[microsound] diffusion as an art-form

[Damian Stewart]

 > Randolph Jordan wrote:
 >> greg g wrote:
>> i'd rather just listen to it at home
> One of the key reasons why concerts of pre-recorded music are presented 
> in public is so that the music can be heard from a better source, on a 
> better sound system, and in a better space than most of us have access 
> to at home. 

this makes the interesting assumption that better sound system == better 
music.

i'm not sure about that. one of my issues with the academic 'system' (i 
speak from my point of reference, which is the Birmingham school of 
compositional ideas to which my university subscribed) is a requirement 
that the gear be top-notch, that all the DACs/ADCs be totally noise free, 
that the monitor speakers in the studio be $50k beasts, all in the pursuit 
of making the technology as transparent (== colourless) as possible, 
therefore allowing the music its fullest expression.

i think this is bollocks, and symptomatic of an important disconnect 
between laptop music and non-laptop music (laptop improv/noise, where the 
laptop is treated like a fancy guitar pedal in a more traditional feedback 
loop, is another matter) -- namely, laptop music is all about the 'sound', 
which really doesn't matter so much in most other forms of music. the 
people who do well playing laptop ( 
http://evolvingmusic.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/girl-talk.jpg ) 
acknowledge the social aspect...

-- 
damian stewart | skype: damiansnz | damian at frey.co.nz
frey | live art with machines | http://www.frey.co.nz