154: Classnotes: Monday, May 6, 1996
Defining "aesthetic" and "aesthetics"
The term "aesthetic" is often used in everyday parlance to denote
style, but this is really an over-simplification, and since
aesthetics play such a major role in the nature of electronic music
(indeed in any art form), it is important that we understand a little
more about the term, than its everyday usage implies...
The NeXT digital Webster's dictionary gives the following definitions
for aesthetic, and aesthetics.
- aes*thet*ic
- [G asthetisch, fr. NL aestheticus, fr. Gk aisthetikos of sense perception,
fr. aisthanesthai to perceive P more at AUDIBLE]
(1798)
1a: of, relating to, or dealing with aesthetics or the beautiful (aesthetic theories)
b: ARTISTIC (a work of aesthetic value)
2: appreciative of, responsive to, or zealous about the beautiful
- aes*thet*ics
- (1825)
1: a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art,
and taste and with the creation and appreciation of beauty
2: a particular theory or conception of beauty or art (modernist aesthetics)
3: a pleasing appearance or effect: BEAUTY (appreciated the aesthetics of the gemstones)
What Are Musical Aesthetics?
The class was asked to consider the following question:
- "How would you go about composing music for a film?"
After numerous answers such as:
- Consult with the director/producer of the film to gain an understanding of what
he/she is looking for
- Decide what kind of mood is appropriate
- Decide on instrumentation...
It was agreed that eventually, notes would have to be composed, sounds
produced, and in order to do this, some kind of aesthetic decision-making would
be required. And so begins the consideration of aesthetics in music.
Synthesizer Aesthetics
The class was then asked to consider what the names
used for a synthesizer's `factory preset' patches
reveal about the aesthetic outlook of the synthesizer's manufacturer.
For example, on the Yamaha SY77, the following names for patches aer used:
- Grand Piano
- Alto Sax
- Thumb Bass
- Pan Flute
- Bop Organ
- Oh Choir
- Syren Song
- Inferno
- Gosh!
It was agreed that these patch names fall into two categories: those that
imply the patch is intended to be an imitiation of a natural sound (ie.
real instrument(s), or even a particular playing technique on an instrument),
and those that imply the patch is a sound effect type sound. It was deduced
that the aesthetic outlook implied by this, is that (for most
synthesizer manufacturers) sounds should either be imitations of natual
sounds (and presumably, the more life-like the better), or "wierd" special
FX sounds: what else could a synthesizer be good for?
There was a handout copied from the user manual for the SY77, which included
not only a complete list of patch names, but further descriptions about them
and what they are "good" for, as well as Yamaha's version of a
description Frequency Modulation (FM). The class were asked to decipher
further aesthetic implciations of this document.
Aesthetics in Electronic Music
Examples from the IDEAMA collection revealed that while some
works seem to be intended to imitate nature (often for the purpose
of demostrating a particular synthesis technique), a sizeable
proportion seem to deliberately occupy a border region between sound
as imitation and sound as experimentation (ie. new sounds).
- Max Mathews: Daisy
- This work imitates the phonemes of the singing voices, and consists
of a synthesized version of the vocal line, with a synthesized keyboard-like
accompaniment. This could therefore be described as the aesthetic of
imitation--ground-breaking and almost unsurpassed, as it is.
- Ercolini Ferretti: Trio
- In this work, percussive, drum-like sounds become increasingly electronic
in timbre. The aesthetic here, is perhaps one of using synthesis to expand
the pallette of known sounds into a new dimension.
Describing Music From An Aesthetic Point Of View
The following statements reveal an underlying aesthetic
attitude. With each one, think about what that attitude is, and how it could
perhaps be better articulated.
- I don't understand this piece of music.
- The harmonic series is the basis of all good music.
- Rock music is bad because its low frequencies stimulate the "low regions"
of the human body and/or its nature.
- This synthesizer sounds great--so natural.
- Classical music is too complicated and boring. Rock music is too simplistic.
- Experimental music cannot be commercially successful.
A more in-depth perspective on musical aesthetics might might reference
the materials used in a given work on the following three axes:
identical...similar...related...resembling...stemming from / changed to...not related
<----------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
juxtaposed...contrasting...adding a different dimension...enhancing...fusing
<-------------------------------------------------------------------------->
no life...intellectual...academic...constructed...construed...speculative...meaningful...full of life
<--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Further Thoughts on Musical Aesthetics
When considering a piece of music, it might be helpful to evaluate the extent
to which the following statements may or may not be true:
- The means influence the result / The means determine the result
- The result influences the means / The result determines the means
- The means justifies the end / The end justifies the means
- The medium influences the message / The message influences the medium
And remember that (as with most things), Why, What, and How
are in constant exchange...