Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] Re: [ardour-dev] eno tells me to give up
From: Jason (hormonex_AT_yankthechain.com)
Date: Mon Nov 05 2001 - 12:09:01 EET
interesting. I find it interesting that from your stated thesis you
dismiss live music. When I
hear a computer program that can improvise like jimi hendrix or miles
davis or even one of the thousands of mediocre bar bands bashing out free
bird every tuesday night at the chinese restaurant down the street, then
maybe they'll have something.
Seriously though, I find it interesting that this sort of thing is finally
seeping out into the larger world of electronic music, when it's
essentially an idea that has been present in other genres for decades
[see eno's hero john cage] if not centuries [see all "classical" music up
to
and including the early classical period where there was a heavy emphasis
on spontaneity and improvisation.]Not to mention folk music's oral
traditions which give new life to old songs every time they are tackled by
new musicians.
The reason that's interesting is that recording technology came about as a
means of taking a snapshot of a musical performance so that it could be
shared with a wider audience than would be possible otherwise.
"electronic" music's paradigm is actually the newcomer on the scene in
that sense, where the recorded music actually IS the performance. I can
see how it might seem like a revolutionary idea to have evolving pieces,
but it really seems kind of old hat, not to mention of dubious artistic
value, to me.
On Mon, 5 Nov 2001, Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> To the ardour users:
>
> Don't you think it is a bit rash to instantly dismiss Brian Eno?
>
> What particularly interests me is the paragraph about how the Koan works
> (see below). The idea that one piece of music could be infinitely
> transforming is very zen. Throw in a bit of chaos theory for good
> measure. Eno IMO is taking the stance that digital music as art is not
> cutting the mustard.
>
> In that sense I agree. I am much more interested in evolving digital
> music that static copies of someones headspace. We have all this power
> at our fingertips and so many great thinkers around but at the moment it
> seems the best most of us can do is come up with a way of capturing a
> moment.
>
> I can see how someone as experienced as Eno has become bored of
> listening to recorded history. How many years has he been essentially
> recording the past for people to sell and call "new music"? Everyone
> who has ever cut an album will know that the final product is never
> truely representative of where they are at musically and artistically
> once it is finished. The whole process of doing an album leads to
> greater understanding of the artform and growth as an artist.
>
> Then after all that many people buy into the concept of going on the
> road and performing exact replicas of the cd/score so that people can
> hear what it sounds like through a really big sound system.
>
> To put it frankly that process is pretty boring for the majority of
> music.
>
> However that is the traditional approach.
>
> -----------
> I have sent this to LAU because it could form an interesting discussion.
> The thread is from the ardour list. It is about an interview Brian Eno
> gave in which he states that current composing techniques (where the
> result is that the music is the same every time you listen to it) and
> tools (eg. protools, soundforge...) have produced soulless unfunky music
> and we will look back on this era with boredom.
>
> This is the url to the article:
> http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,47670,00.html
>
> This is an excerpt from the Koan website describing their "tool"
>
> --------
> The SSEYO Koan Music Engine (SKME)
>
> Playback system and generative music, real-time event generator
> A powerful music engine is a key component of an interactive audio
> platform. It has specific application whenever there is a requirement
> to:
>
> generate music in response to external events (i.e. context sensitive
> music /audio for games)
> deliver non-looping rule-based backing tracks or sound effects (i.e.
> games or webpages)
> allow users to personalise or create audio or music without requiring a
> high degree of musical skill
> describe entire pieces of music in an ultra-compressed format
>
> The SKME is fully real-time programmable rule-based musical event
> generator. It creates fully polyphonic harmonized audio output from a
> parametric description of music and sequence structures. It can be
> considered an ?expansion? technology in that it can generate on-the-fly
> a wealth of music and audio content from settings of the relevant Koan
> parameters and rules. These parameters are supported within the Koan
> audio vector format.
>
> With its tight coupling to the SKSE (which ensures that performances are
> consistent across all platforms that use the SKME), the SKME can provide
> even greater leverage to deliver music and audio over low-bandwidth
> connections. It also delivers enhanced creativity solutions for e.g.
> remixing or augmenting artist?s sample based audio tracks.
>
> How it works
>
> Whenever a rule-based Koan track is played, the SKME interprets the
> parameter settings contained within the Koan file or audio vector to
> "compose" in real-time the audio
> track. The audio ?occurs? as the SKME sends information, which is
> rendered either through the SKSE or through any supported MIDI device.
> The audio tracks created can span the complete range from being
> completely fixed (like a music score) through to being completely
> free-composed.
> The SKME can be manipulated in real-time by an host application to
> accommodate or reflect changes in the state of the host application.
> This facility means that enriched
> audio environments can be built and customized on the fly, through
> manipulation of the rules and parameters on which the content is based.
> This is an essential feature when creating personalised (and potentially
> database driven) audio experiences. It would be simply impossible to
> pre-record the material required, where the outcome space
> is effectively infinite.
> Additionally, as the Koan engine supports sequencing of patterns, it can
> be used effectively to deliver structured non-musical events. These can
> be "built" from audio
> fragments or triggered as discrete events - this has applications in the
> area of delivering speech-related effects.
>
> The 4 key areas surrounding the creation of Koan music (Koan supports
> over 200 parameters) are the sound palette, the music rules, any 'seed'
> patterns used and the
> interrelationships between the various components in the Koan piece.
> -----------
>
>
>
-- YankTheChain.com - You can pretend we're not here. That's what I do.,
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