Are we folk musicians?

[mosc]

Since starting this site, I've discovered something most of us have know for a long time, there are thousands, maybe millions, of people making electronic music all over the world these days. The synthesizer, hard or soft, isn't yet as common as the guitar, but the guitars are becoming more like synthesizers. (Actually, guitars are quite dated). Everything is electronic, not just electric.

I don't know the definition of folk music, but it seems to me that electronic music is the folk music of this era. While this may not be strictly correct, I think there is a lot of truth to it.

Some music, like the Ether Bunnies, and perhaps the Norwegian music of Elektro80, have a definite connection with the folk music of the region where these musicians live. Other stuff, like Orbital Decay seems to be in a tradition of popular music but drawn through the die of electronics to become space music. Popular music is a form of folk music in my opinion,

Sorry for the typically sketchy thesis development, but, after all, this is Schmooze.

[egw]

Yes, I agree that electronic music is today's folk music, at least for many people. It's not ethnically or regionally based, but that's because of the internet. But it's music that is made by many non-professional musicians for their own enjoyment and for the sense of community it gives them. The tools are inexpensive and accessible to all. What is most often lacking in electronic music, compared to the folk tradition, is the creation of music in a group context. Too many electronic musicians are working alone on their computers and not making music with other people. I hope we can change that!

[Cyxeris]

Perhaps it is the folk music of a more transhumanized phase in our development as a species. Less restricted by locale and nationality (Norway, Italy, America, Belgium...), more open to and more fostering of experimentation and originality. The 21st century equivalent, perhaps.

What I enjoy is the lack of uniformity amongst the various artists, the seemingly increasing degree of individuality, in the majority of the music I run across. It would appear that with the escelation in the variety of tools available to us, the less we tend to imitate others. The less restriction and confinement, the more the individual emerges. What a concept, and we're only in the opening stages of this. What a bloody great time to have been born.

Cyx