Sound as Passage, Passage as Sound

Norman Lewis, Cantata 1948

Illusion of Safety

Lost and Profound Version 2.0

(2024-2025)

Daniel James Burke is an improviser, composer & performer from Chicago using strings, piano, extended techniques, field recordings, synthesizer, & electronics. He has been making music since 1983 as Illusion of Safety & has recorded and performed with Jim O’Rourke, Darin Gray, Jon Mueller, Olivia Block, Kevin Drumm, CHEER-ACCIDENT, & others.

He is currently working in an improv trio with Chicago musicians Erik Sowa & Jeb Bishop as Interim Assassin, in a synthesizer context as Soundoferror, in an ambient project, Twilight Furniture, and in singer-songwriter mode as Daniel James Burke.

The following piece is a short audio story of internal adventure, immersion and transformation.

—Daniel Burke

I’ve often used the phrase, “cinema for the ears” when writing or talking about Acousmatic music. The phrase was popularized by François Bayle but conceptually, it probably dates to Pierre Schaeffer’s groundbreaking work in developing musique concrete in the 1940s. When listening to this music with well-intentioned and respectful ears, its cinematic nature presents itself in a pageant of luminous and radiant sounds, leading to untold possibilities, constrained only by the imaginal abilities.

As the transient qualities in Lost and Profound manifest, the raw material for a divine map might show itself. A good sonic cartographer will know that this potential map is—only that. What it’s not, is the territory. Think of it as the sojourner’s friend, the ever-trustworthy pilot.

The heavy wooden gate slowly and silently swings open giving way to an emerald mountain, the axis mundi pointing towards the liminal, towards horizons unknown. The road up and out is clearly visible but it’s a narrow path, strewn with rocks and caves, uneven and treacherous. Use the map, you’ll need it!

Emotions taking form, thoughts congealing into shapes. Memories—even the long-forgotten ones become material but luminous. Beyond this pole, everything that was, is, and will be might take on aspects of the archetypal. The liminal traverses the threshold from the in to the out; once outside, you may find yourself—everywhere, one form among an infinity of others.

Inside, Lost and Profound can be a manual, one of many—I’m sure. It can also be an onrushing river of change. A transport system that is the bleeding edge of a place that is no place at all. Once caught up in the sound wave, the flow—we can follow, and in following, we can revel in its wake.

Outside, Lost and Profound can act as a symbol, a liminal mediator, a potential psychopomp that can only show us, but not tell us what to see, feel, hear and touch. In its multi-faceted qualities, Lost and Profound in its most revealing aspect, can move us towards an understanding of deep and personal proportions.

The movement, taking us up till the sky is pierced and then, out into light will be a passage that we all, in one way or another will make. Will Daena—either beautiful or terrifying be waiting on the other side? Will she be yours to follow? Will she be you?

That can be another story.

—Michael Eisenberg

The submitted piece is a small part of a longer ongoing composition of Acousmatic material for later publication and performance as Illusion of Safety. The work is indicative of some of the modes and inspiration I have been using in composition with this project since 1983, seeking to create a narrative available to the listener, an exploration of altered states and transcendence. An experience that alters perceptions blurring the lines between dream and reality, using long form immersion into internal psychological soundtracks, bridging the gap between the conscious and subconscious.

—Daniel Burke

Editor’s note: Since this installment, the featured piece has been folded into a 35-minute Acousmatic work titled Non-Interference and is available as the second half of a split release. I can confidently say—it’s epic!

Exploring the music and visuals of Daniel Burke in his various incarnations is a rabbit hole par excellence. Feel free to jump down at will:

—Illusion of Safety releases

—The ambient project Twilight Furniture

—Released collaborations and solo projects

—Synthesis specific project Soundoferror

—YouTube channel of music videos for other acts