Re: [microsound] half full or half empty?

[<tom@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mmmm  I agree,,,
but i'm slightly pessimistic about...

>"the purpose of this list is to synthesize new ideas that can
> help stimulate new work/discourse in the field of electronic music... "

I think that it is very difficult to maintain a healthy outlook on a genre
that is so easily defined by many of its practitioners..
Its hard for many people to inject the topics of discussion/ways of working
with different methods, without feeling that they are
somehow losing the essence of what makes the genre what it is. Its like i
said in my previous post,
some of my friends,  play what they think of as 'the sound of jazz' rather
than actually following the spirit of jazz into whatever it is now..
Genres move on and die and become something new, it is the spirit of the
genre that is important to me, not the tools or the specific sound.
I often refer to hardcore mathrock as being 'really techno' or ligetti as
being 'really techno'.
Its often easier to identify a set of tools or sounds rather than an
approach

>there is no actual genre of microsound per se...only a wide collection of
various styles"

but a genre is created by the discourse/critique and practice of its
participants and I think that 'microsound' has a very specific aethestic and
approach,
at least to the majority of listeners, just look at the page for the list.
http://microsound.org/ I'm sure that within this list the possibilities are
endless, but we often return to the same issues and approaches..

I remember a seminar I did with kim, where we all spoke about the
disappointment we felt with the state of electronic gigs. In the evening we
performed,
and I felt that none of us (sorry if i'm speaking for others) really
addressed the issue successfully.

Anyway, not to be too pessimistic, i think that the discussions on this list
are by far the most productive/progressive part of it. I'm happy to get into
a wrangle about
this or that, in the hope that it will make me work harder to do something
better than i did last...

Oh and I still think that MBV 'loveless' is 'well techno' and i'm sure
you'll (mostly) agree!

Tom

I just argue that this list..
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kim Cascone" <kim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "microsound_list" <microsound@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2003 6:24 PM
Subject: [microsound] half full or half empty?

> > is it like saying we're here to save the agonizing genre? because I also
> > have this feeling of stasis - not so much in my work (- there are still
> > millions of new algorithms, softwares, recording, mixing techniques to
> > learn) as in the concept - the aesthetics of noise, chaos, mix, cut-ups,
> > failure, etc. seems to have worn itself out a bit -
>
> your post echoes the feelings of many people who listen not only to
glitch,
> microsound, etc. but many other electronica genres...the availability of
> tools (freeware, shareware) and distribution channels (mp3 via internet)
has
> created a glut of product which creates a large noise to signal ratio in
the
> marketplace...there are ways to help overcome this that I cover in a
lecture
> I give...but this is a separate discussion...
>
> the view (stated in the form of a question) that we are 'saving' an
> 'agonizing genre' is pessimistic and doomed to failure since there is no
> actual genre of microsound per se...only a wide collection of various
styles
> and 'takes' on post-digital culture as it applies to creating music/sound
> with software...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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