The Minimal artistic ideal

[steevio]

Truth in sound is the essence of minimal to me.

yes

and the absence of ego

[victorgonzales]

I dont see why people complain about minimal mixing with progressive so much.

I see minimal as a descriptive word not a genre. Progressive sounds great when built in a minimal fashion. I really think minimal was a fix for the overbearing drum and synth work being done in the past in absence of creativity. With things stripped down to MINIMAL in ANY GENRE it focuses more creativity on the more simple aspects of the track.

[Shepherd_of_Anu]

Truth in sound is the essence of minimal to me.

yes and the absence of ego

I hope that isn't a commentary on my post because I am only writing what I think. To be honest I don't really understand how ego relates to it but maybe thats my shortfall. I don't seek to humble myself often. I am prone to honesty rather then socially pleasing glibness.

The absence of ego sounds unhealthy. Its true, nobody likes a big ego except insecure whores but ego in itself isn't a bad thing. Unless you are a Buddhist monk and live a restricted lifestyle without it you put yourself in a position to suffer at your own hand not to mention others.

Could you expand on your idea a little? I am curious.

To me entering egotism into the equation seems more like the interjection of a social preference.

[Shepherd_of_Anu]

Victor - On the question of progressiveness I think much like you.

I like each track to be something akin a solid state. I have a hard time putting the idea into words without sounding like I am going off into la la land.

I like each track to be like a particular state of being. I like tracks to be like this because when I spin I like a track it has to be consistent or provide a good set up for progressive changes. When I change tracks its more like moving from one state to the next.

I think progressiveness isn't a bad thing as long as it feeds into and enhances the "solid state." If its tasteful, subtle yet energizing it a good thing.

A track I like that changes greatly and without subtlety is the Trentemøller Mix of that Unai song "Oh you and I."

Its an interesting track. It flips into some intense place for a time then manages to come out of it gracefully.

[steevio]

Truth in sound is the essence of minimal to me.

yes and the absence of ego

I hope that isn't a commentary on my post because I am only writing what I think. To be honest I don't really understand how ego relates to it but maybe thats my shortfall. I don't seek to humble myself often. I am prone to honesty rather then socially pleasing glibness.

The absence of ego sounds unhealthy. Its true, nobody likes a big ego except insecure whores but ego in itself isn't a bad thing. Unless you are a Buddhist monk and live a restricted lifestyle without it you put yourself in a position to suffer at your own hand not to mention others.

Could you expand on your idea a little? I am curious.

To me entering egotism into the equation seems more like the interjection of a social preference.

no brother you missunderstood me completely. it was no comment on what you were saying, it was reinforcement.
i find egoless music more pure, minimalism demands a purity.
buddhist monks are the fathers of minimalism, a zen garden being a perfect example.

[Shepherd_of_Anu]

Hey you know what? I was thinking about this about an hour ago and I think you are right man. There is no ego in it so the absence of ego only makes sense. I think I was a little confused because it was even brought up. If there was ego involved then thats all it would be - someones ego intruding into it. Ego doesn't fit the equation.

[Torque]

Absence of Ego my ass!!!
There's no such thing in minimal.
If you don't believe me just come out and say sometime when you're commenting on somebodies new track they posted "LOL that's some straight up bullshit" and see if their feelings don't get hurt. A minimalist without ego would be one who goes to some forums for other styles of music and posts their work for review and learns from the negative reviews more than they do the positive ones. The Minimal scene is too clique filled, there's too much back patting going on. Some serious competition in this genre would be a great idea.

[oblioblioblio]

the topic of ego is always a pretty interesting one.

for me actually, the reason I started making music in the first place was because of an egotistical knee jerk reaction. Music was a major thing in my life but I never thought I had it in me to make it. I was at a performance of an artist who I really loved, and at the end of the gig when the place was quiet I wanted to ask him a couple of questions about his set up (I'd been messing around with some software myself, but never seriously), but he totally palmed me off in a really rude way, and inside I was like 'fck you man, you don't own music, I'll make it myself you fuckin arrogant prick', or some similar ego based reaction.

I think good music comes from having a healthy balance in a personal approach to the world, from recognising, accepting and perhaps being motivated by a potentially distorted interest in personal gain, but ultimately to understand and cherish the opposite.

like a plant blossoming with pretty colours and beautiful smells. it is a deep and selfless expression, but also a way to attract insects to spread it's pollen.



hmm, that sounded good at the time but maybe Im just full of sh!t and trying to impress the experienced forum people with my command for analogical thinking. heheh

I guess ultimately it's waaay too big a topic to properly speculate on, it's certainly a hugely personal thing and I guess it's something we need to decide for ourselves.