Re: [microsound] arranging & the like

[Kurt Ralske <kranning@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Formal design is probably the most
> difficult aspect of music making and requires the most study,
> listening and experience, providing you want to avoid following the
> usual forms:  AB, ABA, ABA'A, sonta form, rondo and the various
> incarnations of song forms.

....but, sometimes the underlying form is less important than the actual
content of the structure: for example, Oval "Systemisch" relies heavily on
letter-definable forms (ABA etc.), but the sonic qualities, level of detail,
and expressiveness within each section all make the rigidity of the formal
structure not-so-important. the structure serves only as a skelton to hang
some lovely things....lovely enough, that you forget about the skelton.

could be than it's overly harsh to say "you want to avoid the following
usual forms -- "....maybe healthier to understand these forms well before
discarding them. (also, avoiding sonata form should be pretty easy if you
don't know what it is, because it's complicated enough that it won't happen
"by accident"....actually, i'd love to hear some microsound that really did
adhere to the sonata form!)

the success of a piece of music isn't only about its degree of formal
organization. a better yardstick might be the degree of composition vs
improvisation (or expressive gesture). the most interesting music usually
has a balance of both.

personally, most algorithmic music feels under-composed. it lacks
predictability and variation of its basic premises. and, most very formal
sine-wave-style music seems over-composed. it lacks enough unpredictable
expressive gesture.

Kurt
http://ww.miau-miau.com
http://242pilots.org

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