A Quiet Exit
This video was shot on a drive back to Seattle from Portland two months ago.
Follow Up on The Amaranth Solution
Someone posted a comment to an old post of mine “The Amaranth Solution”, which is pretty buried in the blog, so I thought I would revive it.
Aguaharinaysa posted:
Clever.
But terminology matters little. And in fact it works similar to a trademark, allowing someone who had a previous good experience in a given form to seek out a similar (new) experience in future – Bach and Vivaldi being both classical is a good example. Bach to Mozart , and even more difficult, over to Mozart and Satie, for example, this becomes more difficult as then the label becomes unreliable.
So a sub-label (baroque, classical, post-romanticist) becomes useful, according to present usage.
There will be hard cases and outliers. I consider Satie a slightly hard fit into the system. But it’s not as bad as, say, the fit Metallica would have into the Romatic period of classical music.
The problem comes with implicit heirarchies and misuse. If it becomes good to appear like a certain format, then the predictor function of a label becomes distorted for short-term (hopeful) financial gain.
Many people misinterpret the amaranth solution since its just simply replacing the word classical with amaranth. You must be reading too much into my post.
Why replace the word? Because classical implies old, outdated, antique. Sure it works for the old and antique composers, dead and buried, but does it work for the contemporary composer? No.
I wasn’t implying that we end what you call sub-labels (or genre names). In fact, if anything it would make the classical genre much more clear cut to outsiders of the arts.
I’m not quite sure why anyone would consider Satie a hard fit into the system. Is that because you feel Satie is not “classical?”
As for today, lets end the myth. “Classical” music also includes:
Field recordings
Electroaccoustic
Soundscapes
Minimalism
Process music
+ much more and is ever growing
ImprovFriday – 3.27.09
So what happened last Friday? Well, it started off slow, threatening to be our least busiest Friday so far, but a couple master improvisers showed up in the last hour to close out the day, literally in the last half hour of March 27, 2009. It was awesome!
Who showed up this week?
paul hertz
jeff harrington (anthem)
charles turner
jukka-pekka kervinen
david toub
jc combs
ImprovFriday, March 20, 2009
Thanks to all the participants yesterday’s improvisation event, ImprovFriday, was once again a success. Unlike last week, I’m not going to describe the works below because, damn, there’s just too many! Maybe one day someone will want to cover the event and I won’t have to document the performances.
ImprovFriday Program, March 20, 2009
Internet Venues: Twitter – Blip.fm – Facebook – NetNewMusic
Jeff Harrington – VirtualShakuChaos – improvisation on a virtual shakuhachi/flute
Dave Seidel - Sisters and Brothers – Vignette 4 (Robidoux/Kivela/Seidel trio)
Jukka-Pekka Kervinen – impro II for computer-processed sound
JC Combs impro3.20.09-I
JC Combs impro3.20.09-II
Charles Turner – A Short Improvisation for Bell Sounds
Paul Hertz – Travelogue Part IV “Tourist Trap”
Renato Borges “The Dance One”
Graffiti in Motion
Thanks to the anonymous twitter, Twitkarl7777, for bringing this video to my attention. This is a work by the the artist, Blu. MUTO – Wall Painted Animation
#improvfriday Part Vier
A couple updates.
1. Notice the name change week to week. I was set with Online Improv Friday (OIF) until I learned what a “hashmark” is.
Hashmark – A Twitter slogan or description of whatever is being referenced starting out with the # sign. Confused me for the longest time, but now I understand. So you type #improvfriday when you post anything relevant to improvisation friday, that way people like David Toub who will be out of town this week can catch up when they come back by typing in #improvfriday to the Twitter search bar.
2. Seems that blip.fm (remember the dot in there) is working quite well so far. You guys will probably come up with additional ideas I’m sure (Jeff mentioned something about looping into NNM player).
3. Ren B. had the idea that chatting at NNMs chat during improv friday will be a good way to hang out while we participate listening or playing. Twitterers get a little annoyed if you hijack the site too much. But the more blip.fm submissions to Twitter the better, that is certain.
4. Like the title, you can improv any time of the day. However, I will replay all improvisations from the day (unless or until there are too many plays to collect) when I sign in for the final leg of the event at 6 PM PST. We definitely could use more participants throughout the day.
