Re: [microsound] half full or half empty?

[Ben <bent@xxxxxxxxx>]

Kim Cascone wrote:

>...the purpose of this list is to synthesize new ideas that can
>help stimulate new work/discourse in the field of electronic music... 
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You know, I was thinking earlier, while reading some of the 
mp3/file-sharing posts, that I've been on this list for a few months and 
I don't really recall much, if any, actual discussion of musical/audio 
technique. Not that I don't like a lot of the discussion that does occur 
-- the mp3 stuff has been very interesting. But, I would be interested 
in hearing why people choose the sounds that they do, or if there are 
compositional tools/formulas/methods that people prefer. When I joined 
the list, I was pleased to see how many people on the list shared their 
work. However, it can be overwhelming: for awhile I followed every link 
in a poster's signature and downloaded some of his material. After 
awhile, I had to stop that... I have a chaotic mess in my download 
folder... there are a bunch of files that I don't even know whose work 
they are.

I realize that discussing music can be like describing color to a blind 
man... and this thread may well go nowhere. So, to get things started, I 
hope you won't mind if I throw the ball into your court, Kim. From what 
I've heard of your work, I get the impression that it is generally 
derived from experimentation... that pieces are derived from applying 
various methods of audio mutation to source material. Am I right? Do you 
start with a notion of where you want the sound to go or is everything 
you create a product of circumstance? Do you discard some of the results 
and if so, what's the ratio?

Please note that I'm asking you these questions mostly because you 
happened to be the post I grabbed to respond to and I would hope that 
many other folks will chime in with perspectives on how they create: how 
they choose their sounds, what transformations have worked for them, how 
they decide what to keep, do people ever use conventional musicial 
concepts or are they mostly experimenting with warping audio, etc. And 
if no one bites, well, at least I tried.

Oh, and one more question: What the heck is microsound anyway? (I mean, 
I have an idea... kind of an abstract concept.. kind of like obscenity, 
where you can't describe it, but you know it when you see it... ;o))

b

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