i too would have to say that i'm just sort of lead to some unknown end when
working on tracks. sometimes there will be an initial inspiration, but it's
usually minimal. sometimes it's just a vibe (upbeat, dark, flat-out weird,
etc.), and sometimes it's just a sound. that sort of lead me to a new way
of doing things. i was listening to the gescom minidisc release and i came
to a conclusion:
it seems that the gescom md is simply a collection of sonic events. they
just sat down with machines and sequencers and fucked about until they got
something cool, maybe something that was definitively unlike anything they
had ever heard before. it wasn't a song, it was a sound. maybe it was a
loop, or just a patch or something. regardless, that was the desired end
result - just something new. it seems to me that after the md, the autechre
material was consistently sketchy for most fans. that is to say, it was
exceptionally dischordant and awkward and certainly different and new. i
can only conclude that the driving force behind the newer autechre catalog
was taking things like these sonic events as i describe them, and chaining
them together, mashing them up, whatever. end result: tracks comprised of
completely new and perhaps unique sounds, thereby making completely new and
perhaps unique tracks.
i've been starting to employ something of a similar ethos. start with
something random, tweak it until it's satisfactorily interesting, save it,
and move on. then go back and utilize the things you've learned by using
that method. utilizing this methodology seems to result in the only
substantive experimental music today. and you can employ any number of
catalysts for the first step of this process, be it sound bytes of the real
world, complete synthetics, ripped loops and samples, you name it. you can
still give it your own feel. but i think it's interesting to build with a
set of tools you've built yourself. and for those like myself who don't
have the expertise to build synths or code new synthesis programs, this is a
good way to do it. think of it like painting with colours you've invented,
that have never before been seen by anyone. sexy.
:justin
http://posthoc.org/
as a side note, i'm employing this in a vastly more conservative way than
autechre seems to have. that is to say, i'm pushing the edges of the sounds
i'm using, but not to the point that it's adhering to extremely complex or
perhaps no structure at all.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org