VARIATIONS #7
The Composer
Curated by Jon Leidecker
In the nineties, sampling technology reached a level of sophistication and control that allowed musicians to truly assert themselves over their materials. While some collagists innovated by conifdently stepping into the traditional role of the romantic composer, presenting the resulting music as an expression of self, others continued to explore the intrinsic meanings suggested by the craft itself.
In this episode we trace through examples of the popular music that brought the term ‘remix’ into the popular lexicon, hear the CD player joining the turntable as a live performance instrument, and connect digital sampling to the history of musical borrowing: written notation’s classical equivalent to the editing techniques that modern composers use to transform existing music into new compositions.
The Relationship
The convergence of mainstream and social media platforms sidelines traditional record labels and sparks new sub-genres from mashups to vaporwave, but also reinforces the perception of music as consumable entertainment. How are we being retrained to our new environment by an aesthetic that has become so pervasive as to turn itself nearly invisible? Never conclude a historical narrative in present time.
By Jon Leidecker
"Radio Music" connects three examples from the history of the potential of the radio receiver as musical instrument.
Cumulative Tails
Cumulative Tails is a pun upon the 'cumulative tale', where each part of a story relates to that which just preceded and followed it. This radio mix, curated by Vicki Bennett, has been created using that process – a succession of audio tracks picked in conceptual relation only to that which was previously played.
Conversation with Vicki Bennett on her sound collection
This is an email conversation with plunderphonic artist and sound collector Vicki Bennett, which took place in Summer 2013.
Transcript
Transcript of VARIATIONS #7. The Composer, curated by Jon Leidecker.
The Library
Sound libraries are collections of sounds explicitly designed or collected for further use, presented as unfinished ingredients. Sounds increasingly detach from their sources and are used by new authors less as references than as simple objects.
The Discipline
As art and industrial practitioners formally map out the discipline, hip-hop's discovery of digital sampling technology in the mid-80's provided a reintroduction to its original roots in block party DJ collage.
John Oswald
John Oswald, one of the leading exponents of sound appropriationism, talks about his work.