[
Date Prev][
Date Next] [
Thread Prev][
Thread Next]
[
Date Index][
Thread Index][
Author Index]
Re: Frippertronic label - a possible reason?
Title: Re: Frippertronic label - a possible
reason?
At 7:28 AM -0800 11/19/01, rich wrote:
i'm really feeling guilty for my
liner notes, where my credits of 'loops and treatments' is a direct,
intentional cop from mr. eno. and 'bass vibrations' a direct and
intentional cop from spacemen3.
Sometimes it's OK and even desirable to adopt someone else's
terminology, sometimes possibly not. "Treatments" is a
pretty good descriptor, and I see no reason to shy away from using it.
On the other had (to cite a specific example) when Boyd Rice (Non)
used the term "rhythm and noise" to describe what he did on
a particular recording, the leader of the band Rhythm and Noise was
justifiably annoyed.
Language been the fluid and organic entity that it is, we'll
observe all sorts of appropriations, modifications, reassignments, and
even inversions of meaning for words and phrases coined to represent
new ideas and techniques. Sometimes the private terms used by original
creators get generalized and sometimes they are forgotten when some
snappier term flies over the transom. As far as I know, the term
"minimalism" was not used by the practitioners of the music
it later came to describe (I remember using the phrase "pattern
music" in the late '70s to describe the music of Riley, Reich,
and Glass).
For my own practice I try to use the most precise and/or
generic terms I can find, while trying to avoid "brand names."
The trick is to balance precision and generality. "Soundscape"
is an example of a term that was originally designed by R. Murray
Schafer to be both inclusive and explicit: "The sonic
environment. Technically, any portion of the sonic environment
regarded as a field for study. The term may refer to actual
environments, or to abstract constructions such as musical
compositions and tape montages, particularly when considered as an
environment." However, I've also found this: "The
characteristic types of sound commonly heard in a given period or
location. For example, the late nineteenth-century American
soundscape was largely limited to unamplified, live sounds, while the
soundscape of the mid twenties included radio, electrically recorded
disks, and public address, as well as live music, theater, and an
increasing number of unmuffled motors..." (Rick Altman: Sound
Theory/Sound Practice)
--
______________________________________________________________
Richard Zvonar, PhD
(818) 788-2202
http://www.zvonar.com
http://RZCybernetics.com
http://www.cybmotion.com/aliaszone
http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?autostart=rz
