|
Poster:
|
LAJ
|
Date:
|
February 26, 2006 11:55:58am
|
|
Forum:
|
netlabels
|
Subject: |
What is that NOISE? [Random thoughts - Noise Color, Natural Selection, & Memes]
|
|
I usually listen to netlabel music privately - especially the more experimental and nosier varieties. I’ve found that the average person just doesn’t understand or appreciate the music of noise, and when someone hears me listening to it and says, “What is that noise?”, I’m always a little self-conscious, because I just don’t have a satisfactory answer.
This lack of an adequate answer to the question - “What’s that noise?”- led to me to do some reading and to make some random observations about noise music and music in general.
I don’t know why I listen to noise music (or to any music for that matter), but I do know that there have been cultures without writing, counting, and painting, but no known culture has been without music.
I know that noise comes in various colors - white, pink, brown, and black. White noise is independent and random while brown and black noise are predictable in the sense that each moment is dependent on the previous moment. Some studies of the spectral properties of music suggest that pink noise [flicker noise or 1/f noise] is the most aesthetically appealing to humans while white and brown noise are less interesting. Both traditional western music (classical, rock, some jazz) and non-western music show a similarity to the properties of pink noise while much electronic music does not. For example, randomly generated computer music (stochastic music) is closer to white noise while some of Karl Stockhausen’s electronic compositions lean towards the spectrum of brown noise. Myself, I listen to lots more electronic music than anything traditional. Why? Because I can.
I know that if the algorithmic process of natural selection is true, then this desire to create, listen, and share music should give us a biological advantage promoting our chances for survival. One possibility is that a predisposition for music promotes group unity which delivers a survival advantage, or, as Steven Pinker suggests, is music just “auditory cheese”[How the Mind Works (Norton, 1997)]? I personally don’t think so since carrying around too much excess baggage would seem to be a disadvantage to survival.
Finally, I know that the basic unit of cultural evolution is the “meme”- complex ideas that reproduce by jumping from brain to brain. A meme is not a metaphor for the gene as a basic unit of genetic evolution - it’s a real process. In it’s most abstract sense, evolution occurs when there is variation, a means to create copies, and disparity in fitness. Each of the tracks included here is a meme for the complex idea of noise music. There’s variation - not one track is exactly like the other, there’s a means of replication - via downloading mp3 files and sharing, and there’s disparity in fitness - the number of copies of each track that is created will vary depending on the environment.
PLAYLIST [M3U attachment follows]:
1. Ryan Gregory + Christine Jeanine - Rain [Homophoni]
http://www.homophoni.com/
http://www.homophoni.com/ryan%20gregory%20+%20christine%20jeanine%20-%20rain.mp3
2. Mika Björklund - Gunkanjima [Webbed Hand] || Skeletal Structures
http://www.archive.org/details/wh069
http://www.archive.org/download/wh069/Mika_Bjorklund_-_03_-_Skeletal_structures_64kb.mp3
3. Asher - Three Untitled Pieces [EARLabs] || Track 02 (for f)
http://www.earlabs.org/label/LM/LM033.asp?titleID=1554
ftp://ftp.scene.org/pub/music/groups/earlabs/lm033/asher_track_02.mp3
4. Ubeboet - Bleak EP [Test Tube] || Nocturno
http://www.monocromatica.com/netlabel/
http://www.archive.org/details/tube007
http://www.archive.org/download/tube007/tube007-03-ubeboet_-_nocturno.mp3
5. John Kannenberg - Untitled (as yet) [EARLabs]|| For Spalding Grey
http://www.archive.org/download/lm023/for_spalding_gray_64kb.mp3
http://www.archive.org/download/lm023/for_spalding_gray_64kb.mp3
6. Danny Kreutzfeldt - Noiseworks 1 [Mirakelmusik] || Knuste Stromme /Shattered Currents
http://www.mirakelmusik.tk/
http://www.archive.org/details/mir005
http://www.archive.org/download/mir005/mir005-danny_kreutzfeldt-03-knuste_stromme-shattered_currents.mp3
7. Karl Boesmann || For 200 Violins (excerpt)
http://www.karlboesmann.com/
http://www.karlboesmann.com/mp3/Karl%20Boesmann-For%20200%20Violins.mp3
8 - 10. Herr Axelsson - Rainy Night [Nishi] || Voice + Rain II + Broken Sea (the sum of rain)
http://www.notype.com/nishi/index.html
http://www.archive.org/details/nishi017
http://www.archive.org/download/nishi017/nsh17-07-herr_axelsson-voice.mp3
http://www.archive.org/download/nishi017/nsh17-03-herr_axelsson-rain_II.mp3
