Re: [microsound] two very important questions

[David Powers <dpowers3@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Lately I've been thinking I've three different poles of music:

+Open arhythmic sound exploration 
+music that manifests or supports a narrative structure
+ritual rhythmic music that relates to dance and induced trance states 


I find all three poles to be interesting for experimentation, and there
are also hybrid music that move between all three poles.

House music obviously falls into the latter category.  While I agree
with what Matt says, at the same time, I would suggest that the program
embedded in some house music may be of a different type than the program
embedded in, say, Top 40 - particularly when there are no lyrics, or
minimal ones, present.  I've spent a lot of time listening to various
world musics, and I've noticed many instances of rhythmic similarities
between certain traditional ritual dance music rhythms and the rhythms
of house/techno intended for the dance floor.

What I particularly wonder is, whether it is possible that certain
tempos and rhythms tend to be more effective in the brain for producing
ritual-trance type states of consciousness.  Thus, house is just
rediscovering a musical possibility that humans have used for ages.  I
think there may be some layers in this experience that aren't just
cultural conditioning.

Culture comes in when we ask what is the "content" or mental experience
that people participating in the ritual have.  In traditional rituals,
the tribal belief program will guide the mental experiences people have
during the ritual.  Likewise, house music has certain typical themes,
relating to Jack, to sexuality, etc.  Techno sometimes uses science
fiction narratives.  Drugs may also influence the type of experience. 
And of course, there are the codes that surround the DJ performance, the
presentation and environment of the event (just being "IN A CLUB" codes
behavior), subcultural memes that are flourishing at the time, and
preconceived notions about what house music means that people bring with
them.

But I wonder if some of the content could in fact be quite variable, or
even open to manipulation, based on the total environment in which the
house music is presented (or other music with rhythms that can
potentially induce trance states - could equally be dub reggae, rock n
roll, hiphop).  What if Sun Ra did house music and took people to other
planets? ;)

All this reminds me of a conversation where Guattari mentions
breakdancing and then the song that cuts up Ronald Reagan
http://www.gpc.edu/~mnunes/guattari.html , search "my fellow
americans" on the page.

Guattari:
  "So, some examples: I don't see why you want me to give
    examples of popular music which are generally
    reterritorializations. However, there is one that immediately
    occurs to me, it's break dancing and music, all these dances
    which are both hyper-territorialized and hyper-corporal, but
    that, at the same time, make us discover spectrums of possible
    utilization, completely unforeseen traits of corporality, and
    that invent a new grace of entirely unheard-of possibilities of
    corporality. I've also been fascinated -- but this isn't popular
    music either -- by Chicago blues, the Chicago school, because
    these monstrous, elephantine instruments like the bass, they
    begin to fly with unheard-of lightness and richness . . ."

~David

David Powers
Faculty Assistant
DePaul University, School of Education
Department of Leadership in Education, Language, and Human Services
773-325-4806

>>> craque@xxxxxxxxxx 04/14/05 10:01AM >>>
Maybe this is the obvious one,
but house music does this,
specifically the recordings.

They are produced in programmatic
ways, some much moreso than
others. The features they share
not only prescribe a particular tempo
of movement and dance, but also
build and release tension in similar,
predictable, and -matchable- ways.
They control both dancer and DJ to
a considerable degree in many
aspects of the experience.

matt
___
http://craque.net 



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