" respect, on the basis that we have bought a ticket to a show & regardless of how we conduct ourselves within it, is dopiness to the point of delusion.

AP: And most of all, they are the reason why you could live from your music all these years. They pay for the albums, they pay for a concert.

RF: But not enough. Not enough is not enough. And certainly not enough to destroy what is on offer.

As a point of fact, my personal wealth is based on the movement of UK property prices.

AP: You take all the cash, play ALL the concert. If you want to cut it, be honest till the end and pay them back for the unplayed part.

RF: Firstly, a pitiful proportion of "all the cash" reaches the group.

Secondly, no performance was "unplayed" to any degree, although several shows had more on offer - were the audience as a whole to have been present for it. Significantly, this "more on offer" had little to do with performance time as in clock time.

AP: A frustrated fan, but still a fan anyway

RF: Thank you for your interest. It is misplaced.

This is the kind of support by which the lover kills the object of adoration through ignorance, ill-considered demands, self-proclaimed rights, assumption & one-dimensional mechanical logic.

May I suggest Alain moves on, and allows Crimson / Fripp to do so as well?

6. Ken Makowsky (ET) Sun, 16 Jul 2000 07:44:26 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: who decides what gets played

I reisted replying to Alain the teacher earlier, but as it came up again...

Alain pointed out that when playing (American) footbal, you play regardless of the weather conditions, and that is true, however, the weather is taken into account when you decide what plays to run. If the rain is pouring down, you don't throw the ball alot because throwing a slippery ball, catching a slippery ball and running at top speed in the mud are very difficult. It makes performance "inherently unlikely". Is there any reason for Crimson to play tunes that they don't think they could do properly due to adverse conditions?

RF: The Nashville shows demonstrate that Crimson has no fear of flying - and falling. The "FraKctured" train wrecks were a feature of the shows. But attempting to fly with arrows being fired at your heart is a very different matter.

7. Dan Comfort (ET)
Wed, 12 Jul 2000 20:48:29 -0500
Subject: un-FraKCtured

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and Gentlemen, for the past hour you have witnessed Robert "Fripp" Kneivel and his team of motorcycle daredevils perform some of the most daring stunts ever performed on a two-wheeled vehicle.

But tonight we have an even more incredible feat in store. Mr. Kneivel will attempt the nearly impossible leap over FraKCtured canyon! For this jump to be even remotely possible, the motorcycle must be perfectly tuned, the driver must be perfectly in sync with his motorcycle, and the ramp must be completely dry. Luckily for us all, those conditions are true tonight, so after a short break, we will see this amazing attempt.

Audient 1: Cool!

Audient 2: Hey look, some dude just threw a bucket of grease on the ramp! Why would he do that?

Audient 1: He's got a video camera! I bet he plans to sell the film to FOX's "World's Worst Motorcycle Accidents" show!

Announcer. Ladies and Gentleman, due to the condition of the ramp, Mr. Kneivel will not be attempting the FraKCtured Canyon leap. Thank you for attending the show. I hope you enjoyed all the amazing feats you witnessed. Good Night!

Audient 1: No leap?! What a ripoff. Why don't they just kick out the guy who spilled the grease and go ahead with the leap?

Audient 2: Yeah, he could at least try to steer around the grease and make the jump anyway! Why should the rest of us be punished for the actions of the jerk with the grease bucket?

(They exit).

RF: This comes very close to describing the situation.

8. Dan'l Danehy-Oakes (katbarx@hotmail.com)
13-Jul-2000 19:44 GMT
Yoosah

I suppose this is related to the Frippery regarding the inherent unlikeliness of a musical performance...

RF: I suppose it is.

9. Brad Wilmot (ET) (Hocow@aol.com)
Fri, 7 Jul 2000 22:40:24 EDT
Subject: Photo depression

it is strange to see the band members different attitudes about the same audience.

RF: No, it's not strange at all.

I wish Ade was writing his feelings.

RF: Adrian has enough intelligence to know better than attempt to engage a fan base in reasoned dialogue.

He appears to just blast through anything except his band mates' discomfort.

RF: Ade can blast through just about anything - except massive dopiness, ongoing negativity & a debate as to whether he's good enough to be in King Crimson.

