Re: microsound Digest 21 Nov 2000 17:24:13 -0000 Issue 197

[sroden@xxxxxxxxxxxx (steve roden)]

hello -
in regards to this:

>From: A Listener <a_listener23@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>For me I've been on both ends, and for the most of the time in the middle. .
>.
>The ego end: Once I lent My G3 laptop to Richard Teitelbaulm (MEV (big back
>in the day) moogs and such). He then played Patches I had written (not for
>him) with William Parker (Sax). Now he played my patches dreadfully, but It
>was still in a venue bigger than I had ever played. . . somewhat a big deal
>(for my lill' G3 up there), but I was still a little (I'm ashamed about this
>on some level) bitter, and a little angry.
>>For the most part I don't need you to know who I am or what I look like at
>all, but when you by my CD (no matter what name appears on it) that's credit
>enough. . . . (BTW on the next CD I think that I will credit the beer I
>drank before the gig, and maybe the shoes). . .
>>The reason that I wand more credit now than I did before is that I work
>really hard at this, and I'm not so great at other things. . . and I'm
>starting to want something back for my time.. . and its not so much money,
>but more the nice feeling of when after the show people come up to me and
>sat that they really enjoyed it and they sat thanks.. . .  now unless you
>play in disguise or run away after you play (or (I hope not) just no good)
>you know how good a feeling that is. . ..
>>Well that one seemed more agreeable; I hope that's the end of all the
>sarcastic hate mail I'm gona' get. . .
>Well, Bye>>-Vance

i think there is an inherent problem with all this that involves a very
needy ego. the beauty of the experimental sound world has generally been
about an exchange of ideas - and yes, usually amongst composers and
artists. i don't think it was ever about who came up with the first graphic
score as much as what graphic notation opened up in terms of a score and a
performance. one of the biggest influences on those of us pre-laptop folks
was (and still is) the piezo contact microphone. i remember when i started
making sound work, i kept hearing about contact mics and of course, at
radio shack and guitar center they just looked at me and had no idea what i
was talking about. then i found an article by richard lerman on how to make
them (i don't know if he was the first to use them, but he certainly was a
pioneer in his use of them). lerman could have been protective about his
'sound' and not let this information out, or had someone pay for it, or
called them the richard lerman contact mics or whatever, but it is about a
$2 project that anyone can do and my entire sound world changed with access
to this information. perhaps at first i did some works that sounded like
richard's - i am not sure since his LPs were so hard to find! - but
ultimately i was able to use these things in my own way. i get asked about
these things all the time and i am always happy to send one to some one
with instructions on how to make more. certainly i can pick one out of an
untreated field recording - but even with this, one person tapes a contact
mic to one brick different than another, and if you have some passion, or
intelligence, or some of the other bits necessary to being an artist, you
will find something that is your own no matter what you are using. my
friend mr. chartier on this list was not only gracious enough to help with
some software questions, he was gracious enough to simply show me how he
does his work and with what software products. fear of not getting credit
is generally a stupid ego trip. if you had one good idea, chances are
you'll have another, and if Richard Teitelbaulm used your patches in a way
that was so incrdibly uncreative that it was exactly as you already use
them, then why worry about it. credit is such a fleeting thing anyways. my
advice is to make your work as much your own as possible, and to share your
knowledge with others so that they can perhaps use this knowledge to make
their own work better. who gives a shit if someone copies you at this
point. with this kind of music there is no money, and perhaps what little
fame there is lies in a profile in the wire....in terms of having people
come up afterwards and say it is good - well, perform for your family or
something and you will get smiles and pats on the back (sorry, i had to put
in a little sarcasm :-)


steve roden/in be tween noise
box 50261 pasadena california 91115-0261
usa
phone 626 403 9343
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e-mail:sroden@xxxxxxxxxxxx

"the eyes transmit thoughts, therefore i shut them from time to time in
order to stop having to think"
robert walser
..