The Development of Electronic Music in the age of Post Modernism - Essay Example

The Development of Electronic Music in the age of Post Modernism This essay question explores the development of Electronic Music over the past manydecades and how the post modern era has moulded it to its styles and tastes based upon aesthetic and political motivation, as well as focus upon particular composers. (Griffiths, P. 1995). Whilst remaining primarily historical some example works will be analysed in detail. However the focus will inevitably be upon how the past two decades have changed the face of music and this will entail a discussion how the younger crowd of musicians is bringing innovative styles and aesthetics into the spot light. (Griffiths, P. 1995) The most important thing to review here is that all these developments have reflected the changing technology of the times. (Griffiths, P. 1995). The 1980’s saw the advent of the MIDI instruments and software which made the control of sophisticated instruments very easy and made the production of music out of the studios much cheaper. (Schwartz, S. 1993.). This further allowed the reintegration of Acoustic sounds to allow for the reintegration of Acoustic sounds through carefully sampled computer based musical instruments. (Schwartz, S. 1993.).This is particularly true in terms of the graphic signal-processing software which when it came out allowed for real-time MIDI control allowing the post modern composer to use this system even with limited technical knowledge. Chadabe, J, 1997).The availability of of such techniques and the further advent into the market of the Yamaha DX-7 MIDI keyboard in 1985 and of hard disk recording and editing softwares were all set to revolutionise Electronic music. (Schwartz, S. 1993.).The nineties further paved the way for more interactive computer-assisted performance and the release of the multimedia CD-ROM meant that the MIDI sequencing programmes were all set to expand to include digital audio. Chadabe, J, 1997). This is in contrast to the position of technology available for the electronic composers back in the 1940’s. where as the musicians were still struggling with amplifiers (for example John Cage’s Imaginary Landscape no.1 (1939)).Towards the fifties there was the Radio-diffusion-television upon which the modern musique concrete is based upon.The founders of the French version of the Groupe de Musicque Concrete included the likes of Messiaen, Boulez and Stockhausen. Another studio opened very soon under Karlheinz Stockhausen and made generous use of electronic sound generators and modifiers .It can be seen that along with the technology the electronic music has come a long way. (Schwartz, S. 1993.).The modern Electronic music scene can be summed up in the following diagram1 The post modern Music scene According to Pierre Bourdieu quoted in Cronin A (2004: pp. 349–369 ) “This economy demands a social world which judges people by their capacity for consumption, their “standard of living”, their life-style, as much as by their capacity for production.It finds ardent spokesmen in the … vendors of symbolic goods and services, the directors and the executives of firms in tourism and journalism, publishing and the cinema, fashion and advertising, decoration and property development. Through their slyly imperative advice and the example of their consciously “model” life-style, the new taste-makers propose a morality which boils down to the art of consuming, spending and enjoying.” At the same time before I delve into a discussion of the modern electronic style of music and the modern composers it is worth looking at the legal and social issues, essentially the post modern premises upon which the development of the modern electronic music scene is established. Chadabe, J, 1997). Here I would briefly like to mention that the electronic music industry is a booming business today. The modern musician is not a starving artist and will tend to spend large amounts of money on publicity and media relations.The legal machinery has developed to help the musicians accommodate their commercial interests and the efforts of copyright to rely upon the law of copyright to acquire commercial value and basically how the advent of new technology has threatened such reliance on copyright law. The digital age seems to have compromised the concept of copyright material and has had negative outcomes for the publishing, music and the computer industries. An important example of this is the peer-to-peer file sharing system of copyrighted music. The Napster and Grokster cases are a good illustration of the legal response of the industries .The copyright industries themselves have responded with new business strategies by providing legal download services.2In England The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 gives protection to books, films, videos, plays, music and drawings, all of which can make it onto the internet in a very short time for infringement.Very often copyright owners feel helpless in the face of technologically sophisticated infringements. For example in the famous case of Napster music files were created in MP3 format and Peer to Peer file sharing began. Within months 50 million people were using a service which was a blatant violation of copyright laws.. The company behind Napster argued it was only an intermediary and this posed new challenges for copyright law. Subsequently Europe passed the new Copyright Directive to close Napster-type loopholes. After the closure of Napster, other ventures like Gnutella found success by their “swapping method” of file sharing and operating decentralised networks. A bigger threat to copyright users in the form of networks like Freenet is that the copyright infringers are impossible to trace and identify. The copyright industry has developed a host of legal, educational, public relations and technological strategies to keep its profit base from collapsing. Modern age DVD’s are encoded to try and prevent copying even though this mechanism has already been circumvented. Software giants like Real Networks, are promoting the use of copyright music over the internet. Other challenges consist of procedural