I fear the reality is that Fripp beleives he is in the right and will take an uncompromising but unattainable position in how he interacts with his audience. The audience is, for better or worse, a group.

RF: No, it's not. A group is an intentional formation which comes into existence to serve a common aim. When this aim has been achieved, or becomes impossible, the group disbands. It is almost impossible for an ongoing group to have more than 20 members.
An audience may acquire some semblance of a team, perhaps a group and, for a short time, even be a group. This is rare, and heaven-sent. The audience for worse becomes a crowd, and then a rabble. I have played to all three kinds of audiences.

You will always be dealing with different types of behavior within the group. As a performer you can either enjoy or endure the same audience depending on what part of the group commands your attention.

RF: Are these my only two options?

Don't let the bastards detract from the other 1000 people who are supportive. I know this is easier said than done, but it is the only way if you wish to continue and keep your sanity.

RF: Is this my only one option?

I don't understand why this is such a burning issue for Fripp.

RF: This statement is authoritative.

I don't think most musicians feel anywhere nearly as strongly as he does about photos etc.

RF: Maybe so. And maybe they don't articulate their feelings to the same degree.
Copyright was not a much discussed issue in 1993, and now it has emerged as a major point of public debate.

All I can do is be the best audience member I can be when I fly across the country to catch a show

RF: Thank you for this. But to be an effective audient you need to know how, and have this established in your practice.

I hope the next batch of tour diaries has more good moments than the European tour has had.

RF: I hope so too.

The misery is too much to read. It must be hell to live.

RF: heartbreak
frustration
disappointment
righteous anger
violation
a sense of failure
a sense of impotence.
a sense of futility.

Wednesday 1st. November, 2000

23.50
A very generous audience. My comment to the team afterwards: "I don't know if we were good, but we were popular". A generous sprinkling of Clams Crimsonique. Tonight was the dangerous set list: beginning with "FraKctured". At the beginning of the set I have no idea of the sound, the audience, the sense of the performance - this establishes itself during the first 3-4 pieces. The group sets this up ahead of time. Then, after that point, the performance may begin to take on a life of its own. Whether it does or not, depends significantly on the audience - if it "hears" the performance or not, and to what degree. If the music is heard & accepted, then the show takes on a life of its own. Otherwise, it moves through linear time towards the finish. Nothing of value has happened.

10.16
Hotel Modest & Acceptable, San Diego.

Last night's performance began strongly and then slowly ebbed away as the show's energy poured into the sieve. The flash only confirmed what was already apparent.

We began with a strong "Larks'" and then very quickly came the impression: this is like playing a Dorset village hall during the 1960s. Pat's take afterwards was that it felt like a High School Prom. Same energy, different culture. The audience from where I sat were an entertainment in themselves. That is, had I not been attempting to engage & partner with them in performance. Otherwise, look out.

Crim continues to astonish & amaze me in our capacity to discover new forms of simple error. My own contribution to this evolving art form was to hang myself out to dry in the fast metal section of "FraKctured" where my Lunar Module was 20 programmes away from the sound I should have been using.

As my "preternatural sensitivities" develop, my confidence in accepting what I see grows. I continue to discover depth in the mechanics of the performance process, and this continues to inform & educate me. The liberal education that the young Fripp, 33 years ago, hoped the life of the working musician might provide continues to be provided.

RF: From this Diary for Friday 15th. September, 2000:

"I expect the sun to rise every morning.

I expect that, following dawn, the amount of light will increase. The particular quality of the light I can't know beforehand. I don't know whether the sun will be shining, whether it'll be raining, misty, humid, warm, hot, cold, although I may have some expectations generated by a weather forecast (conventionally, I expect the opposite to the conditions forecasted).

Whatever the weather, I can never predict the type or characteristics of the clouds in the sky. The sky is always different, each moment unique, although always the sky. (Whenever we are locked in personal whirrings - look at the sky!). It is always remarkable, always changing. And always the same."

If Crimson is playing India in the monsoon season, I'll take a raincoat & umbrella. That restricts my guitar playing. Like, I won't be playing "FraKctured". If the "weather conditions" in certain territories are too "hot" or too "cold" for the temperature band in which Crimson is able to honourably be Crimson, I doubt that we'll be going there.

