On Wed, 25 Jun 1997 alanb@netlink.net.au wrote:
quoted 6 lines Lord knows the 'definitions' of ambient that Ive> Lord knows the 'definitions' of ambient that Ive
> encountered on that list are so haphazard that to call a show ambient
> would in no way clear me up on what would be on it. In some peoples
> minds it may attract or repel, which I find sad as it just fosters
> dualism and judgement and mitigates against a sense of discovery in
> music listening.
This point is not without merit, if a bit utopian--same as #1, below.
quoted 4 lines By not categorizing you ensure two things. 1. Some people will> By not categorizing you ensure two things. 1. Some people will
> encounter music they would otherwise not encounter. A good thing.
> 2. Music writers have to take the music they evaluate on its merits and
> their subejctive experience alone. A good thing.
#1, sure, no problem. #2, how do you propose to evaluate music "on its
merits" without reference to the standards of the musical community(ies)
that produce, (consume, if applicable (it generally is)), and experience
that music? It would be a tremendous disservice to evaluate the music of
Autechre by the same criteria one would use for Beethoven (or vice
versa)--or Indian raga, or gamelan, or qawwali, or African drumming, or
bluegrass. Hell, how many of us here would enjoy reading a review of
Chiastic by a die-hard house enthusiast?
The point is that if you're lucky, the listener's "subjective experience
alone" might result in an understanding and fair evaluation, but it can
just as easily result in a profound misunderstanding, as (disastrously)
when 19th-C. European colonizers reached the conclusion that indigenous
African and Asian musics were "primitive" because those musics didn't
follow the rules of European tonal music--and consequently *couldn't be
real music*. Ouch!
quoted 5 lines Categorization is a thing the English language is supreme at and is one> Categorization is a thing the English language is supreme at and is one
> of its greatest limiting aspects, limiting our own expression in the
> language.Instead of saying a piece of music is light like the clouds in
> the sky, floating gently in and out of consciousness bringing light and
> shade alternately.... for example, we can, and do, say... its ambient.
Hmmm... poetry is one thing, but not something I particularly want to
have to decipher when I'm buying a CD! :) Maybe different ways of talking
about music have different uses, none of which can completely replace the
others.
quoted 1 line But.. this is samsara> But.. this is samsara
So is music in general...! J
________
\ / | Bee women: "What kind of corn soldiers are you?"
H. James Harkins | Arthur: "Umm, oh, er, we're, uh, we're colonels."
jharkins@acpub.duke.edu |
\/ | - from "The Tick," now on Comedy Central, 6PM M-F
"If we keep our attention focused on the present, we can be sure of one
thing, namely that whatever we are attending to in this moment will change..."
-- Jon Kabat-Zinn