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Noise as a Constructive Element in Music

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progaardvark View Drop Down
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    Posted: June 21 2024 at 11:08
I stumbled upon this open access book published by Taylor & Francis back in 2022 that might be of interest to some readers of this forum: 

Noise as a Constructive Element in Music: Theoretical and Music-Analytical Perspectives

Abstract:
Music and noise seem to be mutually exclusive. Music is generally considered as an ordered arrangement of sounds pleasing to the ear and noise as its opposite: chaotic, ugly, aggressive, sometimes even deafening. When presented in a musical context, noise can thus act as a tool to express resistance to predominant cultural values, to society or to socioeconomic structures (including those of the music industry). The oppositional stance confirms current notions of noise as something which is destructive, a belief not only cherished by hard-core rock bands but also shared by engineers and companies developing devices to suppress or reduce noise in our daily environment. In contrast to the common opinions on noise just described, this volume seeks to explore the constructive potential of noise in contemporary musical practices. Rather than viewing noise as a ‘defect’, this volume aims at studying its aesthetic and cultural potential. Within the noise music study field, most recent publications focus on subgenres such as psychedelic post-rock, industrial, hard-core punk, trash or rave, as they developed from rock and popular music. This book includes work on avant-garde music developed in the domain of classical music as well. In addition to already well-established (social) historical and aesthetical perspectives on noise and noise music, this volume offers contributions by music analysts.

Available for free download here: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/90105
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote suitkees Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 22 2024 at 02:46
Thanks, that looks quite interesting indeed, at least some of the articles in it. Downloaded!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote moshkito Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 22 2024 at 07:31
Originally posted by progaardvark progaardvark wrote:

I stumbled upon this open access book published by Taylor & Francis back in 2022 that might be of interest to some readers of this forum: 

Noise as a Constructive Element in Music: Theoretical and Music-Analytical Perspectives
...

Hi,

I would imagine that this would be far out, and much more interesting, if it took on the history of the "noise" and how it was developed. For example, if you take "Forbidden Planet" and its very electronic sounds, they ended up becoming a part of a lot of science fiction materials, because the noises were so far out, different and helped create images in your head ... one thing that 99% of the audiences today appear to be lacking, thus the need for "lyrics" to tell them what is going on and what this or that is about! (Wink).

The "exploration" is far more interesting than just about anything ... but that is my own experience. I have always loved the "experiments" in many arts, and the sound/music aspect is as neat and far out, as theater was in the 50's and 60's, destroying the "fourth wall" and then telling all walls to take a hike! This is one thing that popular music, has not done, compared to many of the other arts.

I'm looking around for this book ... hopefully I can get it, but it scares me to see things like this ... sometimes, the true center of its birth is missing ... and this is like saying that the instruments are the thing, and screw the folks that played them ... if the player had no "vision" or an adventurous desire to try something new and different, it would not happen ... and many of those folks are not given the credit they deserve. 

Ex: The knife by Keith Emerson ... was not a take on some of the ideas we had ... it was a way to get those two keys to continue playing ... a sustain that (likely) none of those instruments had at the time (a longer sustain, not the momentary sustain that pianos and most keyboards have). But we think of it as some extreme this or that and not give KE credit for finding a way to get that extended sound he was hoping to get and use.

The application of the "noise" is the difference, since "noise" on its own ... is not going to get any attention. Sometimes put us to sleep! But I think that Faust showed us how much fun it could be ... 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Valdez Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 22 2024 at 08:07
If the noise fits... You must acquit!  Like Brufords broken Cymbal. Right place, right timing.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote I prophesy disaster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 22 2024 at 11:20
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hrychu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 22 2024 at 11:40
Aren't the hihat cymbals basically that? 🤣

But anyway, due to NES's hardware limitations, a lot of classic video game music off the NES library used de facto white noise as percussion!


