On 11/4/07, JT Stewart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > You know what my problem REALLY is with this whole line of thought? > It's a line of thought you pretty much only get from Techno music > fans, and it directly ties technological advance and "the future" to > the development of Techno music. It's a certain attitude towards > Techno music. I hate it. It's nonsense IMO. The futuristic and sci-fi > themes in Techno are romantic and appealing, but they aren't reality. > Techno can be sound-design music, but it doesn't need to obsess about > re-inventing sound. Techno is now music, it's not from the future and > it doesn't predict the future. All this talk about the end of music, > running out of genres...what a load. I really wish Techno would get > comfortable in it's own shoes, and put composition, songwriting, > creativity.. ie MUSIC first. Despite the delusions of some, it isn't > fundamentally different from most genres of music out there, yet by > and large Techno fans keep insisting it is and ostracizing themselves > and their music from the rest of the music world, and keep > prioritizing things that in no way represent good music. I am really > turned off by the idea that Techno music has to keep up with > technology, that it is some sort of technology in itself, that > innovation equals progress equals good. It is an overarching theme > that for me explains why so much Techno and electronic music sucks, it > has misguided priorities, embarrassingly naive priorities. When it > comes down to it, Techno is just a particular style of synthesized > music. As in ANY other genre of music, technology and "new" sounds > have absolutely nothing to do with what makes a particular song good > or not. Stylistic progression is one thing, but many Techno fans > essentially dream about reinventing music. It's music as a science > experiment. That's fine, but that's bringing audio engineering and > audio theory into music, and it is not to be confused with music. > Emphasizing the audio science is annoying to me, as a music fan, and > it's especially annoying when people confuse it with music -- > resulting in people acknowledging music is great, but then dismissing > it for not being "innovative"...how stupid, how wrong-headed, > delusional, pretentious, and self-defeating to look to music for a > technology fix. Music is a means of emotional expression. What makes a > great song is really poignant expression, emotional power, and good > writing. While in Techno music you might incorporate a little science > experiment in sound, it is a very distant second to the > expression...Of course pretension and art go hand in hand, but I am > tired of the BS. My vision for the radical next step in Techno music > -- a re-prioritization that puts all that hokey > futuristic/innovation/"newness" crap out of the discourse, that > separates the music from the audio theory and scientific > delusions/obsessions, that finally makes Techno comfortable to just be > music. FFS!!
this is a really direct way of saying the exact same thing i have been trying to say! if you want to study sound waves and how they interact either acoustically or electronically, you should do it! it is really interesting stuff. my signal processing classes are wonderfully entertaining. but it is not music. tmo
