Experiment...

[vijayan]

Hi Everyone !

Nice to see so many people in here ! I was away from my computer/noise setup for a long time, so I'm trying to catch up by making a piece of music every day Sounds silly, but it is interesting exploring creativity this way. I usually let the music 'happen', so it works kinda ok for me to make a new piece in a short while. I'm putting up the songs Here as I make them (well, there is some time delay cus I don't have internet connection at home : ) Thought I'd just share the idea with others. I find I have already learned a lot more about the software and synths I use over the last 6 days than in the last one year. I just wish I had more time to spend playing around with this stuff..... (if you are gonna chek out the webpage, I like the pieces I made on june 17 and june 19 )

Take care everyone !
Peace.
Samy

[mosc]

Welcome back, Swamy.

Doing a piece every day is a great technique for developing your creative skills.

You are certainly getting more experimental. I like this stuff. June 19th is quite nice. I like it a lot.

[vijayan]

Thanks Mosc

[Anthrosand]

Think youve got a blinding idea there - making music every day

HOWEVER,

I thought you meant making a "tune" every day. I listened to June 24th and to be honest I dont get it.

I suggest you do something with the noises rather than just recording a Wav file of you crunching some paper. If your serious try turning the various sounds into rythms or layering them using the space available

I suppose you throw up the question of "what is music" which is interesting and you got me thinking......but I just dont buy it...sorry

[mosc]

Anthrosand, he's doing this as a creative exercise, not to produce finished musical product. Photographers take hundreds of photos for every keeper. Swamy is rather unique for putting is raw experiments on the net. There's nothing to get...

[ian-s]

[Michael Chocholak]

Hey, I think it's a great project! I think the pianopulse track stands on its own, like the water/drumming as well, and all the others are at least sonically interesting.

I agree that immersing yourself in an instrument or piece of software will open a sorts of doors you never imagined were there. I haven't set out on an actual project like this (although I think that aspect is very cool as well), but I've spent the last two weeks working into the wee hours every night with a new piece of software. I've written 10 new pieces that I am quite pleased with (which I will post once ElectronicScene gets it new act together). I also have file after file of things I probably will never use, but which enlightened me about the programming or the dynamics of wave formation. Viva obsession!

Anyway, great project. I'll continue to drop in and am anxious to see how it progresses.

[vijayan]

Heyyyy ! Gee, thanks for the interest guys Didn't have access to the internet for a while. I started the project more for myself... to challenge myself and see if I can learn something about the nature of creativity and stuff. Fun thing is so far I have been able to think up something interesting everyday, but to get it to sound right and structured seems the big problem. Typically I get around 2-3 hours of free time everyday these days, and I can't seem to be able to do any justice to the ideas. But I atleast can form some kinda database of stuff to work on when I get the time. Well, it is also an exercise in discipline... me's no good at routines and patterns and orderly things... so was thinking if I can really pull it off it'd be a useful study in that regard too. Honestly, it isn't that easy... couple of times I do some crap just so I can say I didn't give up

Makes me think.... is music simply a reality outside consciousness or is it the response sounds elicit from an attentive listener ? I go to some garage bands and punk shows, and the 'music' is totally distant. Doesn't affect me... only seems a bunch of sounds riding on rhythms. (definitely not true in general, but happens a lot) I find more interesting, sounds that affect you emotionally/psychologically. Always thought 'good' music draws you a lil bit away from yourself (being in the present moment ? ) , and interestingly it needn't only be 'music' which can do that. [I guess I mean the conventional notion of melody, harmony and rhyhm by music] A lot of time just the sound of footsteps is soooo intersting... there is a constancy in the beats and there are different sounds depending what you're stepping on..and the jingle of coins and bouncing of articles in your pockets. There's just soooo many sounds around you, incredible number ! that can affect you deeply if one can just listen to it. I was crumpling paper gently (passionately ? ; ) in front of a mic, and it made me cringe ! It was a relentless build up of tension and no release ! (the compression probably killed the nuances when I tried to record it : ) Theres just soo much more !

My argument is : is music simply an exploration of tones bound by rules, or is it everything that can bring out a response from you ? In either case you can harness sounds and structure it to play with emotions (tension/release, dymamics, tempo ... ? ) which I think is the essence of the art. hehehe... I have no musical background whatsoever so I feel a bit unqualified talking about it, hopefully I made a little sense at least

Ok, here's a treat for any world music lovers (sorry, it isn't elecro-acoustic, but what the hell, might inspire you This is a kind of music used to accompany southern Indian dance forms... it usually doesnt have words, just sounds , and is set to the scale of the raga. It is generally called a Thillana. Enjoy !

Swamy

[mosc]

Interesting music. I like Indian music.

I agree with you about any sound is available to be music.

I think one listens to music in the context of their cultural and personal experience. If the music and the experience don't match, then there is a a big loss of perception. If there is a match, then the connection can be very deep.

[Michael Chocholak]

Any sound is fair game. I spend a lot of time just listening to the world around me (a fairly Cagian meditational exercise I suppose). I used to carry a pocket recorder with me EVERYWHERE (until it developed a terminal motor hum) and I've got a draw full of tapes that I uses as raw material. (that crumpled paper makes great thunder if your drop it down a few octaves by the way). I love sound. And I love working with sounds; opening them up, breaking them down, manipulating them, building them back up again.

And the only rules are the laws of physics - and I wouldn't take them too seriously anymore.

Structure is subjective. I often immerse myself in the sounds I'm working with and in the process a structure coalesces.

Art can affect the emotions - or not. I think that a good piece of art is catalytic, cathartic. Even if it doesn't have an immediate impact, even if it is initially rejected by the recipient, it plants a seed that grows regardless. Good art elicits change.

I also agree with Howard about listening within the context of cultural & personal experience & perspective. But it can be an ongoing experience to broaden those perspectives as much as possible. For an artist I’d say it was a responsibility to always try and discover something new. Most people are stuck in a rut and can even react hostilely when exposed to something different. But again, good art is like guerilla warfare - it gets under their skin anyway.

Enjoyed the Thillana. I’ve got a limited but much appreciated collection of Indian music that gets played regularly in our household.

A few quotes;

"I refuse to submit to sounds that have already been heard." - Edgard Varese

"Rules do not make a work of art. You have the right to compose what you want to, the way you want to." - Debussy to Varese

"The raw material of music is sound.” - Varese

“Music is the corporealization of the intelligence that is in sound.” - Hoene Wronsky

“I am not a musician, but a worker in rhythms, frequencies, and intensities... after all what is music but organized noises?” - Varese

Check out Varese’s manifesto The Liberation of Sound