Edited by Hrychu - June 22 2024 at 11:42
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Archisorcerus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 22 2024 at 11:41
Like a construction worker does? Clown

Construction-Noise-How-to-Protect-Workers-Reduce-Noise-Pollution-768x384
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote suitkees Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 25 2024 at 08:58
^ You mean "concrete music"?

Wink

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote mellotronwave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June 25 2024 at 15:54
Einstürzende Neubauten 's early works come to mind
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote moshkito Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 11 2024 at 11:26
Originally posted by mellotronwave mellotronwave wrote:

Einstürzende Neubauten 's early works come to mind

HI,

I was thinking that Faust would be more interesting, since they used a lot of sound effects run through many synthes and other units to distort the sound. This, by itself was not knew ... Spike MIlligan (The Goons 50's English Radio Comedy) was insane and had the run of the BBC's sound effects library that apparently was at 24 LP's at one time. He would speed things up or slow them down and create a lot of far out things that defied description ... try the sock full of "custaaaard" which is throw at the wall, and occasionally at some folks ... or better yet, the pudding hurler using the ppuddings as bombs!

It was "noise" in that we could not identify the sound if it were elsewhere and not within a comedy skit ... and this hurt the Goons later and prevented them from getting on TV ... the sound effects were not going to translate well, compared to YOUR imagination of what they did and the sound was.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lewian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 11 2024 at 11:34
The go to address for music made out of noises (and often really only the noises Cool ) is this: 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote moshkito Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 11 2024 at 18:46
Originally posted by Lewian Lewian wrote:

The go to address for music made out of noises (and often really only the noises Cool ) is this: 

Hi,

Guy Guden, from 1974 for a few years used to do what we ended up calling "mind melts" which were really about the noise, and its various applications, and then infused a wee bit with comedy capers to make them easier to get through and enjoy them. But it was difficult to not hear some early Guru Guru, do noise effectively with Ax Gernrich and make them sound like broken washing machines ... doing laundry ... that got clean, too! LOL. It was, by far, one of the best moments in Guy's show, even 50 years later ... it's hard to not enjoy or appreciate them, and several of them survived the 120 minute cassettes to be heard again, and occasionally make an appearance in the current version of SPR.

Guy's takes on noise and sound effects was far out ... and if I made a list of them, it would probably make a far out album ... but I bet those sound effects albums (and other proper albums!!!) took a serious beating now and then. Don't ask him about Halloween, you'll regret it! Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cstack3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2024 at 21:31
My own recordings make generous use of modified noise!  One of my songs, "666" features a chunk of sheet metal tapped by a drummer to keep time with the music....when miked and played through phase shifter, the sound is ethereal.  A huge railroad wrench was similarly miked and modified, becoming more ghostly than a church bell. 

One of my favorite noise techniques is to put a coin inside of a child's balloon, inflate & tie the balloon, start the coin spinning in the inside circumference of the balloon, and then put it up to a microphone.  

When you do not have the money to buy a Mini Moog, you have to improvise! 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote moshkito Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2024 at 04:41
Originally posted by cstack3 cstack3 wrote:

My own recordings make generous use of modified noise!  One of my songs, "666" features a chunk of sheet metal tapped by a drummer to keep time with the music....when miked and played through phase shifter, the sound is ethereal.  A huge railroad wrench was similarly miked and modified, becoming more ghostly than a church bell. 

One of my favorite noise techniques is to put a coin inside of a child's balloon, inflate & tie the balloon, start the coin spinning in the inside circumference of the balloon, and then put it up to a microphone.  

When you do not have the money to buy a Mini Moog, you have to improvise! 

Hi,

Nice.

Not just improvise, I don't think, but also have the imagination to ... something is missing here in a spot and yesterday afternoon you had a thought about doing this and that ... and wondered what that sounded like. Also, the same thing that helped movies 100 years ago ... new sounds, some just being shown as the real thing, a gun, a locomotive, a car ... many sounds that were not recognizable by most folks around the world. Thus, specially in comedy, the desire/ability to create weirdness out of nothing or something else, was one of the creative methods of opening up the imagination.

