Re: [microsound] What a press kit should contain

[Nathan Snider <snider@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I'm not even sure if this is relevant.
> If glitch can only exist within a structure, what--if anything--is the
> distinction between showing "awareness of the structure that it inhabits,
> playing with it, exposing the limits" (glitch) and striking "a balance
> between imposing and exposing structures" with results that are
> "necessarily self-referential" (generative)?

I wasn't trying to highlight the differences between glitch and generative
so much as the similarities.  I view both as examples of microsound that
show strong parallels to postmodern philosophy.  To answer your question,
though, glitch relies on an existing structure, trying to introduce "play"
into a system that has predefined restrictions, while generative relies on
imposing restrictions as well as exposing them.  Just to clarify: By
generative music, I mean something close to algorithmic composition, where
the artist is resposible for defining a set of rules by which the music is
to be made, and then setting the system in motion.  Once in motion, the
system will be an expression of its own structure.

> Is it possible to generate a fresh context by subverting the exisitng
> context?

The goal of deconstruction isn't to create a fresh context, but rather to
expose the context and the fundamental oppositions that exist within it.  Of
course, post-structuralism isn't the only branch of postmodernism, or the
only way to subvert a context, for that matter.  I'd say sure, it's possible
to create a fresh context by subverting an existing one.  Collage would be a
simple example.

> Where--if anyplace--might free and avant-garde jazz fall within this
> discussion? Are there parallels between the 2 jazz styles and the
> descriptions of "glitch" and "generative" music below?

I don't really know free and avant-garde jazz well enough to say, though I'm
slowly moving into the genre(s).  My superficial view of free/avant garde
jazz is that it's similar to glitch in aesthetic, but not necessarily in
intention.  The works I've heard (by Coltrane and Taylor) work with
unexpected sounds and cadences, much like glitch, but unlike glitch they
seem to be trying to impress the weight of the totality of the music on the
listener.  Also, I've always heard "free" and "avant-garde" used
interchangeably with respect to jazz; is there a difference between them?

regards,

-nathan snider