I recently discovered New Music USA which has a lot of great resources. I’m particularly enjoying the publication NewMusicBox.
NewMusicBox, a multimedia publication from New Music USA, presents artists in their own words and explores the ideas behind a wide scope of adventurous music produced in the United States: concert works, jazz, experimental, contemporary opera, chamber music, and more.
For example – below is a good read by Eric Chasalow.
“Electroacoustic Music is Not About Sound“
Yes, I do mean this title to be provocative, but my intention is to question some of our priorities and assumptions about composing, not to be polemical or suggest some correct way of composing. Rather, I am sharing some thinking that I have found serves my students and me well. The main thing I want to explore is my own attitude about musical time…
There are basic aspects of compositional thinking that seem to have become almost extinct—particularly, but not exclusively, in the realm of electroacoustic music…
But, there is still a lot to be gained by an awareness of and the ability to control pitch, no matter how abstract and seemingly “unpitched” musical materials may be. And the unfolding of structure moment by moment is still what music is about—that is, it is about time. I love inventing sounds as much as anyone, but without attention to time we just have sounds. Sound unfolding in time, on the other hand, produces musical thought.
New materials do demand new approaches, but this does not erase the necessity of paying attention to shaping the narrative…
- More articles by Eric are here – https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/author/ericchasalow/
- More NewMusicBox articles here – https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/
- Take a moment to explore New Music USA here – https://www.newmusicusa.org/.
Enjoy,
Mark Mosher
Synthesist & Multimedia Artist
Artist Site: NewEcho.com
Electronic Music Tech & Production Blog: ModulateThis.com
Mark Mosher 