Museum Musica

Zhanteimi · 11-14-2018, 07:00 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, 07:05 PM

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

**Frownland** · 11-14-2018, 07:11 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, 07:11 PM

TIL what 120 Minutes was.

Zhanteimi · 11-14-2018, 07:28 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?

rostasi · 11-14-2018, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland

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.

One of the few people I know that understands "silence" as a state of mind.
(I'm so happy, I could blubber). It's been the basic element of my work for over 50 years.

OccultHawk · 11-14-2018, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zhanteimi

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

He’s not the best at anything.

Zhanteimi · 11-15-2018, 05:52 PM

0057 Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
(Iceland, 2008, dream pop / post-rock)

A delightful, beautiful blend of dream pop and post-rock, this album never fails to transport me to Faerie. To steal someone else's analogy of this band, this album is more selkie than troll. This is a pleasant day at the festival where you browse the stalls and eat lunch upon the warm grass.

innerspaceboy · 11-16-2018, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zhanteimi

Silence

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.

I really appreciate your tagging me for this. It was a nice little write up on a very important element of music, (and of life, itself).

I've been meditating in silence for several hours a day lately. I was able to work through some important stuff that way.

And I've always loved the quote, After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. - Aldous Huxley

A quick Google search returns a stockpile of links compiling quotes on the beauty and power of silence. There are 280 on this site alone. So you're definitely not alone in your appreciation of the concept.

Silence actually surfaced in an amusing way for me this evening. I've been entertaining a lot lately and suddenly find myself making use of an entire half of my home that I'd never set foot in before. After having to haul 100lb speakers and amplifiers back and forth between rooms of the house to host guests I quickly decided I needed to invest in an additional vintage receiver and speaker pair to fill the front half of my home with music.

The challenge was that most of the content I've played when entertaining has been dinner jazz, modern classical, study music, field recordings, and other sonic wallpaper while my guests paint, read, or write. This made the task of preparing a playlist to demo vintage setups in local shops rather silly.

None of the content I planned to play would in any way test the limits of the speakers' preformative ability. Frankly, most of it is played at the threshold of audibility. I would have felt silly demoing gear with "Dead Flag Blues."

It was really the silence I was listening for.

I also find it curious how different people respond to silence. For some, it is a prison of the mind where they cannot escape or ignore the thoughts that torment them when the distractions of the day are stripped away. But for others, it is the sweetest and most serene complement to any space.

What we do with silence is entirely up to us.

**Frownland** · 11-16-2018, 08:08 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 thought about this a little bit more about this and realized that I have a few examples of silence in my work.

Jesus the Carpenter - Ullhodturdenweirmudgaardgringnirurdrmolnirfenrirlu kkilokkibaugimandodrrerinsurtkrinmgernrackinarocka r

There are several takes on this, and most of the flute ones are largely silent. They let the environment speak and combining them created a weirdly self-sustaining atmosphere. Plus the ending.

Wolves in Sheepskin - There Goes An Airplane

This one has some silence in the beginning as an airplane passes.

Wolves in Sheepskin - Squeaky Sheets

My most explicitly silent track.

11-14-2018, 07:00 PM	#971 (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, 07:05 PM	#972 (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, 07:11 PM	#974 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,873	TIL what 120 Minutes was. __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic

11-15-2018, 05:52 PM	#978 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,873	0057 Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (Iceland, 2008, dream pop / post-rock) A delightful, beautiful blend of dream pop and post-rock, this album never fails to transport me to Faerie. To steal someone else's analogy of this band, this album is more selkie than troll. This is a pleasant day at the festival where you browse the stalls and eat lunch upon the warm grass. __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic