Wiardgroup

--- In wiardgroup@y..., "konkuro" <konkuro@a...> wrote:
snip
> 
> >Up to the point where music became big business, it was not 
> treated as a craft where "results" are expected and predictable. 
It 
> did not use "tools' to produce these predictable results. (and 
> certainly not "weapons" for an "arsenal" of War)<
> 
> >It used precious "instruments" for a personal journey of 
> discovery and enrichment with an outcome that is unknown. 
The 
> fact that the destination is unknown, is what makes the journey 
> exciting.<

I gotta tell you, I love that. I'm going to write it out and post it
somewhere in my studio.

> Yes, were that only true.  Do you think that when Beethoven sat 
down 
> to write a symphony that the destination was unknown?  When 
an author 
> writes a book (at least a good one), do you think he just pens a 
> bunch of random thoughts in the hope that they will solidify into 
a 
> plot?

Just to play deebil's advocate... 

"When I start at the typewriter I have a slip of paper with the
names of the people, their ages and what they do, and that's
all the outline I have. You see, in my life I've done maybe a
thousand interesting things, and I think that nine hundred
and thirty-seven of them happened in my subconsious. I
remember when I was writing "How Like A God" I had a scene
where the hero's sone comes into his office and talks to him
for two or three pages. Suddenly I pushed back from the 
typewriter, jumped up and said 'Jesus Christ! I didn't know he
had a son!' "

...The things that people say and do in the stories I write, I make
up one-third of them, but the rest I have nothing to do with."

Rex Stout, interviewed by Alfred Bester
"Re-Demolished", page 465

(I haven't read any Stout so I can't comment upon whether
he was successful or not. And what the definition of
successful would be in this instance.)


> Good instruments are important to the creation of art, but their 
form 
> must follow function.  This is not some kind of Bauhaus (ugh!) 
> dictum, but one that Mother Nature herself follows.  Things are 
> created a certain way for certain reasons.  Does a pen create 
any 
> better art because it has gewgaws carved on it?  No.  What a 
pen 
> needs is a well-wrought nib, a comfortable, ergonomic design, 
and 
> good ink.  Thus it is with synthesizers. Kind of.

It sounds like the Wiard is a piece of interactive art. An artistically
engraved katana is still a deadly weapon... 

> >Music is for your personal enrichment, you are not obligated 
to 
> produce music that anybody else likes, or even recognizes as 
> music<
> 
> Again I disagree.  Art is a form of communication.  What good 
would 
> Tolstoy have been if his novels were written only for himself?  
Of 
> what use would Mozart have been if he had locked himself in a 
closet 
> and composed music for his ears only?  Creating music for 
oneself is 
> enjoyable, but it is tantamount to aesthetic masturbation.  It 
may 
> good, but will never bear any offspring.

If if pleases me, then I'll have succeeded musically. If other
people like what I do, much the better. I'm sure that most of
us here would enjoy making a living in direct pursuit of their
artistic leanings, without compromise. 

"What is this piece of music about? It's about itself!"
-composer's name temporarily misplaced..

Grant mentioned self-enrichment. That is SO important. 
Simultaneously enriching others would be "gravy". 

> >(consider the original reaction to "The Rite of Spring").<
> 
> Actually, the reaction was mostly to the disjointed, mechanical, 
> almost spastic dancing Nijinsky had choreographed.
> 
> >The attempt to produce art which is "popular" has led to all my 
> artist failures. The Wiard is not intended to be popular. I can 
> accept that you dislike it,<
> 
> Actually, "dislike" would not be accurate.  I don't care for certain 
> physical aspects of it, but am open to further exploration of it's 
> sound.  My favorite piece in the recent aleatoric competition 
was 
> done on a Wiard, and I was impressed with some of the 
sounds created 
> at the recent Bay Area AH gathering.  If you wanted to send me 
a 
> system for a free evaluation, trust me, I would not stop you.  :-)
> 
> >but please don't think I'm obligated to  produce "tools" for a 
> process that I do NOT want to be industrialized.<
> 
> Yet your product seems targeted to producers of "industrial" 
and 
> other sequencer-based, mechanized sounding forms.  
Curious.
> 
> At any rate, thank you for a very interesting post!  And please do 
> not get the impression that I'm in any way anti-Wiard.  Indeed, 
I've 
> sent a couple of prospective buyers to your site.  I also very 
much 
> appreciate being allowed to speak freely on your forum 
which--unlike 
> another forum--does not censor contrary opinions.
> 
> Best,
> 
> johnm

Easier,

-Mike