Museum Musica

Zhanteimi · 11-12-2018, 10:46 PM

Silence

I read a disparaging comment about a rather poorly-received album (which shall go unnamed) yesterday: "this album is so bad, my time would have been more meaningfully spent sitting in silence." That sentiment struck me because I immediately thought, "well, yes, because silence can be profoundly meaningful if used right."

And that got me thinking about silence, its nature, and how its used not only by the listener but the musician.

We all know silence can be used to great effect in music--the artistic pause and whatnot--but I wonder how other listeners use silence in their listening habits. For example, I limit myself to a certain amount of music in a day, and when I reach that limit, I spend the rest of the day in silence. I will also take one month out of the year and listen to nothing, to reboot my brain and spirit, as it were.

Silence is something that excites me, too, in avant music, especially when it's used in avant-garde jazz or avant-prog. I love how the musicians can use silence as part of the structure and how it can have its own "sound".

I'm not a deep thinker, and I'm just kind of rambling here, hoping to inject some more content into my journal, so what do you guys think about silence? Any thoughts or ideas? Any listening practices to share with us? And for you musicians, any ways you like to use silence in your compositions?

As my wife told me when I brought this topic up, "We live in a society full of noise, with sound at our fingertips, and it takes effort to come to understand silence as a positive 'thing', as a setting in its own right, rather than a mere absence or lack."

I'm especially interested in hearing Frownland's and innerspaceboy's thoughts on this topic, as I know they have clear, strong opinions on it.

OccultHawk · 11-13-2018, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zhanteimi

.

Shhhhh

rostasi · 11-13-2018, 08:31 AM

I could talk a long time about silence.
I could sit silent - sounds in my head.

When you're in a music mood, you may want to check out Edition Wandelweiser recordings.

Also, Another Timbre has some wonderful things sounding.

Zhanteimi · 11-14-2018, 06:30 PM

Zappa and the Music Video

In 1984, MTV made a big mistake by interviewing one of its biggest critics, Frank Zappa, and during the interview, the man dismantled the TV station piece by piece as he complained about the direction music was taking in the 80s, specifically with regards to ubiquity of the music video. He rants on about how people aren't consuming music; they're consuming a product, and the music video is nothing but a four-minute commercial for the album.

Zappa says he'd never make it in the new music landscape because he doesn't wear diagonal zippers or have science-fiction hair. He criticizes the music of that time for being nothing more than product.

And MTV was just the beginning. I wonder what he'd think of YouTube...

The other day I was sharing some music with my students, and they were a bit perturbed. "Doesn't it have a video?" they asked, and that made me think of this Zappa interview.

Does music need a video? Is that the expected thing now? One cannot be interested in the music unless there is also the visual titillation?

What do you guys think of Zappa's (admittedly outdated) criticisms? He couldn't have predicted all the experimental labels and music coming out now.

How do you listen to music? Is the video essential to your listening habits?

**Frownland** · 11-14-2018, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zhanteimi

Silence

I read a disparaging comment about a rather poorly-received album (which shall go unnamed) yesterday: "this album is so bad, my time would have been more meaningfully spent sitting in silence." That sentiment struck me because I immediately thought, "well, yes, because silence can be profoundly meaningful if used right."

And that got me thinking about silence, its nature, and how its used not only by the listener but the musician.

We all know silence can be used to great effect in music--the artistic pause and whatnot--but I wonder how other listeners use silence in their listening habits. For example, I limit myself to a certain amount of music in a day, and when I reach that limit, I spend the rest of the day in silence. I will also take one month out of the year and listen to nothing, to reboot my brain and spirit, as it were.

Silence is something that excites me, too, in avant music, especially when it's used in avant-garde jazz or avant-prog. I love how the musicians can use silence as part of the structure and how it can have its own "sound".

I'm not a deep thinker, and I'm just kind of rambling here, hoping to inject some more content into my journal, so what do you guys think about silence? Any thoughts or ideas? Any listening practices to share with us? And for you musicians, any ways you like to use silence in your compositions?

As my wife told me when I brought this topic up, "We live in a society full of noise, with sound at our fingertips, and it takes effort to come to understand silence as a positive 'thing', as a setting in its own right, rather than a mere absence or lack."

I'm especially interested in hearing Frownland's and innerspaceboy's thoughts on this topic, as I know they have clear, strong opinions on it.

Silence is the most personal way to reject egotism: you yourself and your direction of focus are silent and in doing so, you allow everything and anything else possible to take the stage. The true beauty in silence is not silence itself (true silence is something that none of us will ever experience), but rather it is what is not silent when you shut your ass up and stop expecting reality to hand you a glistening pop song.