In general, this is something that is missing, TODAY, in most music ... which can only do, or follow, the dictates that have been defined are what "music" was, and is. Thus, you get a lot of rock bands, just doing the same thing over and over again, and no ability to go "find" something new and interesting, not to mention that for most "songwriters" it has all become about being clever with a few words, and nothing else ... music, at one time, was not words, and the history of music, is very much about what a lot of that music meant, and was about ... really ... new sounds that most had not heard ... and music only travelled in the notes that were recorded on a piece of paper. THIS, btw, is very important, because everyone that could "read" the notes and visualize them, would have developed an imagination around that piece of music ... TODAY this is NOT ALLOWED. because that it what "lyrics" are for.

A sad example I heard, was when one day at the lake, I was playing Ozric Tentacles and it was a long cut, as usual, and one guy after a few minutes of it went ... where's the lyrics?

The development of "sound effects" is where a lot of noise came from, and it is sort of like saying that if you can not "define it" then it is noise ... but today, the use of the word, is very misleading and sometimes completely off key. 

The odd thing, that we don't like to say, think, about music is that it is ... organized noise that we think is now more meaningful than not. And guess where the confusion starts?


Edited by moshkito - July 17 2024 at 04:46
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Saperlipopette! Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2024 at 04:54
Rarely do I seek out noise, but this still looks right up my alley. When done well, noise can be cleansing. Cathartic even: 


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote moshkito Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 18 2024 at 10:02
Hi,

I think that what makes "noise" more interesting is the CONTEXT with which it is used ... thus the sound of something by itself is not as good, as if it was exposed next to something else with or against it.

The scary part, for me, about the book, is how they will likely read some of our comments and then update their book with them, and consider it their original piece of work. I'm not worried about being ripped off but I have already seen, things I said 10 years ago included in a few places, and I am not going to specify them as I am not trying to embarrass anyone, and take away their "drive" to add something to the topic. It all matters in the end, but there won't be a thank you for many of us at all.

The development of "noise" and its use, has been very important to the 20th century classical music scene, but not exactly to the rock and jazz scene, that are more formulated than they are experimental. 

I'm not sure that a good book can be done about "noise" unless its history is included, and it has to have classical music, film (specially) and comedy ... if you want an experience on how to deal with noise and orchestration, get one of the Carl Stalling CD's and without the visuals, what he has done is very challenging, and something that we do not have the patience for ... you can not, even formulate a story easily enough off the sound effects since it's hard to find a link between them.

I, sometimes, wish all the comments here were valuable ... but the silence if deafening!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lewian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 18 2024 at 15:45
I have this on offer:

Edited by Lewian - July 18 2024 at 15:46
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lewian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 18 2024 at 15:47
Originally posted by cstack3 cstack3 wrote:

My own recordings make generous use of modified noise!   
Can you link us some? 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lewian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 18 2024 at 16:12
"Music and noise seem to be mutually exclusive. Music is generally considered as an ordered arrangement of sounds pleasing to the ear and noise as its opposite: chaotic, ugly, aggressive, sometimes even deafening." I think that I have never thought like this. There's rather obviously music that fulfills other aims than being "pleasing to the ear", and the term "noise" is attributed by the listener dependent on the way of listening. "Noises" can also be generally used for sounds. The ear through conscious and open minded listening can create appeal or even harmony out of sounds that'd otherwise be "noise". "Noise" can  be composed to create music (in the sense of "ordered arrangement") but for the creative ear that might not even be necessary. (Context may be key though as written by Pedro.)

Funex enjoying themselves (ourselves Wink) making noise (with limited amounts of noisiness):


Edited by Lewian - July 18 2024 at 16:58
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 18 2024 at 16:20
Yet the very distinction between music & noise indicates the difference between the two.   The inclusion of noise into music does not negate the nature of noise, and that breach must exist in order to realize music itself as a singular construct.
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