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Re: [microsound] audio software environments and context
Yes, but that is always going to be the split between "scene" and
"non-scene"
I'm a serial enthusiast; I jump from one obsession to the next, absorb
all I can about the topic/scene, and then move on to the next
enthusiasm, retaining my favorite stuff from the previous one. I've
torn through superhero comics, punk rock, grindcore, death metal, prog
rock, crust, jungle, gabber, IDM, ambient, old school video games, new
school video games, manga, indie comics, horror films, art films,
sci-fi novels, post-modernism, etc.
These kinds of questions, about context, about elitism, about hardcore
vs mainstream, etc, arise in every single one of these enthusiast
communities! Every single one! Context matters to the old guard, and
the "newbies" want shit that rocks. The more knowledge one acquires
about both the historical context of the music and about one's own
personal taste, the more baggage one has when evaluating a new sound.
I know I frustrated myself endlessly back in '98-00 I was so focused on
trying to force my computer to sound like my analog harsh noise
material that I didn't realize that I wasn't paying attention to the
strengths and weaknesses of the instrument (computer.) When I listen to
the material I did back then, the best material is the stuff I made
where I was just playing around with wave editors without preconception
of what it should sound like.
There is nothing specific to microsound or computer music that creates
this dynamic.
Anthony
On Oct 12, 2004, at 10:24 AM, chthonic streams wrote:
Also a Roads piece of granular synthesis from the 70s or 80s gets a
different consideration than a Roads piece from today. Context is
important.
usually the only people who care about context are the same people who
talk about this stuff on e-lists or in print, or are some kind of
music historian/geeks. nothing against those people; i am one of them
obviously. but i find myself arguing in favor of context when trying
to explain why something 10 or 20 years old is good to someone who has
no sense of context. like, "when this was done, there were no
computers or sequencers! this person had to come up with this and play
it themselves!" which just makes the person arguing sound like your
aged relative romanticizing having to walk 12 miles each day in
knee-deep snow to get to school. but sometimes people are jaded
because they think everything is easy and always has been. and
sometimes they don't give a rat's ass...they just want something that
hits them right away and that they think "rocks", no questions asked,
no strings attached...no context.
d.
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