[NewMusic] slusser's article

[Jacob Lindsay]

--- David Slusser <slusser at pixar.com> wrote:
> One way to avoid the "is it music?" dilemma is to
> accept
> that some of what you are doing is "sound sculpture"
> or
> "sonic art" 

I don't really make a distinction there.  If it is
sound art, that is music, under my definition.

 This begs the
> ques-
> tion of the necessity of a cultural element in a
> definition
> of music.

Music does have a cultural element, whether it is
presented as such or not.  It is impossible to escape
cultural context.


> Maybe that's the point of the
> gnarly-difficult-boundry
> breaking pieces.  They seem to be asking that
> question,
> stretching it to the point where it's experienced as
> just
> a mental excercise, without the satisfaction of what
> we
> enjoy as "music".  

When it's successful, then it is both - that is both
intellectually, and viscerally compelling.  My
previous point about not actually enjoying something,
is that in some cases the visceral element gets
missed.  In that case it still can be a fun
intellectual exercise, but it misses the mark in terms
of making actual music.

I certainly enjoy a lot of sonic
> art and
> sonic sculpture (and Feldman, Xenakis, Leghetti,
> Varese
> etc are all still well within "music" for me).  Is
> intent
> relevant to the listener?

Intention is absolutely relevant to the listener. 
Although we could (and I often do) ask "should it be?"

Jacob Lindsay
http://www.bayimproviser.com/artistdetail.asp?artist_id=44


       
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