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technical/philosophic aspects in music
 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-01-04 08:18 [#01811692]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



so - i recently listened very much richard devine with my
girlfriend who is a very talented person when it comes to
graphical arts - movies etc. she tolde me that she never
heard something like this before - that someone can actually
tell a story through sounds and music. she started to tell
me the things she imagines listening to various tracks of
him.

afterwards i played some confield tunes - with the same
effect.

the thing i started to think about is - did the artists
think the same?

i mean is that really an effect of turning visual
information into sound? or is that all bullshit? and how
about other weird technical aspects artists talk about?

i read almost every autechre and devine interview - and they
always say things like -

- that is made completely with algorythmic patterns
- these are dodecahedronal beats
- that song tells the story of a soldier in iraqi
- this track is the sound interpretation of the colour
black

and i start to think - isn't that all bullshit they tell? i
mean okay, listening to tunes of devine you can actually
hear some weird sounds - but these are almost all just dsp
effects and probably random generated sounds.

the beats are 4/4 too, nothing really exceptional. - exactly
like most of the autechre tunes.

so is there really anything philosophic behind that music?


 

offline Combo from Sex on 2006-01-04 08:26 [#01811694]
Points: 7540 Status: Regular



good question !

anyway i like your music too =)


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-01-04 08:38 [#01811700]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



cool combo ! for that post you get one of my new tracks
completely for free ! LAZY_TITLE


 

offline euphonicfilter from illadelphia (United States) on 2006-01-04 08:42 [#01811701]
Points: 2443 Status: Addict



i would say no...it sounds like artfag bullshit

i wonder what these artists think of soul music

its over-thinking everything...the same way fashion snobs
do...


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-01-04 08:46 [#01811710]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker | Followup to euphonicfilter: #01811701



that would be kind of sad - wouldn't be ? that idm consists
just of faggy-randomly-generated-nonsens-pattern-geek-music


 

offline plaidzebra from so long, xlt on 2006-01-04 08:51 [#01811713]
Points: 5678 Status: Lurker



i think abstract music, unlike soul music, invites
imaginitive interpretation, imagery and ideas. if you ask
someone to say what they see in a rorschach blot, they will
have far more to say than if you show them a picture of a
tree and ask them to identify what's in the picture.

i think overthinking is fundamental to being a human. well,
maybe a few are prone to underthinking...


 

offline Matvey from Kiev (Ukraine) on 2006-01-04 08:57 [#01811716]
Points: 6851 Status: Regular | Followup to sadist: #01811700



do you mind if I downeloade that, too?


 

offline euphonicfilter from illadelphia (United States) on 2006-01-04 09:11 [#01811728]
Points: 2443 Status: Addict



overthinking is a bi-product of boredom

if you had to survive like humans had to before the
agricultural revolution you wouldnt have time for any of
this shit

and im not saying that idm JUST consists of that, sadist -
idm has a LOT of beauty and freeform and so on


 

offline redrum from the allman brothers band (Ireland) on 2006-01-04 09:14 [#01811730]
Points: 12878 Status: Addict | Followup to euphonicfilter: #01811728



and not thinking at all is euphonicfucktard's mantra.


 

offline euphonicfilter from illadelphia (United States) on 2006-01-04 09:16 [#01811733]
Points: 2443 Status: Addict



being an art-fuck...also...is not


 

offline plaidzebra from so long, xlt on 2006-01-04 09:17 [#01811734]
Points: 5678 Status: Lurker | Followup to euphonicfilter: #01811728



i'm not sure i agree that overthinking is a byproduct of
boredom. it seems to me that boredom is a symptom of
underthinking. people who are often bored are often
boring.

the problem is free time. we need to get to work on a
project, like building a pyramid or something. get our
hands dirty.


 

offline euphonicfilter from illadelphia (United States) on 2006-01-04 09:21 [#01811739]
Points: 2443 Status: Addict | Followup to plaidzebra: #01811734



yeah, thats actually a good idea

you have a point about boredom...

i just think a bunch of people who make annoying music that
is algorythmic or dodecahedral and just talk and talk and
overthink and overthink, it, is fucking lame

look at jazz...amazingly complex but very spur of the moment
not over processed...

its as bad as the kids who are into hiphop over-dissecting
that genre...yawn...


 

offline plaidzebra from so long, xlt on 2006-01-04 09:34 [#01811750]
Points: 5678 Status: Lurker | Followup to euphonicfilter: #01811739



true about jazz, but it's not usually the musicians in
either case who are overanalyzing the music, it's generally
the fans.

god knows a lot of bullshit has been written about jazz.

one reviewer back in the day even called miles davis'
seminal "kind of blue" album "maudlin." head over to my
blog and check my extensive analysis of this critical
misstep.


