Unruly Tree

Leslie Ullman is the author of several books of poetry and nonfiction, including Progress on the Subject of Immensity (UNM Press and Little Soul and the Selves.

Preface
Prologue: Just carry on
Part I. Floating Time
Listen in total darkness or in a very large room, very quietly
Go slowly all the way around the outside
Are there sections? Consider transitions
Turn it upside down
Define an area as “safe” and use it as anchor
You are an engineer
What mistakes did you make last time?
Disconnect from desire
Ghost echoes
Left channel, right channel, centre channel
Only one element of each kind
Do we need holes?
Honor thy error as hidden intention
You can only make one dot at a time
Look closely at the most embarrassing details and amplify them
Is the tuning appropriate?
Take away the elements in order of apparent nonimportance
Give the game away
Use fewer notes
Part II. Left-Hand Time
Abandon normal instruments
Imagine the music as a chain of disconnected events
Use an unacceptable color
Make an exhaustive list of everything you might do and do the last thing on the list
Twist the spine
Into the impossible
Accept advice
Simple subtraction
Mechanicalize something idiosyncratic
Consult other sources: promising, unpromising
Ask people to work against their better judgment
Accretion
Don’t be frightened to display your talents
Repetition is a form of change
A line has two sides
Change instrument roles
Lowest common denominator check: single beat, single note, single riff
Make a blank valuable by putting it in an exquisite frame
Cascades
Use an old idea
Is it finished?
Part III. Back-Beat Time
Do nothing for as long as possible
Faced with a choice, do both
Give way to your worst impulse
Spectrum analysis
The inconsistency principle
Listen to the quiet voice
Fill every beat with something
What would your closest friend do?
Infinitesimal gradations
Don’t be afraid of things because they’re easy to do
Use filters
Humanize something free of error
Get your neck massaged
Look at a very small object, look at its centre
Think of the radio
Water
Mute and continue
Emphasize differences
Consider different fading systems
Work at a different speed
Acknowledgments