computer games

[kim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

>as for kim's assertion that we are all being duped by the media in terms
>of our wanting musicians to be computer geniuses, i don't think that's
>really what's going on here, at least not from my angle.
although I don't have citations at my fingertips I will go out on a limb
here and say that what I see written about computer music in the press
mirrors what happens in most software companies: marketing sells technology
it doesn't understand and sometimes creates unrealistic expectations on the
part of the consumer...in this case the press = marketing and the musician
= engineering...marketing always trys to put a spin on things to make them
flashy and make the product visible in the marketplace...the same happens
with journalists who know little about the history of computer music and/or
how it is made...they tend to reinforce and propagate myths based on their
lack of understanding and end up adding to the shroud of mystification that
surrounds computer technology...but the truth is that composers have been
using Max, Csound, Cmix, CLM, and other MusicN languages for many years and
it hasn't been until the laptop became the "axe du jour" for electronic
music that all this "technological accountability" has become an
issue...when MusicN/modular synths were confined to project studios,
equipment lists were included on LP jackets in order to help create the
image of the "technologically advanced composer"...(certain pop musicians
have extended their careers due to the careful grooming of this
image)...today tools that originated in academic institutions and utilize
complex technologies have levels of abstractions that protect the curious
and creative from having to know Linear Algebra in order to use them...from
my angle the listeners expectations are often (but not solely) mediated by
the press and the press are a lossy codec for explaining how
technologically based music is created...the press always needs to supply a
(misunderstood) context (aka: 'hook') in order for a cultural work to have
some value other than its intrinsic value...although I think the
mystification of technology is an interesting phenomenon I don't think that
the process of demystification is a burden the composer should bear
alone...how many armchair afficianados of glitch/microsound can explain how
the soundtrack to Forbidden Planet was technically created? i.e what were
the circuits used to create the sounds?...it's OK if you can't, but does it
make the soundtrack any less interesting? I think not...
just some random thoughts...
KIM



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sound.designer...composer

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