Cranius wrote:sparky wrote:I'd wager good money that 95% of these facets were deliberately engineered: wicked records are not flukes.
I feel this is the crux of what is being discussed. This is not really a genre war of classical vs rock or jazz vs rock. I think it would more useful to look at it in terms of compositional music and improvisational music. The process by which composers and groups arrive at their musical destination says alot about what they finally express. Alot of Bach is born out improvisational scale work. Jazz groups work around pre-agreed chord progressions and a reliance technique to give themselves expressive freedom. Phillip Glass works in a highly regimented structural manner. Rock groups sythesize both regimentation and visceral expressive qualities to produce a new tradition of music (rock is not a folk music, it is a modern tradition). Some electronic groups like kraftwerk suppress individualistic qualities deference to group aesthetic. Bob Log III is a motherfucking one-man-band. I could keep going. What is important is that whilst some deny the accident others embrace it; you could say almost worship it. Sometimes your best inventions are mistakes.
Orchestras are a dictatorships, lead by conductor/composer. The voices of the musicians are controlled in this regard to produce the mood that the piece requires, although there are usually one or two key players. Rock and Jazz groups are far more democratic although obviously there are different degrees of this.
Personally I prefer music that is born out of improvisation, wether that comes from group rehearsal or based on tacitly agreed theoretical precepts. There is political element to why I think this which to do with the model society I favour. The CIA during the cold war funded international tours of the works of abstract expressionists such as Pollock as a showcase for American individualism. They certainly seemed to think there was a political capital to be made from expressive freedom. Which kind of brings us back to good and bad faith and wether you believe you have free will. For instance I don't like Frank Zappa's music because I think he composes in bad faith.
As regards 'schtick', alot of very straight forward performers employ it. When James Brown is down on his knees and they bring him his cape, is that 'schtick'? Or is it merely exuberant showmanship that lies at the heart of a genuine persona?
Wierdly enough free will is today's featured article on wikipedia.
In this context, I feel that I ought to clarify my quote above. What I meant to say is that the artists selected the recorded sound from a series of sessions in which a degree of improvisation would have been involved. I agree with the above: I am a strong believer in the happy accident. I think that the merit of the group lies in being able to create a situation in which such happy accidents are likely to occur, and being able to successfuly identify and preserve such instances.