Re: [microsound] music is the ultimate incorruptible - field recordings

[Damian Stewart <damian@xxxxxxxxxx>]

David Powers wrote:
> Music is interesting precisely because it 
> refuses to communicate. It's ambiguous.

wow. i so totally disagree. i listen to music just because it is 
communication, nothing more nothing less. what is a Steve Reich 
composition or a Wolfgang Voight/Gas techno trip if not a concrete 
representation of a particular mental state of the composer?

> The sounds in 1 and 2 are the same (ignoring the limitations of 
> recording technology for the moment). Only my perception as listener has 
> changed. However, at no point did the actual creator of the sound, the 
> TRAIN, intend to communicate.

i don't think anyone would want to argue that the train wants to 
communicate. the person we consider the communicator in this scenario is 
the person who made the recording.

also, i think it's possible for your perception of a listener to be the 
same (or mostly the same) in both cases. it's easy to ignore sounds like 
screeching trains, but it's not impossible to listen to them in the 
flesh as though you are hearing them recorded (wow, that's an inverse 
way of thinking about things!).

ever closed your eyes in the middle of a city and /listened/? assuming 
perfect recording and reproduction technology, what's the difference 
between doing this and listening to a field recording of the same spot 
at home?

we give the recording artist credit as creator in this instance because 
they have selected the sound for us. a trip into the middle of the city 
to just listen can be awkward or different (not to mention socially 
embarrassing, especially if you listen with eyes closed). the recording 
artist enables us to experience same but from our living rooms.

--
f r e y
live music with computers
http://www.frey.co.nz

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