Re: [microsound] sound art / music

[Andrew Benson <cloudmachine99@xxxxxxxxx>]

For me, the distinction is so much about context and the intention of 
the maker and audience expectation.  For example, I come from a fine 
arts background and have studied the formal aspects of sound in great 
detail and experimented with sonification in various forms for several 
years, and use that knowledge to create performative and installation 
works of sound (as well as other media).  I don't use the term 'music' 
to describe my work because to call it music would be to draw attention 
away from the site-specificity, the physical relationships involved in 
the performance, the context of the sound, and other aspects that are 
integral parts of my artistic intentions.   While there may be certain 
features of my work that engage musicality, I have no interest in 
producing music proper.  There are audience expectations and critical 
foundations that have been established for the reception of music over 
centuries, and I simply don't think that it is necessary to force sound 
art to be music or for music to be sound art.  They of course share a 
common history, a common set of tools, a lot of common practitioners and 
exchange, and nobody can deny the importance of sound artists 
understanding music as another type of organized sound, but the critique 
and reception of each is different.  However vague the distinction may 
seem, it is important to respect the specific context that an artist 
works within as being part of our experience and expectations of their 
work.  That said, I don't think anyone is interesting in drawing a thick 
black line between the two practices, as exchange between the two can 
only foster higher-quality and more thoughtful work in each. Anyways, I 
am happy to see this topic discussed as part of the microsound 
discourse, and look forward to more thoughtful discussion on the 
matter.  As an educator, I find that posing these types of questions to 
students is a useful way to draw out underlying preconceptions and 
biases about the use of sound.

Best,
Andrew Benson
> > Hello All,
> >
> > So, I have a basic -- and perhaps naïve -- question for the group: what is
> > the difference between sound art and music?
> >
> > Kim's remark about microsound being a philosophical position within sound
> > art sparked this question for me. I'm pretty sure there's no absolute
> > distinction we can make, but I'm ignorant about what the common
> > distinctions
> > are.
> >
> > Thanks for any help,
> > -greg
> >
> >     


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