Re: [-empyre-] microsound as music's digital praxis

[Glenn Bach <gbach@csulb.edu>]

This question is a good one, in that it has sparked a good deal of 
self-evaluation.  I’m still working on some of these ideas, but here is 
a rough draft:

When I was a lot younger, in my early twenties, my visual work and 
writing were very personal and confessional, with the form of the work 
driven by a content-based less in theory than in self-expression, 
late-blooming angst, and an idealistic ecological/spiritual poetics.

After going through many years of attempting to forge a unified body of 
work that brought together my different voices in poetry, painting, and 
sound, I experienced an epiphany while living in NYC: I came to terms 
with form/content, and with the idea of struggle/conflict in my work and 
lifestyle as an artist.  I let go of the previously non-negotiable role 
that art played in my life and gave myself the freedom to make art or 
not, and the permission to be happy with whatever resulted. 
Self-expression became less and less important as I grew up, matured, 
and found greater peace and balance in my life, mostly because I no 
longer felt a great need to express myself on a very personal level.

Now my work is simply about being mindful: paying attention as a witness 
to the world around me, then slightly skewing my role as a participant 
by selecting small slivers for closer attention (I'm a selector rather 
than auteur).  This then informs the process of creating work, which in 
turn informs the resulting form that it takes.  Afterwards, I reflect on 
the work and its impetus, and during this period of contemplation I will 
bring in outside ideas, theories, or references that make interesting or 
poetic connections or resonances in the work.  So, the content of my 
work is formulated or realized (or at least my understanding of it) 
during and after the process of making it.

This is why I have been so attracted to improvisation as both a 
structure with which to work and as a metaphor with which to look at my 
work.  I enjoy preparing basic, pre-arranged elements created within 
narrowly defined technological parameters, then assembling and remixing 
them live.  I enjoy approaching my studio work as a remixer, taking 
pre-existing sound samples and pushing them into completely new 
configurations, which then serve as building blocks for future work.

Back in the old days as a DJ, I struggled to link theory (Paul D. 
Miller, for example) with my practice.  Now, theory serves as a natural 
and intimate layer of additional meaning and nuance.

At least that’s the game plan!

With regard to microsound specifically, I enjoy Trace's summation of the 
overall legacy of microsound, a somewhat extra-modernist 
self-examination of digital-ness that I feel is still in transition, and 
may not be really historically categorizable until after it evolves or 
something succeeds it.  I'm excited, however, to be one small voice in 
microsound's present.

On another note, since we only have a few days left in August, are there 
any suggestions on how we can wrap up the month of microsound on empyre?

Best,

G.




Stasisfield.com wrote:

  > Personally, I don't see my work as inherently self-reflexive or
  > self-critical, although I believe it is inherently personal; I think I
  > approach my work in a more traditional or direct manner, creating works
  > based on concepts I am currently interested in exploring (air-sound
  > relationships in "aero", fractured narrative tales reflecting on
  > buddhist notions of interconnectedness in "lave"; nostalgia and
  > adaptation in "miles.") and using my work to communicate my conclusions
  > to the audience, while creating sound works which strive to create an
  > immersive atmosphere.
  >



Trace Reddell wrote:

 > Do others of you on this list think this idea that microsound is deeply
 > related to formal thinking as I've described it, particularly in a
kind of
 > self-reflexive way? If that makes no sense, would you please comment
on how
 > your work embraces its own critique -- or, at the least, how you see a
 > praxis of theory/content and form getting mixed up in your compositions
 > and/or improvisations?