Re: Or, the occasionally opaque veil of opinion

[sine@zerocrossing.net]

Not talking about the portland loopfest (or any other loop shows I've seen)
I'd like to say that I'm not really sure what you mean by "Transparent
technology."  Unless you're singing in an open field, you are using some 
sort
of technology.  Some technologies are more "mature" than others, in the 
sense
that they do what they're meant to do well, and are understood and 
utilized by
artists to achieve their goals.  This can be a gray area for sure.  Some 
art
is about how technology works and effects us.  It is it's own point and 
can be
annoying, as the technology can be.

In the scope of world history what we're doing is *really* new.  There 
will be
bumps in the road.  I remember listening to Adrian Belew's "Desire Caught 
By
The Tail" and thinking, "Adrian's got a new Guitar Synth and he wanked 
around
with it and made an album."  All but a few tracks seemed thin in the 
content
world... unless you think of them as an album about the GR-300.  (not sure 
if
this was the model, but you know...)  Later I read an interview where 
Adrian
basically confirms what I'm saying, so there you have it.

But he stuck with the Guitar Synth and quickly learned how to *use* it,
instead of showcasing it's features.  This is difficult.  A lot of gear 
can be
overwhelming.  One must work in a sensitive way and all the time LISTEN.  I
played at Mat's Switch Show and what I found interesting is that some of 
the
best stuff seemed to happen when musicians were all of the sudden thrust 
with
new people using different instruments.  I think it was because that's when
people really started listening to each other.  This is something we all 
have
to strive for, and believe me, I know I can be guilty of getting lost in 
what
I'm doing.  This is especially bad when you're shooting for purely 
improvised
music, and double plus bad if it's experimental.  There's a difference 
between
playing "noise" and making noise.  Many are not sensitive to this 
difference.
Many listeners are not sensitive to the difference either, and this often 
can
lead to bad reviews of great shows.  (I have no way of knowing if this is 
the
case in Portland)  Sometimes however, people are just wanking, and that's 
kind
of OK too if that's what they like to do and they can find people who like 
to
listen to wanking.

Oh well, I'm just rambling now.

Mark Sottilaro

"S.P. Goodman" wrote:

> I don't believe however that technology should "add" to my music, instead
> that it be as transparent as possible to my hoped-for/intended result