difficulties. That is, in cross border infringements it becomes very hard to gain control over an infringer who resides in or takes refuge in a jurisdiction where that is not an offence.3The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law which criminalises production and dissemination of technology, devices, or is used to circumvent copyrighted control technology (digital rights management).The DMCA has been accused of being anti-competitive as it discourages innovation in the technology field and also causing inconvenience to legitimate users while the small time internet pirates slip past them easily.4 Anti-circumvention rules are also said to make the detection of security threats illegal and encouraging software like cuckoo’s eggs which are edited MP3 files that appear to be a copyright protected song being distributed via the Internet without the permission of the copyright owner. Although the initial portion of the song is original and the rest is just random noises. 5Cuckoos eggs used along with worms slow down the infringer’s computer systems almost like a virus. Because it seems that copyright is becoming less of a response to technological developments and more of a hindrance to new music technology. The Social Scene of the past two decades has also caused a shift in musical preferences and styles. Chadabe, J, 1997).We can see a vast amount of genre’s6 appearing to suit different parts of the population with their preference .The seventies in the United Kingdom saw electronic music being merged with pop music with the likes of composers like Jean Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Yello and Art of Noise. (Holmes, Thomas B. 2002). However post eighties as mentioned above the advent of the Midi file revolutionized the nature of Electronic music paving the way forward for the techno and house genres which were founded by Derek May and his affiliates (using Atrari modules).New genres were also blossoming at this time like Trance ,Drum and Bass.However technology was taking further leaps and thus came the age of the music software which allowed the creation of music with in the computer system (Like Rebirth and Fruity Loops softwares ).This to some extent required lesser use of the extraneous musical instruments or hardware. (Holmes, Thomas B. 2002).This has caused the criticism of having lowered the quality of music by making it suitable for the easy to manufacture fast food culture and that the music is losing its class.The positive side has inevitably been the flood of the younger generation of artists creating stiffer competition in the electronic music industry with the relative cost of production falling considerably and this has encouraged the growth of techno, experimental and electro acoustic music.During this time the music industry has also seen one hit wonders like “Eiffel 65” and persisting brand names like Benny Benassi and their like.The problem is that in the post modern culture where “ sex sells” these artists bank mainly on their sexually suggestive videos to go along with the club culture. (Holmes, Thomas B. 2002). Where as the 1940’s saw the advent of musique concrète, acousmatic music forty years later there was the pop and industrial genre of the eighties based on club dances like trance, electro, and electronic jazz. Other experimental styles included the likes of electronica, glitch, and trip hop. (Simon Emmerson. 1986.)The past two decades have also witnessed a notable commercialization of the electronic music as until the early eighties only Mute Records dealt with electronic music which was later followed by Plus 8 and Warp Records in the nineties. (Simon Emmerson. 1986.) The post modern era has also shown how popular music "audiences" use and electronic and pop music as a source of religious identity and ideology as it has become a part of the post modern "expressive humanism" and spirtuality, personal authenticity, and cultural tolerance which is so a symbol of the modern postmaterialist, liberal democratic world order. (Lebrecht, Norman. 1996).The same music is playing a great role in the identity-formation or meaning-construction for young people. For the purposes of my study I have gone through a number of modern musicians who are considered a contemporary success. The first one is Maryanne Amacher whose latest work is “Sound Characters (Making the Third Ear) (1999) and has created and composed electronic music for two decades.Her music consists of electronic soundscapes and "ear-dances" ,dancing difference tones and psychedelic sonorities. (Lebrecht, Norman. 1996). Next the works of Applebaum who is influenced by Brian Ferneyhough seemed to merge modern classical complexity and what can termed as genial madness with his medley of eclectic compendium of homemade electro-percussion, orchestral fireworks, and light humour. Milton Babbit is a name few can forget in the world of excellent electronic music and has many world premier recordings to his name.He has ruled the music world for six decades and has been through thick and thin of the industry as it developed.When I heard his works in Occasional Variations (2003) I realised that most of his works of genious are often understood and he is a man for all seasons.Theguitar playing tunes of Mick Barr were fast and combined the power of rock .Although they displayed aestheticism they could not be compared to the genius of Babbit.The last in my review list were the works of Bill Brovold in Childish Delusions (2000) which presented the powerful new instrumental rock trends so similar to Mick Barr in 2003. Finally towards the end of my research I would like to pay attention to the seventies disco which had the most effect on the current genre’s of electronic music.Most critics consider Disco/electronic music annoying due to the use of the synthesizer and the unrelenting repetitive beat which is still a complaint today.Anyways back in the seventies it was possible to do this through drum machines and electronic instruments. Thus what was emerging was a musical style based on the social groups that clustered around these subgenres of electronic music. (Lebrecht, Norman. 