Derivative?

[HarryEsq@aol.com]

I enjoyed the "notlad" stuff on mp3.com - as previously alluded to, i think 
there's no way to neatly summarize all of the influences that may come to 
bear on modern music - however, it is clear that jazz has influenced on the 
improvisitory side and made it possible for people to digest the idea of 
improvisation as a matter of course, ie, without always going "what the ____ 
is that?" - people making music now are the product of so many influences 
that are themselves amalgams of so many influences - kind of like a loop? 

i think i'm a primary example - i grew up playing piano, sax and clarinet - i 
learned how to play the mandolin because my banjo playing friend learned how 
to play dixieland and i thought it was a fair trade off to have me be able to 
play fiddle tunes - now i play with all of those things and apply the 
electronic aspects to them - i'm not sure where i'm going with the music, but 
i find it interesting and alot of fun - i have faith that this is all leading 
somewhere - while my influences are clearly jazz, i have lots of folk, 
bluegrass, blues, rock&roll, classical, ethnic and noise/soundscape 
influences as well - i trust it will all come through in an interesting way - 

speaking of which, my kids (14, 11 & 5) have grown up listening to my rather 
eclectic collection of music and sounds and i was amazed to find that each of 
them really dug my most recent soundscape type of experiment - i took a 
snippet of a speech by Spiro Agnew from 1969 (you know, the one in which he 
alleges that the media is anti-american and is controlled by a small group of 
new york media elite) and looped it in cubase - the phrase is "small group of 
men" - then applied  a rotating bundle of effects from my MPX500 and DL4 - it 
starts off legible and wanders, at times sounding like a big band is behind 
it, like a clarinet and saxophone chorus is behind it - and of course, the 
words get mashed to the point where it sounds like he's saying "some kind of 
madness" - which i thought was particularly appropriate - there's a rhythmic 
quality to the results that i find interesting - but i loved it when my 11 
year old insisted that i take "small group of men" in the car with us so he 
could hear it on the way to dinner - he actually sat with me afterwards and 
listened to all 68 minutes of this!!  i feel redeemed - i may be obsessed 
with music and sound, and not exactly the most normal dad, but this 
experience made me feel like i must be doing something right?

harry