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Re: [microsound] Re: Alternative performance devices



but john coltrane plays music. he is not throwing a more or (more often)
less structured stream of noise at his audience. music can stand alone.

unless we are talking real commercial productions music always has a very
strong element of human expression. electroacoustic (and its modern
relatives like microsound) lack this element. purposely or not.

you can try to fix this with various controllers but they are much more
indirect and simplistic than what can be achieved with normal instruments.
the analog modulars is somewhere inbetween.

this is part of what makes the old electroacoustic stuff stand out as more
interesting. the primitive technology meant you had to work real hands-on.
today when everybody is using the same sophisticated software the software
controls the composer more than the other way round (i.e. lack of
expression) and it makes everything sound somewhat alike and bland.

all this force the artist/composer into seeking novelties (or worse, rely on
new versions of the software) to stand out rather than developing a skill.

i think ;=)

Den 03-05-30 18.33, skrev "vze26m98" <vze26m98@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

> I'll use another jazz example if I may: John Coltrane didn't move a
> whole lot on stage, closing his eyes and making relatively minor
> gestures across the keys of his saxophones. (I mean minor in comparison
> to other instrumental performers, not necessarily among Jazz
> saxophonists.)
> 
> I think his audience didn't need a lot of information about what he was
> up to, for most, they understood he was playing jazz on a saxophone.
> What notes he was playing might have interested some, but when we get to
> his filing of his teeth, or use of a metal mouthpiece, I think we've
> crossed a line where information about the performer's activity becomes
> pretty meaningless.
> 
> So I think projecting the computer screen for the audience (as someone
> suggested) is overkill; better the performer should begin with a lecture
> on the techniques of digital synthesis.

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