1996)Disco originated particularly across the Atlantic as being established within urban Black and gay cultures (alienated by White rock music), and this cult phenomena further gave birth to a commercial success and there was a disregard of white rock. (Manning, Peter. 2004). Techno and Electronic music was approved based upon its lack of racism and homophobia .At the same time the rock fans had their homophobic movement and had a “disco sucks” campaign on their wasy. Disco died a premature death in the in Eighties restricted mainly to its black and gay urban audiences, and was now called “House music” after Chicago’s Warehouse Club( based on the efforts of DJ Frankie Knuckles).House music was new and had its shock value .It used sounds like car-crash percussion breaks, voices in unheard-of keys, ant-farm-maze keyboard improvisations in John Roccas "I Want to be Real," and other similar tracks(Manning, Peter. 2004). The seventies discos were different as Ward, Stokes, and Tucker note they “"offered the disc jockey as a new species of pop artist. Through skill, timing, and taste, the disc jockey used two turntables to segue between records with compatible beats" (Stokes 1986)). Techno music found it’s zenith during the 12-inch single extensions of songs allowing for remixed for longer versions dance songs which according to Thornton “came from American DJs who had been mixing seven-inch copies of the same record for prolonged play……some began recording their mixes, editing them on reel-to-reel tapes, then playing them in clubs. When these recordings were transferred to vinyl, the extended remix was born" (Thornton 1996).However the 1980’s were a different story already due to changed treatment of gays and minorities. (Gilbert & Pearson, 1999).Then we have the advent of the "acid house" music are unclear which was said to be an offshoot of Chicago house music which was now causing the inception of the “rave culture” in the Acid house music and the was composed of young white audiences who were avid users of the euphoria-inducing drug ecstasy (Gilbert and Pearson, 1999).The age of ecstasy further promoted Acid house music to faster beats and instrumental styles . This was an unconventional style of music and did use human voices.(See Fast Eddies "Acid Thunder" which used featured digitized bass lines) Next we have had the advent of techno music which was again another reincarnation of Acid house (Brewster, Bill, and Frank Broughton. 2000.).According to Sara Thornton “When "acid house" became unserviceable because of tabloid defamation and general overexposure . . . the clubs, record companies and media went through a series of nominal shifts (about twenty different adjectives came to modify the word "house," sometimes in pastiches like "deep techno house") until they finally settled on "techno." The term had at least two advantages: it was free from the overt drug reference of acid house and it sounded like what it described-a high-tech predominantly instrumental music. (Thornton 1996) The modern electronic music has also not been devoid of its political influences. For example if we look at electronica groups which invoke the identities of oppressed ethnic groups we can see that the Electronic music has been used for serving the post modern political purpose. (Brewster, Bill, and Frank Broughton. 2000.).For example the Banco de Gaia protests the Chinese occupation of Tibet .Another band is the Muslimgauze which is for the Muslim and Arab freedom causes.However the critics have noted that most of these bands seem to lack the cultural sensitivity one might expect from such positions and seem to have casual knowledge of the roots or the causes and seem commercial ventures. (Brewster, Bill, and Frank Broughton. 2000.) . Banco de Gaias is criticised because its founder only chose Tibet issue by choosing pro-Tibet photos and images for one of his album covers.This seems to be an opportunistic step. However Thornton’s views about popular ideologies in dance crowds have not gone well with most academics .This can be seen from the words of( Chadabe J 1997). In conclusion this essay has explored the unique nature of electronic dance music in the 1990s and 80’s that has yielded a constant make or break and recombined subgenre culture due to the fast evolving nature of the music, accelerated consumer culture, and the business strategy. (Brewster, Bill, and Frank Broughton. 2000.) This has also had to do with culture,race an minorities and the way the embraced a certain genre of music.It has been seen how the emergence of subgenres has to do with the political-economy and group identity formations of electronic dance music communities.Furthermore the legal and technological contexts impacting upon these changes in the electronic music have provided an interesting revelation into how the quality of this music developed.The history has been touched briefly for comparative purposes yet there has been an emphasis upon the current political scene and how it has affected the modern contexts of music. Some of the works of modern artists and the industry giants like Babbit have been commented upon. Some of the discussion has also been devoted to the electronic dance music and its development in the seventies. In this regard the seventies and eighties political scenario has been explored as having electronic music as the predominant type of music played for entertainment as well the modern rave scene.In conclusion electronic music is running in the veins of modern music now in the form of multiple genres which have been discussed above.. References 1. Griffiths, P. 1995. Modern Music and After: Directions since 1945. Oxford University Press. See also for further bibliographic material on composers. 2. Schwartz, S. 1993. Music Since 1945: issues, material, and literature. Schirmer. New York. 3. Chadabe, J, 1997. Electric Sound. The past and promise of electronic music. New Jersey: Prentice-hall. 4. .Simon Emmerson. (ed) 1986. The language of electroacoustic music. New York: Harwood Academic Publishers 5. Peter Manning. 1985, (1995) Electronic and computer music. Oxford: Charendon. 6. Regulating online content: a global view, C.T.L.R. 2007, 13(6), 173-178 7. 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