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Re: [microsound] folk-music instrument



folk music = people (folk) music

('volk' from the german - as in volkswagen - peoplemobile)

more specifically, (and more importantly) 'a' people's music.

we, as computer users, internet dwellers, software dabblers - the 
technologically inclined - are such a people, and this is our 'folk' 
music. music -of- the people. music -for- the people. idealized as 
separate from the marketplace (although, this is, of course, an 
illusion). but you get the idea...

the southern porch cliché is the internet for us. microsound.org is our 
town meeting.

it has nothing to do w/ banjos.  you can talk about bluegrass as a 
genre, as an aesthetic, but not folk (although i understand the popular 
misconception).

there are just as many folk traditions as there are 'folk.'

my roots, my folk, my people, have absolutely zero to do w/ anything bob 
dylan pre or post - the so-called mainstream folk artists (there's a 
contradiction in terms...). i come from computer culture. i come from 
growing up upper middle class, immersed in technology and personal 
computers from day one, in a wealthy, clean, safe, major north american 
metropolitan experience in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

my folk music is techno.

folk music is a discourse, not a sound.

and laptop music as 'folk music' is without a doubt an extremely valid 
and useful way for describing and understanding the kinds of grassroots 
(well, closer to astroturf, for sure) spread of our culture and music 
via electronic channels, such as the internet.  global village music, 
perhaps.

there's lots of 'academic' writing on these kinds of ideas out there for 
the academically inclined. but i'm retired from that kind of 
self-inflicted pain now:)

my $0.02

g.

jeff gburek wrote:

>maybe you're right. the laptop isn't disposable enough
>yet. maybe in a decade? 
>
>--- roberth <roberth@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>  
>
>>the dead c are my favorite folk band.
>>actually i am quoting jack rose.
>>
>>i don't agree about the laptop sorry, 
>>actually the cheap casio is the folk music 
>>instrument all over the world.
>>robert
>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>From: "jeff gburek" <tsazmaniac@xxxxxxxxx>
>>To: "microsound" <microsound@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>Sent: Friday, February 10, 2006 10:25 PM
>>Subject: [microsound] folk-music instrument
>>
>>
>>    
>>
>>>i don't think devlashnull was saying laptoppers
>>>      
>>>
>>should
>>    
>>
>>>start "covering" folk-music traditions. maybe the
>>>duelling banjos bit is a little too "hee-haw" to
>>>      
>>>
>>take
>>    
>>
>>>seriously. but there is a concept underlying this
>>>      
>>>
>>that
>>    
>>
>>>i find compelling: that the laptop has become very
>>>common tool for expressing, akin one's voice,
>>>      
>>>
>>which is
>>    
>>
>>>also part of one's experience. i don't think of
>>>folk-music as just a genre wherein you have your
>>>      
>>>
>>rosco
>>    
>>
>>>holcomb and your skip (or joseph) spence or
>>>      
>>>
>>records
>>    
>>
>>>and your harry smith anthology etc. set out on the
>>>table to define what the music is. the argument
>>>      
>>>
>>has
>>    
>>
>>>been made that all folk-music is essentially
>>>      
>>>
>>popular
>>    
>>
>>>music. but i think of it differently: it comes out
>>>      
>>>
>>of
>>    
>>
>>>the songs you sing while working or after work
>>>      
>>>
>>when
>>    
>>
>>>waiting for the dinner that isn't coming because
>>>      
>>>
>>the
>>    
>>
>>>government seized all your chickens saying they
>>>      
>>>
>>got
>>    
>>
>>>some kind of flu. like that. arguably most people
>>>      
>>>
>>with
>>    
>>
>>>laptops don't have those kind of blues to sing.
>>>      
>>>
>>but on
>>    
>>
>>>the other hand, there is still isolation, death,
>>>loneliness and desperation and the laptop itself
>>>      
>>>
>>to
>>    
>>
>>>make the material of laments
>>>jg
>>>
>>>--- roberth <roberth@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>>>nice image
>>>>except going no deeper into the folk tradition
>>>>than a commerialized thing like dueling banjos
>>>>sure ain't dock boggs
>>>>maybe says something about
>>>>laptop shit
>>>>robert
>>>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>>>From: "devslashnull" <dev@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>To: "microsound" <microsound@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 8:00 AM
>>>>Subject: Re: [microsound] visual artists
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>to me this is a further reinforcement of the
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>>notion of much "laptop" 
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>music (and by extension "laptop musicians") who
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>>exist outside of 
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>academia, or without much formal training,
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>being
>>    
>>
>>>>considered more as 
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>"folk-artists" or making a new kind of
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>>"folk-music".
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>the laptop and/or personal computer (and
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>related
>>    
>>
>>>>software) having 
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>become, in our time, in our culture, as
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>ubiquitous
>>    
>>
>>>>as the odd guitar or 
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>harmonica laying around the house, are now what
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>>could be considered 
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>"folk instruments".
>>>>>
>>>>>conjures up images of "Deliverance" where
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>dueling
>>    
>>
>>>>banjo's is played out 
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>by a couple of folks sitting on the porch with
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>>laptops.
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>in fact on a tour in the summer of 2002 we (
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>>3-piece laptop improv 
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>group) played a version of "dueling banjo's" on
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>>our laptops to 
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>represent that very idea. we cut up all the
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>>guiitar and banjo sections 
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>individually and loaded them on seperate
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>machines
>>    
>>
>>>>and proceeded to 
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>mangle them into sonic suuuuu-weeee.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>On Feb 7, 2006, at 5:16 PM, David Powers wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>>>>It wouldn't surprise me if people with a
>>>>>>            
>>>>>>
>>"proper"
>>    
>>
>>>>musical background 
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>>of some sort (I'm a music school dropout) are
>>>>>>            
>>>>>>
>>a
>>    
>>
>>>>minority,
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>>CommTom
>>>>>Communications of Tomorrow
>>>>>"it's only a day away"
>>>>>
>>>>>unique electronic music for the adventurous
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>ear.
>>    
>>
>>>>>http://www.commtom.com
>>>>>
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>>        
>>>>
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>>>>        
>>>>
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