Re: [microsound] Is choral music ambient?

[Matt Tierney <matthewdtierney@xxxxxxxxx>]

.,m

The point is not to find out, but to read great responses like the one you
just gave...

~

m

On Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 10:13 PM, craquemat <craque@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I personally have a problem with the term "Ambient". I remember one
> radio show I did at UMD where I spent the entire 3 hours playing (and
> comparing) music that was called "ambient".
>
> So that included music by Satie, Feldman, Cage, Richard D James,
> Autechre, If Bwana, John Zorn, and a handful of other "ambient" artists.
> Suffice to say none of this music sounds anything alike.
>
> Defining what falls into a category of "Ambient" is a task doomed to
> fail. "Ambient" music implies a relationship with the unnoticable, the
> unintentional sound present in our environment.
>
> I think people have conveniently used the word to describe everything
> from "music that you can't dance to" to "music you can meditate with" to
> "music you play in a haunted house."
>
> An album I released recently is described as "Ambient" but holds about
> as much relationship with the artists mentioned above as it does with
> R&B and Country Western.
>
> Given that ALL genrification is by nature subjectively exclusive, the
> term "Ambient" is especially bad; I put it right up there with
> "Classical" and my personal favorite "IDM". What some call ambient,
> others do not.
>
> So I'd ask you back, what's the point of finding out?
>
> A lot of what's considered "Ambient" has its musical underpinnings in
> non-western music, especially the Ragas and trance-like drummings of
> other cultures (which I might add are certainly extremely functional in
> those cultures, if not ours).
>
> So while one may call something Ambient, another may call it Downtempo,
> another may consider playing Gesualdo during a gallery opening as
> Ambient, while someone not so predisposed to classifying music would
> just enjoy it as choral harmony and not something "ambient" at all.
>
> Sometimes people use the term simply to classify the undefinable.
>
> .,m
>
> (ps - Strickland's Minimalism is a good one if you haven't read it yet)
>
> Matt Tierney wrote:
> > Hi, first post on the list... :)
> >
> > I asked on the Rhizome forum where I could find some descent discussion
> > online of avant-garde/experimental and 'other' musics. I hope this post
> is
> > suited to the overall vein of the list. If not I would glady accept
> > recommendations!
> >
> > -
> >
> > I'm reading Prendergast's "The Ambient Century".
> >
> > It's a nice idea for a book, a 'century' of ambient music... But did
> ambient
> > music really start with Mahler or Satie?
> >
> > What about 15th Century Rennaisance choral music like Palestrina, Tallis
> and
> > many other similar composers from this period?
> >
> > There's something about this era that strikes an 'ambient' chord with
> me. Or
> > is the music too *intense* to be classified as ambient?
> >
> > I don't want to confuse *beauty* and ambience, but if I'm wanting to
> listen
> > to some ambient music, I'll often go for Tallis...
> >
> > What are others thoughts on this?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Matt Tierney
> >
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 3:49 PM, Paulo R. C. Barros <
> > paulorcbarros@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> >> http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=jVCki_4DuyI
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >> Paulo
> >>
> >>
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