Re: [microsound] a microsound issue

[BJM <bent@xxxxxxxxx>]

I currently have this weird quirk going on with my computer. While 
listening to mp3's I get random subtle pops and glitches. I know they're 
not in the file because if I back up and listen to a passage with a pop 
again, it's not there. This is driving me crazy, partially because I 
can't stand it when my computer does something odd and I can't figure 
out how to fix it. But, I also have to admit that there is a 
psychological phenomenon at work there: noises that are "not supposed to 
be there" drive me crazy. This wouldn't be too surprising for most 
people, but considering that I listen to a lot of glitch and noise 
music... I've even found myself taking off the glitchy song I'm 
listening too and looking for something more conventional to play to 
ascertain whether my computer is doing it's pop thing.

So, I guess what I'm getting at is that, though I generally find a 
skipping CD hypnotic and I listen to all sorts of "difficult" noise 
music, I still have that conditioning as to what is "correct" and what 
is "error". I do wonder if this playback problem would bother me as much 
if I could reproduce it at will; if it would then become as much a sound 
manipulation technique as scratching a CD or applying an effect. I'm 
curious what other people on the list think their error threshold is and 
whether it's an essential part of the listening aesthetic or simply an 
artificial, societally-imposed barrier to truly open listening. Do 
people welcome the unexpected sound event? Really? Even if your piece 
had unexpected artifacts when played on a different system?

b

P.S. I'd also welcome any theories on my computer playback glitch, 
bearing in mind that: the pops occur randomly and in several mp3 players 
I've tried but not when playing the same file in Sound Forge; I've tried 
changing the sound card's PCI slot; I've reintalled the OS (win2k) and 
all the software; I've defragged the drive and tried playing a song from 
a different drive.

Kenric McDowell wrote:

> Interesting thread, although, I'm not certain that people on this list 
> would appreciate it if their cds actually skipped.
>
> In many cases, it is difficult to align 'glitch aesthetics' with a 
> political or philosophical position precisely because the foregrounded 
> errors are presented only on the level of representation. The errors 
> are already reterritorialized, so to speak. Somewhat like 'dirty 
> denim'. Rather than allowing for decay, entropy, flux, etc. in the 
> actual object these devaluations are actually rarified valuations that 
> must be preserved in their original state. Representation and 
> technology remain undisrupted.
>
> Order/rationality vs. chaos/error: another false binary!
>
> -km
>
> On Wednesday, November 6, 2002, at 11:56 PM, jim altieri wrote:
>
>>  Let's face it: outside of
>> this list, most people don't enjoy listening to a scratched cd.  The 
>> errors
>> devalue it.  That's one of the primary myths of hierarchic political
>> organization: "That which is ordered and rational is to be 
>> appreciated and
>> valued, and things outside of that order - chaos, mistakes, deviance 
>> - are
>> to be shunned."
>
>
>
>

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