"Silence" is the most exciting with minimal but frequent activity, like low traffic. Read some Cage, obviously. I'm basically just parroting him here.

Zhanteimi · 11-14-2018, 08:00 PM

Frown, how do you use silence in your own compositions? Or, a less boring question, what is the most recent way in which you actively and consciously employed silence as an aesthetic element in your work?

OccultHawk · 11-14-2018, 08:05 PM

90% of the music played on 120 Minutes was better than 90% of the music Zappa created.

**Frownland** · 11-14-2018, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zhanteimi

Frown, how do you use silence in your own compositions? Or, a less boring question, what is the most recent way in which you actively and consciously employed silence as an aesthetic element in your work?

I'm trying to let my music breathe a little more these days, but I don't really use silence in my work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

90% of the music played on 120 Minutes was better than 90% of the music Zappa created.

Agreed. Dude had no **** filter it seems.

Zhanteimi · 11-14-2018, 08:11 PM

TIL what 120 Minutes was.

Zhanteimi · 11-14-2018, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

90% of the music played on 120 Minutes was better than 90% of the music Zappa created.

But would you rank Zappa's best stuff as superlative within its genres?

11-12-2018, 10:46 PM	#971 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,873	Silence Silence I read a disparaging comment about a rather poorly-received album (which shall go unnamed) yesterday: "this album is so bad, my time would have been more meaningfully spent sitting in silence." That sentiment struck me because I immediately thought, "well, yes, because silence can be profoundly meaningful if used right." And that got me thinking about silence, its nature, and how its used not only by the listener but the musician. We all know silence can be used to great effect in music--the artistic pause and whatnot--but I wonder how other listeners use silence in their listening habits. For example, I limit myself to a certain amount of music in a day, and when I reach that limit, I spend the rest of the day in silence. I will also take one month out of the year and listen to nothing, to reboot my brain and spirit, as it were. Silence is something that excites me, too, in avant music, especially when it's used in avant-garde jazz or avant-prog. I love how the musicians can use silence as part of the structure and how it can have its own "sound". I'm not a deep thinker, and I'm just kind of rambling here, hoping to inject some more content into my journal, so what do you guys think about silence? Any thoughts or ideas? Any listening practices to share with us? And for you musicians, any ways you like to use silence in your compositions? As my wife told me when I brought this topic up, "We live in a society full of noise, with sound at our fingertips, and it takes effort to come to understand silence as a positive 'thing', as a setting in its own right, rather than a mere absence or lack." I'm especially interested in hearing Frownland's and innerspaceboy's thoughts on this topic, as I know they have clear, strong opinions on it. __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic

11-14-2018, 06:30 PM	#974 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,873	Zappa and the Music Video In 1984, MTV made a big mistake by interviewing one of its biggest critics, Frank Zappa, and during the interview, the man dismantled the TV station piece by piece as he complained about the direction music was taking in the 80s, specifically with regards to ubiquity of the music video. He rants on about how people aren't consuming music; they're consuming a product, and the music video is nothing but a four-minute commercial for the album. Zappa says he'd never make it in the new music landscape because he doesn't wear diagonal zippers or have science-fiction hair. He criticizes the music of that time for being nothing more than product. And MTV was just the beginning. I wonder what he'd think of YouTube... The other day I was sharing some music with my students, and they were a bit perturbed. "Doesn't it have a video?" they asked, and that made me think of this Zappa interview. Does music need a video? Is that the expected thing now? One cannot be interested in the music unless there is also the visual titillation? What do you guys think of Zappa's (admittedly outdated) criticisms? He couldn't have predicted all the experimental labels and music coming out now. How do you listen to music? Is the video essential to your listening habits? __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic

11-14-2018, 08:00 PM	#976 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,873	Frown, how do you use silence in your own compositions? Or, a less boring question, what is the most recent way in which you actively and consciously employed silence as an aesthetic element in your work? __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic

11-14-2018, 08:05 PM	#977 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,006	90% of the music played on 120 Minutes was better than 90% of the music Zappa created. __________________ 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND: https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html

11-14-2018, 08:11 PM	#979 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,873	TIL what 120 Minutes was. __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic

11-13-2018, 08:31 AM	#973 (permalink)
rostasi . Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 4,007	I could talk a long time about silence. I could sit silent - sounds in my head. When you're in a music mood, you may want to check out Edition Wandelweiser recordings. Also, Another Timbre has some wonderful things sounding.