...my goal is to focus on ideas (thereby
stripping away emotion) until my work has as much emotion as a calculus
textbook...
Many interesting points are being raised in these latest threads
about the future/content/spirituality of music (thanks all!), but
this statement particularly caught my attention...
I also approach composition conceptually (at least for my microsonic
explorations), and use techniques or "formulas" to create
sounds/pieces, all of which tends to separate the compositional
process from my emotional state.... *BUT* I also find that (1) at
some point I am making aesthetic decisions about what to use/toss (at
least), and I feel aesthetics are inherently emotional, all
judgements are connected to how you feel about the thing/issue being
judged; (2) the perceived emotional content of music once released to
the public is provided by the listener, not the composer, as the
compositions take on a life of their own. All this is to say that
music created free of emotion may not be perceived that way at all.
Of course it's important to explore the process. and for many
musicians/composers I know that is the interesting part of making
music, and is how they define composition... what the listener adds
is unimportant (or at least after the fact) to them.
I'm of two minds myself, I find the process of creation exhilarating
and, for lack of a more accurate word, sacred... and in that sense
wholly satisfying in and of itself. On the other hand I regard music
as a type of communication, which means it is important to me that
someone listen and (hopefully) offer feedback, either musical, verbal
or in some other form. Truth to tell this can be a rather
schizophrenic endeavour at times...