Re: no commercial potential

on 12/28/00 1:45 AM, tuning@egroups.com at tuning@egroups.com wrote:

> IMHO microtonal music is already popular but people [creators & consumers]
> are not aware that the music is microtonal.. One obvious example is the
> recent success of Moby's album 'Play'. Almost all the songs relied heavily
> on samples of field recordings made by Alan Lomax of a capella singing by
> blues singers. These recordings unmistakenly contained 7 limit just
> intonation harmonies and melodies. So obviously people respond to music
> with unfamiliar harmonies.

Justin,

You make an excellent point here. Because of trends of sampling world music
in pop, and also various albums in jazz and classical that are fusions of
western and eastern musicians, the CD buying public are exposed to, buying
and enjoying recordings using just intonation.

Seth

--
Seth Austen
http://www.sethausten.com
email; seth@sethausten.com

--------

"All TRUTH passes through three stages.
First it is ridiculed.
Second it is violently opposed.
Third it is accepted as being self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

>>Almost all the songs relied heavily
>>on samples of field recordings made by Alan Lomax of a capella singing
by
>>blues singers. These recordings unmistakenly contained 7 limit just
>>intonation harmonies and melodies.

Paul wrote:

< Whoa! I agree that there's a lot of microtonality there, but "almost all"
"unmistakenly contained" 7-limit just? Care to back that up? >

Well I can only report what my ears tell me. I dont have any spectrum
analysers. The point is a moot one anyway. My point is that microtonal
music is there in top 40 music.
Anyway have a listen to Moby's/[Lomax] 'Run on' and tell me that there are
no just dominant seventh chords there. Also I didn't write "almost all
unmistakenly contained 7 limit just..." you correctly quoted it above, read
it again if you like.

>>Instrumental music of
>>any kind [with one important exception] has not been popular since people
>>stopped dancing to jazz.

< Around here there's a very, very popular brand of jazz/funk that young
people are dancing to. Ever heard of Medeski, Martin, and Wood? >

Doesn't this just prove my point ! Popular music tends to be danceable
whether it is jazz, classical or whatever influenced.

>If music does not make human limbs and torsos
>want move in a rhythmic way it only succeeds in conveying a general
emotion

< A general emotion? I don't know what that means, but I've seen huge
audiences transfixed during long non-danceable, lyricless segments of many
bands such as Phish. Being in a danceable band myself, I know that our
non-danceable numbers are enjoyed with as much appreciation as the
danceable
ones -- people appreciate the chance to rest their bodies and use their
heads instead. >

What I mean by a general emotion is the same as emotion.Purely instrumental
music seemes to convey emotion well and Emotion doesn't convey specific
ideas [it won't tell you what time it is or the reason for global warming.
It can however frame words conveying these ideas and give a sort of value
judgement on these ideas].

Your point about Phish is a good one but in reality there has only been a
few superduper popular purely instrumental albums [Pink Floyd's 'Dark side
of the Moon' and Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells' come readily to mind] generally
music hugging the top 40 of charts is either dance based or it is song
based. What I think you are talking about is groups that manage to do
instrumental music professionally, and there are many of them [new age
music, ambient electronic etc], what I would like to see though is someone
on this list get a top ten hit I mean someone who is using non 12-et
tunings deliberately.

This could be done by educating people in this music to a stage where we
don't have to change the music we make at all [this is basically what we
are doing here]. It will take some time but we could reach a stage where we
could all be professional in the not too distant future.

A much easier option is changing ourselves which can happen any time.

What I think would be good is if we sold out slightly to popular taste,
only to pull the suckers in and get them hooked on this alternate tuning
thing !

Justin White

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