http://www.archive.org/download/nishi017/nsh17-08-herr_axelsson-broken_sea.mp3
11. Jonas Lindgren - The Heavenly Reed Plains || Some Broken Static + Piezo Galore
http://www.archive.org/details/Jonas_Lindgren-The_Heavenly_Reed_Plains
http://www.archive.org/download/Jonas_Lindgren-The_Heavenly_Reed_Plains/2_jonas_lindgren-some_broken_static_64kb.mp3
12. 833-45 - Xi Phosphe [EARLabs] || Red Monal
http://www.earlabs.org/label/LM/LM020.asp?titleID=797
ftp://ftp.scene.org/pub/music/groups/earlabs/lm020/05-833-45-red_monal.mp3
13. K.M. Krebs - The Light Will Fill the Darkness and Obliterate It [Webbed Hand] || The Thousand Dark Veils
http://www.webbedhandrecords.com/
http://www.archive.org/details/wh065
http://www.archive.org/download/wh065/wh065_06_the_thousand_dark_veils.mp3
14. Martin Dot - Metro [Rain] || Impression Six
http://www.archive.org/details/rain013
http://www.archive.org/download/rain013/06-Impression_Six_64kb.mp3
15. Micah Silver - Utopian Artifacts [Stasisfield] || Scale
http://www.stasisfield.com/releases/year04/sf-4002.html
http://www.stasisfield.com/mp3z_04/utopian-01-scale.mp3
16. V/A - A Baker's Dozen [Part 1] || MVK - Transductions
http://adozen.org/
http://adozen.org/releases/adz001/[adz001]-05-mvk_-_transductions_lowq.mp3
17. Elian - We are all visitors here [Test Tube] || Words That Can Not Be Erased
http://www.monocromatica.com/netlabel/
http://www.archive.org/details/tube027
http://www.archive.org/download/tube027/tube027-03-elian_-_words_that_cannot_be_erased.mp3
18. David Fungi - Organic Shade Vol. 1 [Sinewaves] || La valle Dell'incontro
http://www.sinewaves.it/s3p028.htm
http://www.sinewaves.it/%5Bs3p028%5Ddavid_fungi-organic_shade_vol_1-2005/05-fungi_organic%20shade_part%201_la%20valle%20dell%20incontro.mp3
19. Critikal (Kiritchenko-Lindgren-Surak) - STATE [Zerommon] || Track 04 (untitled)
http://www.zeromoon.com
http://www.archive.org/details/zero054
http://www.archive.org/download/zero054/zero05404_64kb.mp3
20. Ernesto Rodriguez - Prisma [Stasisfield] || C
http://www.stasisfield.com/releases/year04/sf-4001.html
http://www.stasisfield.com/mp3z_04/prisma-03-c.mp3
21. Kotra - Stamina [Nishi] || Pluck
http://www.notype.com/nishi/index.html
http://www.archive.org/details/nsh055
http://www.archive.org/download/nsh055/nsh055-01-kotra-pluck.mp3
22. V/A - A Baker's Dozen [Part 1] || Tomas Korber - The Things I’d Like to Tell Her She’ll Never Know
http://adozen.org/
http://adozen.org/releases/adz002/[adz002]-02-tomas_korber_-_the_things_i'd_like_to_tell_her_the_things_she'll_never_know_lowq.mp3
23. AO - Endlessly, Sweetly and Slightly [Test Tube] || Thyme
http://www.monocromatica.com/netlabel/
http://www.archive.org/details/tube023
http://www.archive.org/download/tube023/tube023-02-ao_-_thyme.mp3
24. Lukas Scholler - At Land [Mahorka] || Bekinski Remoted
http://mahorka.cult.bg/
http://www.archive.org/details/mhrk036
http://www.archive.org/download/mhrk036/mhrk036d_lukas_scholler__beksinski_remoted.mp3
25. Zed - Collecting Dust EP [Nishi] || 14-02-2002
http://www.notype.com/nishi/index.html
http://www.archive.org/details/nsh079
http://www.archive.org/download/nsh079/nsh079-05-zed-14-02-2002.mp3
26. David Kirby - Coronary [Homophoni]
http://www.homophoni.com/
http://www.homophoni.com/david%20kirby%20-%20coronary.mp3
27. Daniel Maze - Wounded Animals [Sinewaves]
http://www.sinewaves.it/s3p030.htm
http://www.sinewaves.it/%5Bs3p030%5Ddaniel_maze-wounded_animals-2006/01-daniel_maze-wounded_animals.mp3
28. Sevensy - Music for Blank Film [Mahorka]
http://mahorka.cult.bg/
http://www.archive.org/details/mhrk024
http://www.archive.org/download/mhrk024/mhrk024_sevensy_blankfilm_64kb.mp3
29. Feverdreams - Surrounding [Comfort Stand] || Part 1
http://www.comfortstand.com/
http://www.archive.org/details/csr057
http://www.archive.org/download/csr057/csr057_feverdreams_surrounding_part-1.mp3
30. Ryu - The Depressed [Dark Winter] || The Depressed
http://www.darkwinter.com/
http://www.darkwinter.com/dw020/dw020-Ryu-02-the_depressed.mp3
31. Demogorgon - I Used To Live... Here [Subsource]
http://www.subsource.de
http://www.archive.org/details/sub050
http://www.archive.org/download/sub050/sub050_demogorgon-i_used_to_live_here.mp3
32. Mystified - Mutes cape [Treetrunk]
http://www.mystifiedmusic.com/treetrunk.html
http://www.archive.org/details/Mutescape
http://www.archive.org/download/Mutescape/01_Mutescape_64kb.mp3
33. Brian Lavelle - Mare Nostrum
http://www.archive.org/details/brnlvll_marenostrum
http://www.archive.org/download/brnlvll_marenostrum/brian_lavelle_mare_nostrum_64kb.mp3
This post was modified by LAJ on 2006-02-26 19:55:58
Attachment: NOISE_RANDOM_THOUGHTS.M3U |
|