In temperate zones, I walk onstage in good cheer to welcome what the day presents. If the weather suddenly changes, how I respond will be determined by the specific circumstances.

Saturday 18th. November, 2000

00.43
An enjoyable show, with a few Clams Crimsonique. Pat, a tower of strength & reliability, kept going for a couple of beats during a break in "FraKctured" leaving me hung out to dry several beats ahead of the rhythm section. We met up later! The art is in the recovery.

But, at that part of the performance where the show gets to take on a life of its own, the take off didn't quite seem to. This is subtle: everything appears to be fine, even very fine. But somewhere in the centre of things there is something not quite firing. When things should suddenly switch level, or phase transit, they simply keep going on the same level.

23.28
The Berkeley Cataract Hotel, Asbury Park.

"That was a weird gig". Thus sprached our drummer as we left the stage for the final time. The physical construction of the venue served the aim of alienating audience & performer by placing an unused orchestra pit between them. Onstage, there was little sense of the audience, enveloped by darkness. When the Paramount was refurbished, Row E became Row C. So, originally, there was a greater proximity. Were I to have been in the audience, I would have felt alienated from the performer.

The audience was small and, towards the end, most supportive. During "Frakctured" I experienced an alarming emptiness at the centre, as if violation were underway, and never fully recovered from this. Even "good" performances suffer violation, as the recent Guestbook posting commenting on the last Paris show suggests. (As an aside, that particular poster wonders why Crimson doesn't play more often in France, and by extension Europe. The poster answers their question within their posting without (at least the appearance of) realising it).

By "Fraktured" the show was leaking like a sieve with some recovery at the end during the encores. Alternatively & otherwise, from the guitarist's stool in Asbury Park, the show began well, was interrupted by the official photographer, lost something in the middle, and recovered during the encores. Most of the New Jersey Guitar Circle were there.

Sunday 11th. March, 2001

07.48
In my e-box is an enquiry in an ongoing series from Andrew Keeling regarding the writing of LTIA I & II. From my answer to Andrew:

The quick answer is, you're on the right lines.
Larks' I & II was the emerging of my personal voice as a writer / composer (although "composer" claims too much). My "guitar voice" was already reasonably well developed, but composing wasn't my prime direction until Ian McDonald left Crimson in December 1969. ITWOP, "Lizard" & "Islands" might be seen as the development & working through of learnt & acquired materials before my personal voice began to speak.

During the middle of 1971 I began working with recognisably Larks' material, running lines which appear on LTIA I, at the new flat in Holland's Park that I had just moved into. This was a vocabulary that I didn't feel worked for that particular version of Crimson, which looked more towards America than Europe.

My way of working through this "new vocabulary" was primarily instinctive & intuitive: I didn't "know" what I was doing, or playing. Rather, I began and kept going following where the material was leading. Discovery rather than invention, perhaps.

As the material became more formalised (during mid-1972 for the Jamie-David-John-Billy & Bob band) LTIA I was conceived as the beginning of a KC show, and LTIA II as the end. LTIA I as a whole contains more ideas & input from all the team than LTIA II, which follows more closely my own overall "vision" (this doesn't aim to detract from the contributions of the other members).

If you were to ask my aim, briefly, it was to access the energy & power of Hendrix (the Afro-American tradition) but to expand the vocabulary to access what was available in the European tradition; notably, via Bartok (the string quartets) & the early Stravinsky of ROS & Firebird. The question I posed myself might be put like this: "What would Hendrix sound like playing The ROS or a Bartok string quartet?" If an older man might look back at this and be struck by that young man's arrogance, well, an ignorance of limitations sometimes allows the young of any age to achieve impossible things!

I didn't, and don't, have the technical qualifications or capacity to "know" what was involved. But I did read music and spent my unemployment in London with Persichetti's "20th. Century Harmony" and Steven's "Bartok" while practising guitar. We might recall that the young Stravinsky of The ROS didn't "know" what he was doing either: for him it was more an instinctive & intuitive process. And Bartok himself described his own compositional process as instinctive & intuitive.

