-----Original Message-----
From: j.d. [mailto:cs92jd@eim.surrey.ac.uk]
Sent: Friday, March 10, 2000 1:49 AM
To: idm@hyperreal.org
Subject: (idm) Gear vs. imagination, literally
<The gear thing is all relative. All the environments, filters and
4-pole dsp wankmobiles in the world don't mean nothing if there's no
musical substance to what you're doing with them.>
No one is arguing that. That's completely true.
<If you take a dead rat, spray it gold, embed it in a perspex block, and
put strobes blinking at 140bpm on top of it, call it "Jeff", make a
million, sell them all, the fundamental truth is that you're still
presenting people with...a dead rat. Pet Rock, anyone?>
This is very perplexing. What you say is mostly true in a logical sense...
But, Isn't one of our goals as humans to be able to see beyond the box or
frame? To be able to make decisions and form our own opinions about what
something is. I mean what you are saying is that nothing is ever anything
more or ever means more then what it's physical form implies? I don't feel
that way at all. To me Art is what you the viewer accepts as art. This
applies to music as well. Literally, thousands of people all over the world
think that the Back Street Boys are great. I personally can't stand them at
all. Or even closer to home, I love Autechre's EP7. Most people I have
talked to, can't stand it at all. I guess what I'm trying to say is that
It's all a matter of taste. Don't sweat what is or isn't art.
<I also think this is a problem with a lot of really commercialised
stuff...I'm thinking here of stuff like David Holmes, who I heard recently
for the first time. I just didn't get it. It just sounded like a fairly
decent old band from the 60s biffing away with a few samples on top. But I
didn't get any sense of atmosphere or menace or anything from it. Just a
dead rat. Whereas FSOL's Dead Cities album is, IMO, a real masterpiece. I
can't envision sequencers when I listen to that. It just seems whole and
complete, and somehow organic, maybe cause of the way elements
happen in it and then sort of collapse. Likewise, the Richard D James
album, or the Christian Fennesz record I've heard - the one with the
really cryptic map location for a title, that comes in a little muslin
bag...>
Ok. I haven't heard David Holmes. But, I can say that some music is just not
meant to be listened to by everyone. I wouldn't go recommending music you
just anyone. I'd have to know a little about what they like. And even then,
I still don't think people would really like it. I know a guy who loves
Richard D. James album and so do I. But, He likes it for all he weird Sexual
references where as I like for the awkward sounding melodies. When I first
heard it, it was those parts that he played for me and I thought, 'what the
hell is this?' After a while I got past that and started listening to the
music and got something totally different.
It's not that it's crap, it's just that it's not for you. Not bad or good...
Just not what you like.
<I, as a vaguely gifted amateur - definitely a future staff writer! - am as
guilty of Pointless Track Syndrome as anyone else - though I don't want to
sound *too* sanctimonious - but I think I saw something where Sean from
Autechre said "you need to turn the screen off sometimes - it's the only
way to tell how much you've actually got there". I concur. >
Yeah, I agree too. It's weird how that works. It's like an optical illusion
or something. Keep in mind that Autechre also understands that the computer
is still a powerful tool and they obviously use them.
You know something strange is that I think it's due to the way many
sequencers visually represent a song as blocks that extend from left to
right. Which is the way that you would expect it to work and, for most
people, it does. But, I have been messing around in a program called "Buzz"
that goes from top to bottom. I know this sound ridicules but I have
actually heard a marked improvement in my compositional skills. It reminds
me of the way I used to program drum machines like my old little Dr Rhythm.
I'm not sure why though.
<The software sequencers (logic, cubase, etc) lend a visual element to the
producer that's completely lost to the audience. It makes everything far
more interesting for the writer, with all that eye candy.>
Yep. Same as above. Visual representations of music have been the topic of
many flame wars.
<And one plus of having
a "real" synth - or one that is physically separate from your PC, rather -
is that you can fool around with it and find stuff without slipping into
the "Ok, now I'm going to write a track" frame of mind that often sees you
program in two bars of beat, some nonplussed chords, and not really
get anywhere in the process. I think you know the kind of thing I
mean. >
I wish you guys would use the word "Outboard" or "hardware" synth instead of
"real".
Anyway, I sort of agree with that. I wouldn't say that it's really the
computer's fault Or that it's any easier on a outboard synth. I think it's
just that when you are presented with a arrange or track window, we tend to
think that way. We tend to think "OK I have to record something now." I know
my problem is that I need to spend more time messing around with melodies
before I start recording. But That applies to hardware and software synths
alike. I have also found that VST instruments have better enabled me to do
that because they act more like . I also think the problem is that terrible
loop button. I think for composing music, setting a short loop can
completely destroy your creativity. I have found it better to start
recording and just mess around with different parts contiguously. Then, go
back and loop parts that I like. That's just one way to do it though.
<And if you want to hear a prime example of something that really
*isn't* a Pointless Meandering Track, sit down with SAW 85-92 sometime and
really *listen* to track 2, Tha. All the muting and chopping and changeing
that's going on there, within the track, barely discernible, because it's
just so soothing...but it really does make a difference; of course it
does. It's why Tha doesn't sound like Cubase cycling over and over - even
if it is...>
Duh... What? Who are you talking about? I'm totally out of the loop here.
But yeah, looping again.
<Have fun,
j.d.>
Cheers,
-=GB=-
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