5. Jeff Harrington’s impro “Vientro del Monstruo” is our official anthem for the final leg-recap of the event. Here is the list, once again, of NNM members on Twitter and composers who participate. http://twitter.com/jayuhfree – Jeff Harrington http://twitter.com/DaveSeidel – Dave Seidel http://twitter.com/pbailey – Paul Bailey http://twitter.com/jkervinen – Jukka-Pekka Kervinen http://twitter.com/dbtoub – David Toub http://twitter.com/JamesCombs JC Combs http://twitter.com/twitkarl7777 Anonymous http://twitter.com/shoodBworkin – Johnny & Faith http://twitter.com/rgolightly – Randy Gibson http://twitter.com/holokinesis – Renato Borges http://twitter.com/paulhertz – Paul Hertz
#improvfriday – Twitter
Our third week of nonpop improvisation on Twitter (a Stweet Art Collective) got just a little larger yesterday, 3-13-09. I learned a couple things which I am kind of embarrassed to admit. Randy Gibson asked what our hashmark should be. Well, I didn’t know what a hashmark was, but I had an idea since I had seen people posting with a # in front. Basically, its like a brand name that you don’t need to register. Its tricky coming up with the name, since you want it to not only explain what is going on, but also keep it short enough so you’re not typing all 140 characters in the hashmark.
We decided on #improvfriday. This is very easy to use and understand. Twitter is gaining popularity because of their Twitter Search. It works like Google, but updates results faster and has a unique way of informing since so many people on Twitter are updating on traffic, lines, weather, news, sports, etc. So to find out about improvisation Friday, you open up the Twitter Search on the bottom of your Twitter page and type in #improvfriday. You will get this result.
#improvfriday 3-13-2009
Jeff Harrington got the ball rolling with “Improvisation on Three Notes – for a pseudo-African instrument and echo box.” Joseph Benzola commented that it sounded like Moroccan Trance.
We had two new additions. Randy Gibson, who gave us a really great older improv, Mujeres de Juárez, and Jukka-Pekka Kervinen who submitted a brilliant improv titled, A Computer Improvisation for Five Instruments.
Paul Hertz submitted another strong work, a cool experimental harp improvisation, March Number 13 for Locrian Harp. A low hum accompanies the harp which provides unceasing tension. I submitted Provi III, an electronic dronish improv performed with the Arturian Moog Modular.
Online Improvisation Friday – Last Call
Starting at 6 p.m. PST, Friday the 13th, I will be on Twitter to share an improvisation and music with other nonpop composers. Now this doesn’t mean that the Stweet Art Collective (thanks Jeff Harrington) can’t start earlier. Have at it!
Once again, here is the current list of composers that I won’t rule out for joining in the form of listening and/or improvising. They are all very interesting to follow as well.
http://twitter.com/jayuhfree – Jeff Harrington
http://twitter.com/DaveSeidel – Dave Seidel
http://twitter.com/pbailey – Paul Bailey
http://twitter.com/jkervinen – Jukka-Pekka Kervinen
http://twitter.com/dbtoub – David Toub
http://twitter.com/JamesCombs JC Combs
http://twitter.com/twitkarl7777 Anonymous
http://twitter.com/shoodBworkin – Johnny & Faith
http://twitter.com/rgolightly – Randy Gibson
http://twitter.com/holokinesis – Renato Borges
http://twitter.com/paulhertz – Paul Hertz
Online Improvisation Friday (who to follow?)
I really want everyone to participate in OIF (especially with all the NNM improvisers I know of) and I’m getting just slightly frustrated that so many people view joining Twitter as leaving Facebook or Friendster or whatever to join another social network just for the sake of OIF. I’m seriously thinking about making a short instructional video.
What I advise is that you sign up a Twitter account, but don’t worry about signing in until Friday when you participate or just listen. Think of it as club hopping. I also suggest using the same username and password as you do for your other favorite SN.
Here is the list of known participants (listeners and players) to follow (follow is twitter speak for befriending somebody) from week one and two and some who will definitely participate in the form of listening or playing in the future.
http://twitter.com/jayuhfree – Jeff Harrington
http://twitter.com/DaveSeidel – Dave Seidel
http://twitter.com/pbailey – Paul Bailey
http://twitter.com/jkervinen – Jukka-Pekka Kervinen
http://twitter.com/dbtoub - David Toub
http://twitter.com/JamesCombs JC Combs
http://twitter.com/twitkarl7777 Anonymous
http://twitter.com/shoodBworkin – Johnny & Faith
http://twitter.com/rgolightly - Randy Gibson
http://twitter.com/holokinesis – Renato Borgess
http://twitter.com/paulhertz – Paul Hertz
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