John Cage on The Meaning of Sound

"I love sounds for what they are, and I have no need for them to be anything more than what they are."

Herbie Hancock & Quincy Jones on the Fairlight CMI

"These instruments were designed for people to use… for PEOPLE to use. It's just a tool, another tool, the way an axe can be a tool to cut wood to build a house, or it can be a tool to slaughter your neighbor."

Laurie Spiegel on Electronic Music

Though this previously unreleased (and sadly incomplete) footage from a 1985 interview with electronic music pioneer and secret crush Laurie Spiegel only lasts about twelve minutes, it took me at least three times that long to finish it. This wasn't due to any sense of boredom or confusion, but rather that her statements felt so perpetually "right on" that I kept pausing and rewinding the video in an effort to write them down. I'd hoped that a pithy quote from the interview would motivate a few readers enough to make it through the first couple of minutes of non-Laurie footage and into the really good stuff, but I suppose this meta-anecdote will have to do.

Most interesting to me is just how relevant her comments on the role of computers in the music making process are to my experiences more than twenty-five years later. While I feel that the "time saving" aspect of computer-based composition vs. traditional pen and staff paper has had perhaps less expected repercussions (e.g. for a computer, playing the same musical phrase one hundred times is as easy as playing it one time. Thus: house music), her thoughts on the value of creative discovery through interaction with an instrument (electronic or otherwise) vs. using that instrument to realize an already-formed idea perfectly describes a significant component of my compositional process. Not to mention her thoughts on how the new sonic possibilities made available by electronic instruments broaden the scope of what constitutes "music," or the performance possibilities that emerge when one is freed from strict interactions with limbs and notes, or... actually, just watch the interview.

Here's a clip of the performance she mentions in the interview:

Finally, it might interest you to note that the YouTube user that posted these interview videos is... Laurie Spiegel herself.

John Cleese on Creativity

UPDATE 6/29/12: CoCreate just posted a writeup on a more recent Cleese creativity lecture. It's a nice overview and update to the one presented above, but the video is still well worth watching. Thanks to Deepa for the link!

Collaboration: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Electronic music production can be -- and for me usually is -- a solitary endeavor. I've experimented with collaboration over the years, and while there have been successes (a couple ongoing, in fact) I still usually feel most comfortable writing music alone- at my own pace and on my own schedule.

I think it's important to recognize, however, that just because this is the way I'm used to working, it's not necessarily the most efficient, productive or even creative approach for me personally. I've long recognized that pushing boundaries and forcing myself to explore outside of my comfort zone is a valuable habit when it comes to generating creative energy; perhaps I simply have yet to stumble upon the right angle of attack when it comes to writing in synergy with others.

In considering the myriad "ways of being" in an collaboration with other artists, I consider Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' work on "The Social Network" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" soundtracks incredibly compelling case studies in effective musical partnership. Have a look:

Finger Drumming Heroes

The performance setup I've been developing for the past couple of years relies heavily on triggering a bunch of audio loops with an APC40, then manipulating them with effects and rearranging them (to an extent) with my 8x8 monome. This has worked well, but as time has passed this fairly abstract approach (relative to playing a traditional instrument, for example) has left me feeling more and more detached from the music that I'm making.

Figuring out how to manage an orchestra's worth of instruments by oneself is something I once dubbed the "Perpetual Performance Problem." It's an issue that pretty much every performing electronic musician has to address- one that underlies everything from DJ culture to traditional bands playing backing tracks, to more recent developments in what's come to be known as Controllerism. One of the oldest approaches -- and in my mind one of the most successful -- is finger drumming.

As I embark on a serious rethinking of the way I perform my music, you'd better believe I'll be carefully evaluating the work of these finger drumming masters.


Jeremy Ellis


Araab Muzik



Edison

Sound Design Hero: Diego Stocco

In an era when musicians (electronic and otherwise) have literally thousands of high-quality digital instruments at their disposal, each with tens-to-thousands of immediately accessible preset patches, it's become frighteningly easy to ignore the once crucial art of conceptualizing and executing a "sound idea" from scratch. I've been as guilty as anyone of relying on soft-synth presets as a kicking-off point for my instrument designs, which is why I find the work of artists like Diego Stocco so inspiring.

Here's a glimpse into Diego's process for fabricating the sound of a fairly abstract DTS logo spot:



Beyond his obvious technical proficiency, I'm most impressed by the way he's able to conceptualize the final aural result, then construct the sonic components of that result piece-by-piece. I'd love to know how solid his ideas were pre-recording: did he have a firm idea of what he wanted from the beginning and stick to it, or did his ideas evolve in the process?

Mr. Stocco also works on less-abstract (but no less compelling) sound pieces, including music for soundtracks. Here's a short piece showing the construction and recording of his "Experibass":



Sound design has become a larger and more important part of my compositional process as I've become a more experienced producer, and it's incredibly exciting for me to learn about how others are using non-traditional (or perhaps more-traditional-but-since-forgotten?) sound sources and recording techniques to create truly original music.

For a start on more about Diego Stocco, check out his YouTube channel and his Bandcamp page.

Interviews with Clint Mansell

One of my favorite film composers (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, Black Swan) shares his thoughts on the process and the industry.

• 10 Quick Questions: Clint Mansell
• ScoreKeeper: Clint Mansell

A Visit With Ulrich Schnauss

A great glimpse into the mind and studio of Ulrich Schnauss. If you aren't familiar with his music, I hope this will convince you to change that ASAP!

Auto-Interviews: New and Old

Amon Tobin On Production

Just rediscovered this excellent interview with Amon Tobin in Sound on Sound.  It's from 2003, but his comments on production and arrangement are as relevant now as ever (though his complaints about the reliability of the first Final Scratch audio interface are mercifully no longer of much interest).

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Apr03/articles/amontobin.asp

Amon Tobin On DJing

Life lessons from one of the best producers (and best DJs for that matter) of our era. I think this pretty much sums up why it's so frustrating to me that electronic music is inexorably associated with "DJ Culture" in so many peoples' minds.

Brian Eno - Another Green World (documentary)

While the point could be argued that we too often elevate well-known artists to the status of demi-God geniuses, I think few would argue that Brian Eno's life and work have done the heavy lifting for him. Inspiring to say the least.

Untitled from Fjb on Vimeo.

History, Pt. 2

Time to get back to our (my?) roots.

NIN: The Making of the "Closer" Video from Nine Inch Nails on Vimeo.

The Downward Spiral is one of the most personally significant albums I've had the luck of encountering in my lifetime. Wonderfully, though, the genius didn't end with the music. These are thirty minutes well spent.