Reading Response No.5

Nancy Rico-Mineros

Principle 5.10

Back in my undergrad, I took a course in Electronic Music where we were required to read The Future of Music - Credo by John Cage, where Cage discusses the future of music. In this manifesto, Cage goes on to talk about how most early electrical musical instruments have been made in attempts of recreating eighteen and nineteenth century musical instruments, rather than pushing the needle in creating something new. Cage mentions how this was similar to when early automotive manufactures decided to recreate the carriages when designing the first car. I mention this manifesto mainly because I was reminded of it when I read Principle 5.10:

"Copying an instrument is dumb. Leveraging expert techniques is smart" (pg. 228)

The issue that Cage brings up in Credo and the principle that Perry Cook speaks on in Chapter 5 of Artful Design speaks on this notion of recreating what already exists, how recreating what already has been created before is counterintuitive and it only stunts creativity. This issue extends beyond the medium of instrument creation and can be seen in other mediums such as film, with the rise in live-action films based on animated material or in music basing themselves on sound of years ago.

I feel like it is so easy to recreate something new rather than taking the time to come up with something new. In my personal experiences, at least when it comes to music creation, it feels like everything has been done before which is often discouraging. However, by recreating something that has already been done before, you are not pushing the needle. What I found at least helpful in my thought process of creating anything is rather than recreating what was done before and sit back to think about why I like it and what qualities I can take away and apply to my own creation. This is something echoed in Principle 5.10.

In Cages manifesto he goes on to talk about the creation of the Theremin and how with the creation of the theremin, there were new possibilities of creating sound and composing music. This pushes music creation forward. I reflected back to Cage's manifesto because it reminded me of the ideas mentioned in Chapter 5 of Artful Design and what Perry Cook believes. If music is just organized sound - or at least what John Cage believes, then anything that can reproduce sound can be musical in some way. This opens the doors of exploring different objects and exploring the option of creating a new instrument.