RE: [microsound] herbs&spice and everything nice

[David Fodel <DFodel@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

as far as paint goes... it's a medium, not a tool.

"oh i am an artist"

"in what medium do you work?"

"i'm a painter"

in music the medium is ultimately acoustic even if those acoustic vibrations
emanate from speakers (although lots of people read sheet music and hear it
in their head). so if the tool is the message in a particular genre or piece
of music, need we bother listening to it?

David Fodel
Publishing Systems Manager
Wild Oats Markets
3375 Mitchell Lane
Boulder, CO 80301
Direct: 720-562-4831
Fax: 303-938-8474


> ----------
> From: 	Christopher Sorg
> Reply To: 	microsound
> Sent: 	Saturday, February 2, 2002 1:08 PM
> To: 	microsound
> Subject: 	RE: [microsound] herbs&spice and everything nice
> 
> > From: anechoic [mailto:kim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> >
> > any for anyone who doesn't believe that the "tool is the message":
> please
> > don't come up to me and ask me what software I'm using or ask to
> > see my Max
> > patch after I perform...the need to know this is a clear indication that
> > the software was very much part of my performance...
> 
> I'm curious about this comment, because even when performers are playing
> traditional instruments, for example, Taku Sugimoto or Milford Graves, but
> have an incredible diversity of sound, I feel compelled to ask them how
> they
> are doing it.  In essence, "how are they using the tools they are using?".
> Sometimes it is physically and visually obvious how people are creating
> sounds on stage, and sometimes not.  When you watch a painter use a brush
> and paint, you don't automatically "get" everything the painter is doing
> to
> utilize his or her tools.  Is it really any different with a computer?  Or
> is just more likely that someone walks up and asks you about software
> because you're essentially staring at the back of a piece of formed
> plastic
> for the entire performance?  And if that is true, then what kind of
> message
> is a guitarist delivering, considering his tool?  Is the important,
> relevant
> message that is being delivered the message that the tool indicates?  It
> would be difficult to hear the same message in Spanish flamenco guitar
> compared to Mississippi Delta blues.  Or does this theory only apply to
> computer-generated music?
> 
> "Tool is the message" seems to be a very broad statement.  "Oh, he's a
> painter.  He's using paint."  That doesn't really tell anyone much about
> what meaning any painter is trying to convey, really.  Jackson Pollock
> could
> be a house painter with that kind of information.  He used house paint and
> large brushes.  It isn't that I disagree with the concept.  On a
> fundamental
> level, people write (books, letters) because it has an aura of authority.
> Letters have a personally authoritative aura, books an academic aura.
> Delivering a bank note is different from a "Dear John" letter, although
> they
> maintain that aura of ownership and can be constructed in the same manner.
> So isn't the content relevant?  What about the text?
> 
> "Algorhythmic".  Never rely on the computer to do a thorough spelling
> check.
> 
> __________________________________________
> Christopher Sorg
> Multimedia Artist
> Adjunct Professor
> The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
> http://csorg.cjb.net
> csorg@xxxxxxxxx
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.314 / Virus Database: 175 - Release