Discovering Electronic Music::Old School

Part I

This is entertaining and dated, yet we still learn all these things when we begin. An interesting primer . . . I love the opening montage and the fetishism of the old ways (patch cords).



Part II

The second part is all about synthesis and specifically imitation of acoustic instruments and sampling. The narrator refers to the guy in front of the synthesizer as 'the operator.' This is odd -- perhaps musician? I like the interface at the end of this section. Very kewl and practical. The ability to play the Bach backwards and forwards, in different keys, upside down, etc., however is not very earth shattering -- afterall, this is how Bach earned his bread and better throughout his career.



Part III

Continuing this thread, the last section ends in the Utopian tone of the technocrat and a mildly amusing demonstration of what this new technology can do. The narrator says, "A whole new world of creative possibilities has been opened to the musician through electronic music." Really, are those punch cards, the light pen, and the looped sounds new possibilities or simply artifacts of a new technology that must be circumnavigated and overcome in order to realize music?


I think we need to question these things. For it is technology that changes society, our tools directly impact the way we conceive reality, and, thus, the way we make art. I have come to understand that music technology (these new creative tools) are not simply helping us produce music more 'efficiently,' but changing what music is.