Have you ever listened to a cd of ambient noises, such as rushing water or a crackling fire? The answer may be “yes” or “no”, but the real question is this: Do you consider sounds such as these ‘music’ ? I never really gave that question much thought until I read this article about the music of Oneohtrix Point Never — a musician named Daniel Lopatin who generates all of his sounds from a synthesizer using a number of different pedals. Fans gathered around the stage to hear the music of Oneohtrix Point Never at a concert last Friday, and were mesmerized by the relaxing sounds.
Check out the article here.
I guess the answer to the above question is ultimately up to the listener. For myself, the answer is yes!
Here is a song by Oneohtrix Point Never.
I found Oneohtrix Point Never to be an extremely refreshing way to define music! It is so interesting to think about the number of sounds we hear in our everyday lives that could potentially be called music if we want them to be, such as water dripping in a constant beat from the faucet or even wind chimes in the backyard. It is all about your perspective. In addition, this entry reminded me a bit of Alyssa’s entry. She blogged about music being made with ordinary household wine glasses. So interesting!
Interesting, but this is just the latest in a very long tradition of electronic musical media that stretches back to the 1950’s. The grand-daddy of this genre would be Edgard Varese’s “Poeme Electronique.” There is an interesting summary here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY5gQYfJe68
You can hear the entire piece here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCfjOkBlyrw
The basic technique is referred to as “musique concrete” because it is created entirely of tape recordings that are manipulated: sped up, slowed down, electronically processed, played backwards, etc. and spliced together.