information for a dissertation/Charles

[Charles Neuman]

"Joseph Garrett" <joegarrett@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Charles,
> You called this sort of thing "Music", (twice). IMO it's noise. The
> definition of music is ORGANIZED sound. This, (again IMHO), is not
> organized, but simply random sound in an organized framework. IMO, best left
> to the RAPADAPPA group. <G>
> Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)

This conversation is starting to get fun. :)

When someone makes "noise" on stage, it's supposed to be art, but when you
hear it outside of a performance, what is it? I think that's one of the
questions that makes this music so interesting. I don't blame people for
not liking some of the sounds in this music, just as I don't blame people
for feeling sea-sick when they listen to Brahms (grin). But the
interesting thing is that it breaks down distinctions between art and
non-art. If you find some of the sounds you hear in a contemporary music
performance interesting, if not pleasing, as if you are listening to a
work of art, then why can't you listen to your normal environment in the
same way?


Here's a quote from John Cage:

"Wherever we are, what we hear is mosly noise. When we ignore it, it
disturbs us. When we listen to it, we find it fascinating."

                    John Cage, _Silence_, p. 3


Charles