Fragile Music
My topic for today is something that I have been thinking about a lot recently. As I have started to write and record in the last couple of months using a wider range of techniques, recorded sounds, experimental instrumental vices and a range of different production techniques, I feel a new form of expression has taken over a little bit really. For my release in the summer I am trying to concentrate on showing the fragility within music and the raw emotion that goes into it, especially in my case. Music nowadays seems to be over produced, and far too ‘perfect’, therefore a lot of people expect too much from music and miss the point, they always need quick satisfaction and something that they believe they should be able to relate to instantly. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on lyrics and words these days to convert a piece of music into an ‘emotional experience’. People miss out on so much and ingore the music, its timbral quailties, its instrumentation and so much more. A lot of albums and compositions are a journey, Reich’s music for 18 musicians, Philip Glass’ Music With Changing Parts and Gavin Bryar’s Jesus Blood, all pieces that have been pushed aside because they were ‘boring’ and weren’t instantly gratifying. This is a topic that makes me very angry, but a topic for another day.
It is very easy to see music as a ‘formula’, but, as a musician, composer or listener, if this is the case then you close so many doors, not only in creation, but aurally in your music listening. It is all very well being snobby or pretentious about something, but unless you open up and expose yourself to as much as possible then you don’t have the right to get angry or have the preverbial leg to stand on. I believe I have a good association with Art and Books, but I am far from educated in these areas, these are things i dont argue about, I just take it in, absorbing information like a sponge, hoping to be able to use it someday. I look up to my friends educated in various artforms, as they are to be respected and I will always take advice and seek help from them.
The re-birth of Vinyl recently somehow signals, for me, a step in the right direction, a respect for music that the digital age has taken away. This comes back to how fragile and important I think music really is and the format, whether it be Cassette, Vinyl or CD personifies the music, giving it a physical presence and stature within our homes. I am trying to reflect all of this in my work at the moment, trying to give my music a personal and human characteristic, taking the listener through the journey I have set out for them and have leeway for their own interpretation, whatever it may be. Music is a beautiful and complex thing, yet sometimes the best approach is simplicity.
Clem