If musical material does emerge instinctively & intuitively, we might postulate that anyone who adopts this approach might be accessing the same "pool" of "information". Formally, this leads to the arithmetic approach (tonal harmony) and the geometric approach (Bartok "Axis" & the Golden Section). The first has the characteristic of stability, the second of dynamism. The first is crystalline, the second vital. This applies vertically (pitch, and therefore melody & harmony) & horizontally (rhythm). Forgive me for telling you how to suck eggs - you know this already.

When I discovered Lendvai c. 1986 it rationalised what I had discovered in practice over the preceding 15 years (although Lendvai appears to remain persona non grata with Western musicologists). The octotonic (double symmetrical) scale seemed to me, as a rock guitarist, very obvious: the scale was both major & minor, or straight & "blue". To include both forms of the third as equally legitimate in a scale of 8 notes wasn't a very great conceptual leap.

My approach during 1971-73 while developing material for Crim was to play the themes while consulting the body: how did the stresses, accents and lines relate to the fundamental pulse? This is not something which the mind can answer. So, I spent many hours testing ideas against my feet in the kitchen of Thornhill Cottage, Holt, near Wimborne, Dorset.

LTIA I began appearing in mid-1971, and LTIA II probably during early-mid 1972. When I first threw out the main riff/motif to John & Bill during the earliest jamming (Command Studios) they didn't pick up on it. The second time I threw it out (Richmond Athletic Club) they did - and how! The 10/8 theme I believe may have emerged during that playing in Richmond. The violin material from LTIA I is primarily David's. My own Englishness is never far away ("Book Of Saturday" and "Pie Jesu" for example) but in Larks' my Englishness drifts towards the continent.

Crim composing, or "fixing materials", is an ongoing process: the material often appears while playing, and when it is well-formed ("written") may well continue to develop during performance. I consider all material from all my writing life as fair game & available for transformation, transmutation & developing variation today where several decades of material is somehow telescoped into a present ongoing & maturing "now". So it didn't matter to me that motifs from 1972/3 ("Larks'" & "Fracture") presented themselves for consideration during TCOL.

If any writing is "true" its formal properties will also be sound. If Larks' is "true" then inevitably its form will appear to be "based on cosmological principles. i.e.Golden Section in terms of structure and, possibly, pitches". If the work is of a quality, its form will be inevitable rather than intentional. (This may be both involutionary and evolutionary).

I'm not sure that the composer "knows" what is happening, or can fully understand what is involved in an authentic piece of work: their understanding is as limited as anyone else's when it comes to developing a relationship with their externalised work. For example, my Mother knew me well, but there were parts of me which developed when I grew up and left home that she would only have been able to know and interpret in terms of her own knowing. So, even for my Mother, aspects of her son escaped her understanding. And more so with my Father.

Saturday 17th. March, 2001

19.07
My morning's writing with guitar & pencil began by opening the manuscript notebook which began on December 9th. 1991 in Sicily, with a sketch from "VROOOM". The last entry is for February 19th. 1997, at Chez Belewbeloible, with notes for the piece which became "FraKctured". The period in-between covers early sketches for Sylvian-Fripp & Double Trio material. A one-bar idea in whole tones from Real World on November 18th. 1994 (when Crim was recording "THRAK") has attracted my interest.

Also today: working on "Heavy ConstruKtion" and practising an idea for a fast, ongoing octotonic running line which would not surprise anyone who had heard "Fracture" or "FraKtured". At last, my fingers are beginning to sense a connection with myself; and vice versa.

Saturday 16th. June, 2001

14.28
My Wife is in Manchester, my Sister in Nashville. I shall see my Sister this evening. And the sun is shining.

Patricia flew in yesterday afternoon to be official KC Merchandiser at 12th. & Porter, and is planning to be the support act tonight.

The show: Clams Crimsonique was the only dish of the evening. Even Pat discovered places he had never thought of going before. I realised, yet again, that FraKctured has no available margins to accommodate error. My whammy bar (or in English, tremelo arm) was sticking in a novel position, a position which managed to upset the right hand on several occasions. A generous audience hooted generously as we de-railed on that, and on many other occasions. Also available: a selection of three different first-of-the-bars in 11/8 for around 2 minutes on "Response To Stimuli".

To be continued....