[Eshmasesh]

The NeXuS thread generated quite a lot of discussion. I liked reading it a lot! although, there were people getting angry and shit, but I think I have a resolution to it.

The thread was closed because it was 'going nowhere' and that 'Any further software discussion can be had in the software discussion thread'. I suppose I can agree with the latter part, but not the former. I believe there was not enough discussion on the topic, and that's why it seemed like it was going nowhere. There was no resolution.

So, here's my take on it. There were three disctinct positions in the argument.

1. Electronic music is like composing an orchestral arrangement. You have instrumentation which you can work with, and focus on compositional structure, notation, dynamics, etc. is paramount.

2. Electronic music is different from orchestral music because, unlike in older times, digitalization has given us complete control over our instrumentation. Focus on the quality of each individual noise is paramount.

Now, I personally align more with the second option. To me, the timbre of a piece is the most important and I focus on it intently in everything I listen to. Even if it's not traditionally 'musical' (I listen to Noise/Power Electronics/etc). I personally don't like music theory very much.

But, I must admit that there is a third option which, I think, only k//eternal touched on.

3. Both aspects are important. As he said, we have an 'unprecedented level of control' over our sound. As peacemaker said, 'music is a great deal like painting'. You can build up, tear down and mix sounds together in more intuitive ways than ever before like a painter does with coloration. However, in most pieces of art, coloration isn't the sole focus. There is also the structure of the subject matter itself. You can have art without structure just as you can have music without structure (this leads to very abstract pieces), but that does not make coloration/timbre more unique or difficult than composition. The thing that k//eternal touched on, is that 'nobody is going to say the classical greats suffered significantly for such a thing'.

Both aspects are important. What we choose to focus on is personal and unique for each track.








My two cents. The other thread generated quite a bit of discussion, and I see no reason why that should stop!