Picture this if you will: you're sitting at work when the fire alarm goes off. Most people evacuate the building like they're supposed to, but how many stick around and enjoy the music? Obviously the analogy isn't perfect, but the recordings of artists such as Boris and Earth bear almost as much similarity to the unyielding tone of the alarm as they do to any form of conventional songwriting.
Of course, fire alarms aren't generally considered musical, yet between the harshness of extreme metal and grindcore and the anti-melodies of drone and noise acts, the question could be posed as to where the distinction between "everyday sound" and "sound as music" actually lies.
Music, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is the "science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity.”
Obviously that's only one association's take on the matter, but it's a take that lots of people can probably get behind. Hundreds of years' worth of music have been released in some form or other that all follow this convention of melody and structure, so it's no wonder that cave-like echoes layered over top of raw guitar feedback would raise some eyebrows, and yet albums full of just that are released into accepting arms every day. The appreciation for such things is admittedly underground, but present nonetheless, and mainstream music fans (a term I use without any negative connotations) would be quick to decry them as "not music" or "just noise".
However, while more headstrong fans of this type of audio understandably take a stand for their art, I'm hard pressed to argue.
Let it be known, first of all, that I do appreciate drone, noise, ambient, that sort of thing, as well as more popular music; I just truly can't muster a counter point to anyone who posits that the 30-minute, singular-pitch buzz of Earth's "Like Gold & Faceted" is, in fact, just noise.
Of course, it's the accusatory tone so often adopted by detractors that sets off drone-heads, I would assume. Who knows if perhaps "it's just noise" spoken innocently as opposed to aggressively would incite an accepting response: "Yeah. Yeah, it is, and it's awesome. You just don't get it." Don your skinny jeans and scarves and rejoice, hipsters everywhere. Drone is the new indie.
The question, though, --of whether this unwieldy mass of sound is truly music-- remains unanswered. To be honest, I don't think there is much of an answer, although my personal theory revolves around the idea of intent, by which I mean that as the notion of "music" --as opposed to just "sound"-- is distinctly human in origin, then it is the intent to create music from a given sonic palette, however simple or complex, that qualifies that creation as music. It's an easily countered point, I'll admit; say what you will about the use of unconventional sounds in composition, but I'm pretty sure 45 minutes of me smacking my forehead against my desk wouldn't garner much acclaim, even in the most eccentric of circles. I just like the idea of being able to create music --artistic expression through sound-- out of any source. Following groups like Earth and Boris, who knows if maybe the next generation of boundary-pushing pioneers will create entire genres out of manipulated fire alarms.
Of course, fire alarms aren't generally considered musical, yet between the harshness of extreme metal and grindcore and the anti-melodies of drone and noise acts, the question could be posed as to where the distinction between "everyday sound" and "sound as music" actually lies.
Music, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is the "science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity.”
Obviously that's only one association's take on the matter, but it's a take that lots of people can probably get behind. Hundreds of years' worth of music have been released in some form or other that all follow this convention of melody and structure, so it's no wonder that cave-like echoes layered over top of raw guitar feedback would raise some eyebrows, and yet albums full of just that are released into accepting arms every day. The appreciation for such things is admittedly underground, but present nonetheless, and mainstream music fans (a term I use without any negative connotations) would be quick to decry them as "not music" or "just noise".
However, while more headstrong fans of this type of audio understandably take a stand for their art, I'm hard pressed to argue.
Let it be known, first of all, that I do appreciate drone, noise, ambient, that sort of thing, as well as more popular music; I just truly can't muster a counter point to anyone who posits that the 30-minute, singular-pitch buzz of Earth's "Like Gold & Faceted" is, in fact, just noise.
Of course, it's the accusatory tone so often adopted by detractors that sets off drone-heads, I would assume. Who knows if perhaps "it's just noise" spoken innocently as opposed to aggressively would incite an accepting response: "Yeah. Yeah, it is, and it's awesome. You just don't get it." Don your skinny jeans and scarves and rejoice, hipsters everywhere. Drone is the new indie.
The question, though, --of whether this unwieldy mass of sound is truly music-- remains unanswered. To be honest, I don't think there is much of an answer, although my personal theory revolves around the idea of intent, by which I mean that as the notion of "music" --as opposed to just "sound"-- is distinctly human in origin, then it is the intent to create music from a given sonic palette, however simple or complex, that qualifies that creation as music. It's an easily countered point, I'll admit; say what you will about the use of unconventional sounds in composition, but I'm pretty sure 45 minutes of me smacking my forehead against my desk wouldn't garner much acclaim, even in the most eccentric of circles. I just like the idea of being able to create music --artistic expression through sound-- out of any source. Following groups like Earth and Boris, who knows if maybe the next generation of boundary-pushing pioneers will create entire genres out of manipulated fire alarms.
