Re: [microsound] folk-music instrument

[mhwrpc@xxxxxxxxxxx]

it's funny because alot of the people on Harry Smith's anthology and others who embody the popular culture image of "folk" were people who were incredibly isolated not only geographically but socially.  Making records was, for them, a way of participating in the larger culture.  I'm fascinated by those records, not because of their supposed documentation of a long-gone era, but because of the intense desire that is palpable in every event of certain tracks, from the yearning voices to a sped-up or slowed down guitar line, to stomping feet, or even moments of hanging stillness and silence.  I think the connection between volk music and bedroom laptoppers/producers is pretty facile and obvious.  Most of us work all day and then come home to work for hours on perfecting our craft, whether it is programming beats or code.  What's the difference between that and our perception of the folk artist?  For me, terms like folk and punk have long been cultural/social tags that have very little
 to do with the actual sound of recordings or performances.  Then you have Henry Flynt.....

And, of course, John Fahey....there is so much I could write on this topic, forgive me for just sweeping the iceberg....hope this particular discussion continues, would like to hear others thoughts on the question.

                                                                                                    mhwrpc

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "roberth" <roberth@xxxxxxxxxx>
> 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
> > comitmon 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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