Re: [microsound] process vs achievement

[edhall@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Wow.  I've only been on the list for a couple of weeks, but this thread
hit so many buttons I've just got to speak up.

Firstly, I'm appalled that some folks feel it's their RIGHT to say what
an artist should or shouldn't say about the process of creating their
art.  As a listener, it's none of your damn business.  If the artist
feels that focusing on process is part of what his or her art is about,
then by all means he or she should explain it and explain it clearly.  But
what if that isn't the point?  What if the focus is the sound, not on
the process that made the sound?  And what if the artist feels that a
focus on process completely misses the point?  It may well be that the
mental state the artist desires for a listener is far away from where
a focus on process would lead.  Obscuring the process could then be a
necessary part of the artistic product.

If you feel uncomfortable or deprived when exposed to a work where the
process of its construction is opaque or obscured, then by all means,
avoid it.  But the shrill moralizing I've seen in this thread leads me
to wonder just how far the cult of political correctness has affected the
world of musical sound.  Perhaps it's the chickens of deconstructionism
coming home to roost...  It appears the process must be available to be
analyzed for moral purity.  Otherwise, the artist obviously has something
to hide, is pimping for money or fame, or is insecure and inadequate.

Piss in the bottle, Mr. Creative Artist, and we the listeners will test
your sincerity.  We are the supreme judges of musical integrity, are we
not?  Foo.

That said, I'm actually a pretty process-oriented guy, like a lot of
my fellow high-tech geeks.  When listening to electronic music, I'm
often thinking about how I would duplicate a particular sound or
effect.  But I don't always listen in that way, and what I have
experienced when I've let go of my internal mental process suggests
to me that electronic music may be a means of emotional and spiritual
expression of unprecedented directness and power.  These experiences
impart a much greater sense of awe in me than any involvement at the
level of musical mechanism can.  And when all is said and done, this is
the reason why I'm involved in this music.  I get enough technological
thrills from my day job.  But that's me.

Your focus can be quite different from mine, a fact which doesn't bother
me in the least.  Weaving your knowledge of process into your listening
might be the key your peak experiences.  We're all wired differently,
and have different experience sets to flavor our desires and perceptions.
The fuzzy stuff I wrote about awe and emotion might pale for you compared
to the crystalline beauty you see in a well-understood sonic process.
And this difference will in all likelihood mean that what you see as
your comfortable relationship to an artwork and its creator is different
than mine.  But woe betide you should you attempt to impose your way
upon the artist -- or upon me!

		-Ed