since the pandemic started, I’ve been paying a lot more attention to rhythm. and specifically seeking out music to listen to and make that makes me want to move. divorced from the movement and pace of everyday life, my typical sad songs left me waterlogged and even more depressed, so instead I looked to music to help me reanimate. 

this improvisation starts out atmospheric and the rhythm comes in a slow development, each component part coming together slowly over time to form something, that when complete, feels… right and vibrant and living. like it was always meant to be there, like a picture that has come into focus.

i highly recommend listening to synthquest through headphones. i'll also suggest settling into someplace comfortable to listen, or listening during a bath, massage, on a walk, while you make dinner — basically wherever you go or whatever you do to relax and decompress.

episode timeline

1. Introduction - 0:00
2. "slow dance" music begins - 5:28

about synthquest

synthquest is a twice weekly ambient improvisation that is recorded live on Twitch on Mondays and Wednesdays. synthquest was born out of my desire to have a way to have a music practice in real time with listeners. there's a long history and tradition of music as improvisatory, spontaneous communication that really is quite different from the way we consume music now as album that get produced and perfect, sometimes over years. 

it also is a practice in sharing the creative journey of becoming — i've met so many people who feel like they can't make art because it's not perfect, so I wanted to pull back the curtain on my own creative and learning process. because synthquest is improvised, you will hear me trying out sounds and probably making mistakes — it's all part of the fun and the journey. in real time and in real life, no one is perfect — neither are you and neither am i. 

about jen starsinic

synthquest is created by Jen Starsinic, a music maker and multi-instrumentalist living in Nashville, TN. Jen is also the co-founder and artistic director of Girls Write Nashville, a nonprofit organization providing music mentorship and creative community to youth artists, as featured on NBC's Today Show and NPR's Here & Now. About her last studio release, EP Bad Actor —"there is a blissful aura that surrounds Starsinic’s sound, making for one of 2020’s must-hear albums."

links

• synthquest live stream: twitch.tv/jenstarsinic
• website & email list: jenstarsinic.com
• instagram: @jenstarsinic 
• twitter: @jenstarsinic
• listen to jen's other music on spotify

performed using...

• Korg Minilogue XD
• Nord Electro 5D
• Electro-Harmonix 95000 Performance Loop Laboratory