 

offline lupus yonderboy from 1970. (United Kingdom) on 2006-01-04 09:36 [#01811756]
Points: 1985 Status: Lurker




"i read almost every autechre and devine interview - and
they
always say things like -

- these are dodecahedronal beats
- that song tells the story of a soldier in iraqi
- this track is the sound interpretation of the colour
black "

never read anything like that complete bollocks. this thread
has too much shit in it to even begin to start shoveling.
autechre at times bend over backwards to make their music
non referential, could we lose the homophobia too please.


 

offline plaidzebra from so long, xlt on 2006-01-04 09:38 [#01811761]
Points: 5678 Status: Lurker | Followup to lupus yonderboy: #01811756



and you call yourself from very friendly!


 

offline euphonicfilter from illadelphia (United States) on 2006-01-04 09:42 [#01811765]
Points: 2443 Status: Addict



AHHH GAY PEOPLE RUUUUUUUUUUUUUN !!!!

youre right about jazz but thats the fans, as you said...

electronic cats are the ARTISTS doing it...it would be like
listening to miles davis moan on and on about his music

he'd rather do heroin and chill...good man !


 

offline mappatazee from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2006-01-04 09:45 [#01811769]
Points: 14294 Status: Lurker



this thread is stupid


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2006-01-04 09:46 [#01811770]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



I zpek for meshelf whne I say: I don't think!


 

offline lupus yonderboy from 1970. (United Kingdom) on 2006-01-04 10:04 [#01811793]
Points: 1985 Status: Lurker



as far as i'm concerned if you make something new it will
provoke people depending on their character. the reactions
say much more about the individual that the work of art. i'd
argue against jazz being spontaneous too, it's no more
spontaneous than a max patch, a musician still has to invest
countless hours learning and practising to get to the
position where the music can be generated. you analyse to
learn, once you've learnt you synthesize using a different
part of the brain. its natural. as to the analysis of
material that is passed of as random, even a basic random
number generator sounds completely predictable. elitist
concerns only raise themselves when taste is used as an
isolated indicator of identity, rather than a more robust
barometer like morality. superfical.


 

offline Combo from Sex on 2006-01-04 10:07 [#01811794]
Points: 7540 Status: Regular | Followup to sadist: #01811700



thx dude !!!


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-01-04 10:18 [#01811809]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker | Followup to lupus yonderboy: #01811756



of course they did. don't make me search for quotes.


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-01-04 10:22 [#01811818]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



"i'd argue against jazz being spontaneous too, it's no more
spontaneous than a max patch"

imho - the bond between a musical intrument and a human is
much stornger than human and a computer environment.



 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2006-01-04 10:23 [#01811820]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to sadist: #01811818 | Show recordbag



a computer is an instrument like any other.


 

offline lupus yonderboy from 1970. (United Kingdom) on 2006-01-04 10:25 [#01811823]
Points: 1985 Status: Lurker



it's exactly the same, just a different instrument. keys and
midi controls can be as expressive as keys on a piano.


 

offline dog_belch from Netherlands, The on 2006-01-04 10:37 [#01811842]
Points: 15098 Status: Addict | Show recordbag



Essentially music says the same things it has said since
year one, or ear one, as the case may be. This thing of
different instruments, computers, polygon rhythms, it's just
new forms to deliver the same essential ideas in an engaging
format.


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-01-04 10:40 [#01811846]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



computers weren't made to make music...


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-01-04 10:42 [#01811848]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



i mean we could go on like this for ours - it's near
impossible for me to imagine a computer being as musical as
an instrument. it's digital - never meant for making ANY
sound at all. a fucking alien!



 

offline euphonicfilter from illadelphia (United States) on 2006-01-04 10:51 [#01811852]
Points: 2443 Status: Addict



im behind sadist...no computer will ever be the instrument
that was sam cooke's voice...

no fucking way !


 

offline dog_belch from Netherlands, The on 2006-01-04 10:52 [#01811853]
Points: 15098 Status: Addict | Show recordbag



On no account overreact now, will you?


 

offline dog_belch from Netherlands, The on 2006-01-04 10:56 [#01811855]
Points: 15098 Status: Addict | Show recordbag



By all means bring up soul and jazz and dubious notions of
"authenticity".


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2006-01-04 11:00 [#01811858]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to sadist: #01811846 | Show recordbag



neither was wood.


