why electronics?

[TCK <guitardo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ian - interesting post

it seems to me that there are 3 main strands affecting music culture -

Economics (Marxian view)
Technology
Human migrations and interactions

all three are tied together, especially the first 2.........

(obviously there are more factors, like "genius", but in arguably less major
ways)

Technology at present seems to be the most overwhelming factor, and has been
on the rise for many years now.  The economic forces determining education,
opportunity, production, and distribution are banal and often prevent
artistic freedom and expression.  Still they are provident - consider Grosz
for example.

What you have left is people (and other natural phenomena, such as animals,
wind, and plants)  -   interacting.  Tribes might be a more accurate way or
looking at people.  Considering this, the music I find most interesting has
tended to result from the interaction or clash of tribes.  Not to knock
technology, but you get this feeling at some points we humans are a little
like musical Dr. Mengeles, using new tools in horrible ways.   It is a result
of big is better thinking - how un-micro. (Have you ever read Kafka's
amerika?)

I was very sad in this regard to read the recent post concerning whale music
being potentially blocked.  As the air gets cluttered with electro
transmission, perhaps this will happen to us (i.e. the pan music of
international disco).

I don't know if these thoughts were what you were looking for, but they
spring right to mind.

I would like to hear more along this line.

> Unless a popular movement of music entertains and teaches in an international
> context it will not be taken seriously by the academic world. The microsound
> aesthetic is an international phenomenon; good, step one is there, but now it
> is a task for independent producers/composers to drive music forward on the
> technical and aesthetic side.
>
These comments, while pertaining to popular music, also echo what I was
trying to say about the importance of international/cross-cultural elements
in  art.

Plus, non electric musics that are also non recorded are live and usually
real tribal.  These musics replicate organically and contain more "warmth,"
eh? Yet the injection of hot humanity into 1's and 0's really is a form of
culture clash!

> I'm coming to the point of view that electronic/acoustic is not
> necessarily a particularly interesting or meaningful distinction.

I would like to hear you go further with this train of thought......

Tim