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Re: Popularity/influence/etc.
Hi C, thanks so much for the perspective of the audience's involvement in
a show. I completely agree. To me at least, music is to be enjoyed as an
immersive experience.
Smiles,
CQ
At 01:25 PM 8/28/02 -0500, you wrote:
>At 09:45 AM 8/28/2002 -0700, Jonathan El-Bizri wrote:
>
>>Hip-hop/Rap = sampling and presequencing, rather than loop performance
>>Hip-hop/Rap = everything done in the studio
>>Hip-hop/Rap = amazingly lackluster live shows for audiences who've never
>>seen better
>
>I'd also disagree, even though I'll readily admit I hate most Rap/Hip-hop
>(that's merely my own personal taste, however, and not a blanket judgment
>of the musical form).
>
>As to the first criticism, there's nothing wrong with sampling and
>presequencing, if done properly, as it can provide a structure within
>which
>to work and improvise. As for loop performance, I believe that Per
>already
>brought up that one is just as able to "loop" using vinyl as an EDP.
>
>The second criticism, if I'm reading it correctly, implies that there is
>no
>spontaneity in this type of music, which is just not true. Even moreso
>than most other popular music, Rap and Hip-hop are vocally centered and
>not
>primarily instrumental musics. In performance, there can be a huge
>amount
>of spontaneity and improvisation from the lead rapper(s). The
>instruments
>primarily exist to serve as a backdrop for the vocals, however. That
>doesn't necessarily mean that "everything is done in the studio".
>
>Finally, the last criticism is the one I find most contentious, but since
>my background is more in electronica let me give you an example based in
>that experience (I think it applies equally to some of the better Hip-hop
>shows I've seen). I've gone to a lot of different techno concerts, one
>of
>which was a Crystal Method show I attended a while back. This show
>happened to be particularly good, and within the first ten minutes
>everybody in the club was bouncing off the walls -- literally, it was
>nearly impossible to keep from merging into the mass of dancing
>bodies. The important thing was not how much was sequenced/pre-prepared
>(a
>large chunk of it was) or how much was re-arranged/improvised (an equally
>large chunk was, as well), but rather that the guys up on stage could
>have
>utterly disappeared and it wouldn't have mattered.
>
>What am I talking about? Well, what really mattered was that the
>musicians
>had constructed an environment where the audience could become completely
>lost in the experience, then, for all intents and purposes, the two guys
>onstage became utterly irrelevant and vanished. The concert became a
>tribal experience with all members of the audience actively
>participating,
>rather than some sort of spectator event with all attendant merely
>gawking
>at the stage. The performers were merely facilitators.
>
>The point is that not every show has to be centered around the
>self-aggrandization of the musician's ego, as the majority of "rock
>concerts" seem to be. Rather, the performance can be an event where the
>artist strives to make himself invisible so that the audience can lose
>themselves in the group experience. This type of concert lends itself
>poorly to recording and documentation, however, and if it is viewed from
>the outside rather than as an active participant, it's extremely easy to
>judge such an event as 'lackluster'.
>
>Finally, I do have to add that there are crappy artists out there
>performing crappy concerts. But the same can be said of every other
>musical genre out there. YMMV, all standard disclaimers apply, caveat
>emptor, post no bills...
>
> -c-
>
>_____
>"i want to reach my hand into the dark and *feel* what reaches back"
> -recoil
>
>
---
"The only things I really think are important, are love, and eachother.
-Then, anything is possible..."
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