 

offline glasseater from Switzerland on 2006-01-04 11:02 [#01811861]
Points: 531 Status: Regular



excellent answer


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-01-04 11:09 [#01811877]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker | Followup to Drunken Mastah: #01811858



fuck me that was actually a VERY excellent answer - i don't
know what to say


 

offline Ophecks from Nova Scotia (Canada) on 2006-01-04 11:37 [#01811923]
Points: 19190 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



mho - the bond between a musical intrument and a human
is
much stornger than human and a computer environment.

a computer is an instrument like any other.


Agreed, computers are rad, no more limiting or flawed than a
physical object with wind blowing through it, or vibrating
strings. You're no more or less liberated, it wails equally.
Plus you can't download porn on a trumpet.


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2006-01-04 11:37 [#01811925]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to sadist: #01811877 | Show recordbag



since this thread has "philosophic" in the title, I will be
very superficially philosophical right now.

music isn't about the instruments it is played on, it's
about the person making it. I made songs with screwdrivers
and washing machines.


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-01-04 11:55 [#01811941]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



ouch that was not really the direction i wanted this topic
to get...


 

offline isnieZot from pooptown (Belgium) on 2006-01-04 12:36 [#01811971]
Points: 4949 Status: Lurker



well I think I'm gonna jump in.

sometimes I think music is being overanalysed so much that
it comepletly destroys its "musicness". sure music can have
a meaning. that meaning (if there is one) comes in the first
place from the creator of the song. the creator can send you
in a direction with a songtitle, maybe some atmospheric
sounds, lyrics, it depends. but when you look at autechre.
or devine and their songtitles for example "gelk", "Sim
gishel" or all of the others you can't really imagine what
these things are. it's just guessing most of the time. have
you ever seen a sim gishel? I know I haven't. so it's mostly
up to the listener what he makes of it. another example is
John Cage with his track "in a landscape". with the
tracktitle he gives you a direction of where he wants you to
go or think of when you listen to it. but what kind of
landscape or where, is all up to you. so allot of it is just
interpretation. but when I listen to "in a landscape" I
don't think of landscapes.

and also when richard devine says in an interview:
"that is made completely with algorythmic patterns"
"- these are dodecahedronal beats"

will it make you listen to the song differently.
I think dog_belch said it right that music says what it
always has been saying but in a slightly different way.

there is also this on going discussion about art always
having to be explainable. I don't think so. sometimes there
is a moment where you feel I dunno...it's hard to explain.
;) a moment where you just feel inspired or just wanting to
express something that's in you without knowing what it is.
but does that make it inferiour to an artwork where there is
300 pages of meaning to?

I'd rather just talk about this then writing. so I'm gonna
stop now



 

offline isnieZot from pooptown (Belgium) on 2006-01-04 12:41 [#01811976]
Points: 4949 Status: Lurker



ok one more thing.

sometimes I feel that they are just saying the stuff about
their songs just because it never had a meaning at first.
and by just inventing something they can explain it to
others and to themselves probably.

in an interview would you rather say "I made these shithot
uberfucking complex beats because I think it's cool"

or "well, I was inspired by a river that I saw on my trip to
*insert country here* and I tryed to capture its essence"

somehow I'm just overanalysing this myself. :)


 

offline swears from junk sleep on 2006-01-04 12:43 [#01811977]
Points: 6474 Status: Lurker | Followup to dog_belch: #01811842



Martin Amis once said that the same stories have been
written over and over again, but that the style of writing
changes, you know, whenever a James Joyce or JD Salinger
type comes along.

I would say that with music, the medium is often the message
in a lot of ways. I think people like Brian Eno or Green
Gartside or Aphex Twin have explored territory in music that
gives you an ambivalent reaction. You're never really sure
which emotions or reactions are appropriate, and eventually
you stop caring. That, in my opinion is a relatively new
thing.
I tend to go on feeling rather than thinking when it comes
to music.


 

offline obara from Utrecht on 2006-01-04 13:04 [#01811991]
Points: 19377 Status: Regular



1."afterwards i played some confield tunes - with the same
effect. " - details please ?

2."isn't that all bullshit they tell?" - what kind of story
do you expect behind autechre tracks mate ?


 

offline Combo from Sex on 2006-01-04 13:21 [#01812003]
Points: 7540 Status: Regular | Followup to obara: #01811991



1. boner

2. love stories with your wife probably


 

offline obara from Utrecht on 2006-01-04 13:23 [#01812006]
Points: 19377 Status: Regular | Followup to Combo: #01812003



1.combo = tridenti's dupe

2. who told you i'm married ?


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2006-01-07 16:56 [#01814001]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker | Followup to obara: #01811991



1. m girlfriend having different ideas of pictures to the
music

2. the truth :D - i mean something like - that song is me
pooping, something more realistic


 


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