I was inspired when I learned about the Big History Project (https://www.bighistoryproject.com/pages/syllabus), which teaches a birds-eye view of history as we know it starting with the "Big Bang." It does a great job putting human existence into perspective and providing a grounding level of understanding that I believe can help us a species improve the decisions we make about our future – for ourselves and for the planet. 

After watching all their videos and doing all their (awesome) lessons myself, I decided to compose a cosmic soundscape for each one, cutting up each of the 15+ minute lectures into a shorter, bite-sized track that anyone can enjoy without too much of a time commitment. So, this is the first draft in a series of eight.

My hope is to spread awareness of the Big History Project by giving it an additional channel to reach people: through music. I highly recommend checking it out: https://www.bighistoryproject.com/pages/syllabus

The Big Bang (feat. David Christian from Big History Project)

The first in a series of one-take improvisations with no plan and no editing. I constantly struggle with the feeling that none of my ideas are ever truly "finished," so this is an attempt to let things go and be okay with the end result as-is.

Inside A Mind

One-take improvisations overdubbed on top of each other with no plan and no edits. (Drums and everything else played on my keyboard).

Daydream

This is a weird one-take improvisation. I figured I'd share so I don't lose track of it. 

Mentally excited to play, I was reluctant to pull myself out of the moment long enough to find my laptop and charger, plug them in, wait for my computer to wake up, wait for the login screen to load, wait for Logic Pro to load, close the default song that opens, create a new blank song... and then press record. 

In this momentarily chaos of setting up, I often lose my train of thought, and the excitement of fully felt playing often begins to dissipate. It's there in a moment and gone in the next, and it sucks when I lose it.

That's why I'm always hesitant to record myself. I worry that in trying to capture the moment, I will remove myself too far from the feeling of inspiration. 

Unfortunately, I lost it while setting up this time. Sometimes inspiration is too easily scared away. Regardless, I captured it and  decided to post it. 

What follows is 18 minutes of my life, captured in raw form. 

If you find it unlistenable, I won't be offended. It requires the patience to let it unfold on its own time. To me, it represents the unhurried exploration of a new key, transitioning between previously unrelated notes and mapping uncharted patterns between sounds with no intention of structure... with the only cohesiveness being the slightly erratic style of exploration, quickly jumping to new ideas before fully settling into the current one.

I like to think it's like a meandering amoeba. 

The Notion Must Be Absurd

Torn

playing the piano is often an exploration of what lies within, what's under the surface that can't be said. here's my mood tonight. i don't normally share themes like this, but after playing at Electric Forest Festival – along with renewed encouragement from friends – i'm making an effort to hit record and capture more of these private moments

Eilyn's Theme

Like all my recordings, this is an improvisation. I never know what's going to happen when I sit down at the piano. It's that joy of exploration that brings me back every time.

To Be A Shadow

Wandering in the Woods

Lullaby of Mist

Pläe

Droplets

Keyboard / synth / piano player by night. Software designer by day.

http://petekistler.com

Pete Kistler

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