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Re: [microsound] State of Music



skip it. i'm doing basically the same kind of thing and god knows, i know how
hard it is...

forget the history. or least the history of music. flank the topic from the
sides. military tactics. never attack from the front. talk about digital.
talk about nyquist's theorem. talk about ticking clocks as the smallest
division of time incarnate in sound. talk about the CLICK of a mouse. or the
CLATTER of keystrokes. talk about the ambient sound of an office cubicle.
talk about cell phone rings and digital alarm clocks. talk about things which
make no sound other than what we ascribe to them.

everyone talks about detroit. about kraftwerk. enough already. at this point,
who cares? ancient history.  half those guys are afraid of computers... are
afraid of failing. afraid of the glitches. they hide behind history, afraid
to put out new albums because they know how archaic they really are. old
timers with foot in second hand music store. better to cower behind legend
than take a risk. at least george lucas fell flat on his face. more than
derrick may can say.

if you can't make a point, it's because you don't have one. keep your eye on
the prize.  what is it specifically that strikes you about this music? you.
forget what everybody else thinks. they have there own ideas. just because
they are published doesn't make their ideas any more valid. most of Them have
no clue about music. too busy writing words than making sounds. what makes an
idea valid is the quality, originality and articulation of the argument
presented. write down your idea and then find other's with a similar
viewpoint to legitimize. it makes the brass in the ivory towers of lala land
happy.

write your paper backwards. start with post-digital (whatever the hell that
means...) and work back to the stone age. screw with the format. and if they
give you a bad mark, you can give them the middle finger. the samurais say
'to thine ownself be true.' ditto goes for school. go onomatopoeic.

make analogies. find analogies. across the spectrum of life. outside music.
recycling blue bins and LEGO toys are better tools for talking about the
music of today than semitones and quarter notes.  netscape and norton's
utilities are just as much music software as logic or reaktor.

listen to the sound of the modem at the convenience store, crackling and
burbling when you run your cigarette order through with a credit card.  or
the sound of pornography not quite decoded on the pay-per-view station you
haven't paid for.

that's the music of today. sometimes when you're zoomed in  %1600  in
photoshop, you can't see that what you're actually looking at is still one
giant square pixel.  you got to step back at see the pixel for what it is.

excelsior.

g.





greg g wrote:

> so i noticed some discussion lately (as usual) about cd sales, internet
> downloading, free music, lack of appreciation, discomfort with music, etc
>
> i'm writing a report on this for a class at school.  it totally sucks,
> because i can never make a point--i spend like 10 pages just trying to
> describe what vinyl is all about, and kraftwerk and 80's synth pop, so i
> can't even begin to really get in depth and make an argument.
>
> so i've accepted that it's going to be a terrible report because i can't
> think of a strategy to delve straight into post digital media without a
> 10-page boring briefing on what music is all about.
>
> but anyway, if anyone has any thoughts on music today, please share it.  i
> might quote you in my report.
>
> ok
> greg
>
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