Re: [microsound] whatever happened to the idea of a 'reading-discussion'

[brandon schakola <me_i_a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, my entrance to the world of microsound came through a guy i met back in 93 who was gaga over xenakis.  years later curtis roads put out the microsound book, and i stumbled upon fennesz and tim hecker, both of whom i love.  As someone trying to find ways of producing new textures, new techniques, and new solutions to the problems of form and harmony that arise from microsound, i'd love to see what others have to say about these topics.

Mostly, from the roads' book, there's some talk about the different techniques: glissandi, etc..  What about these, other than new timbral features, do we deem important to the older ideas of form and harmony in music?  I know there's been some talk about the distinctions between sound-art, sound-sculpture, and music; what i'm interested in particularly are how people integrate these features into these areas of composition/construction.  As a 'newbie' to the world of microsound, i know there is a wealth of tools out there (pd, max, c-sound, supercollider, reaktor, reason.... the list goes on), and i think even trevor wishart has built his own software for these purposes; i understand the power of these tools, and the changes that come about in song-structure in the past with the entrance of new timbral material (i.e., the entrance of the piano forte).  On top of that we are in a crossroads of sorts in music history, where the older ways of looking at music as an art based on the passage of time (like poetry), as opposed to painting or sculpture, which are usually looked at as being more concerned with space..  (This is quite a reductive way of thinking about either).  So if we accept these views, we are in the process of creating a new music theory, one where time itself becomes a variable as well as space.  So in what ways does this completely wipe away the old vocabulary of music? Roads is interesting to me, because he's trying to make microsound an integrated part of formal music theory; but in other ways, trevor wishart looks at the formants of speech and applies those to his processes.  I've heard stories of his performances beginning with three crystal wine glasses, filled with varying volumes of water.  He makes them resonate, takes the sound as an input to his program, and then the rest of the performance is accomplished from this initial sample.  How does the way in which wishart approaches microsound differ from roads, compliment or expand the notions of music?  Its seems a bit more like a language act displaced (not to say it isn't an aestheticly pleasing displacement).  In my mind (at least for this fleeting moment) it seems like wishart is connecting his constructions to a different past (one based from phonology and morphology), so how does this interrupt the cartography that roads is trying to put in place?

I think these are important questions.  It's easier to look back and talk about xenakis and cage, but what about what people are up to now?  the arts are living breathing organisms, and each instance or token we might come across, from audiobulb to stasisfield to...., what about these do others on this list see interesting in whatever new formal vocabulary we're in the process of creating?  I'm new in this area, but would love to be a part of the dialogue we as musicians are creating with the future...

-=b.randon



--- "David Newman" <dwnewman@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
So tell me more - what appeals to you about these books - what struck you
and stimulated your thinking/experience.

I'm interested ::

David Newman
----- Original Message -----
From: "brandon schakola" <me_i_a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <microsound@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2004 2:34 PM
Subject: [microsound] whatever happened to the idea of a
'reading-discussion'


> hi microsounders,
>
> instead of all this talk about spamming the list, how about a new
discussion topic, a going forward into the past let's say.  in other words,
what happened to the discussion of the roads' microsound book... and other
books.... info about microsound.  i know trevor wishart has some good
material as well... lets talk some nitty gritty for a while.  it just might
bring up some more interesting things to say, experiment with, and use.
>
> just a thought...
>
> -=b.randon
>
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