breathing with no oxygen
talking with no voice
hearing with no ears
feeling with no soul
a David versus Goliath situation
describe minimal music!
it took me a while to write a decent reply...
minimalism in general, for me, is an exploration into the basic shapes and forms, a bit like in a platonian world, beyond reach
I like basic shapes e.g. in sculptures and paintings
they inspire silence and have a very relaxing effect...
likewise for music, I like it when compositions can let the beats and notes breathe, a deeper journey into basic structures and rhythms, and hypnotic repetition
in a stripped down composition, you can give each sound an identity and distinct place without it being just a small part of the whole
I guess I like the visual aspect of it...
in as far as we can consider the whole micro/clickhouse thing as minimal
well, it's true some clickhouse tunes aren't really that minimal, but do not exactly excell in melody and layers either, most clickhouse also inspire this feeling where rhythms and sounds breathe in the compositions and where details are being magnified out of the whole instead of just being part of it
it's like flying in the musical void without the need for a jet engine
minimalism in general, for me, is an exploration into the basic shapes and forms, a bit like in a platonian world, beyond reach
I like basic shapes e.g. in sculptures and paintings
they inspire silence and have a very relaxing effect...
likewise for music, I like it when compositions can let the beats and notes breathe, a deeper journey into basic structures and rhythms, and hypnotic repetition
in a stripped down composition, you can give each sound an identity and distinct place without it being just a small part of the whole
I guess I like the visual aspect of it...
in as far as we can consider the whole micro/clickhouse thing as minimal
well, it's true some clickhouse tunes aren't really that minimal, but do not exactly excell in melody and layers either, most clickhouse also inspire this feeling where rhythms and sounds breathe in the compositions and where details are being magnified out of the whole instead of just being part of it
it's like flying in the musical void without the need for a jet engine
I found this in my music appreciation book and thought it was somewhat interesting to share:
Direct quoted from book: "Music an appreciation", author: Roger Kamien
Minimalist Music: The mid 1960's saw the developement of an artistic movement called minimalism, which was partly a reaction against the complexity of serialism and the randomness of chance music. Minimalist music is characterized by steady pulse, clear tonality, and insistent repetition of short melodic patterns. Its dynamic level, texture, and harmony tend to stay constant for fairly long stretches of time, creating a trancelike or hypnotic effect. Leading minimalist composers, such as Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams have been profoundly influenced by nonwester thought; many have studied African, Indian, or Balinese music. Minimalist music grew out of the same intellectual climate as minimalist art, which featured simple forms, clarity, and understatement. Indeed, in the 1960's, minimalist muscians were appreciated more by painters and sculptors then by their fellow composers.
Direct quoted from book: "Music an appreciation", author: Roger Kamien
Minimalist Music: The mid 1960's saw the developement of an artistic movement called minimalism, which was partly a reaction against the complexity of serialism and the randomness of chance music. Minimalist music is characterized by steady pulse, clear tonality, and insistent repetition of short melodic patterns. Its dynamic level, texture, and harmony tend to stay constant for fairly long stretches of time, creating a trancelike or hypnotic effect. Leading minimalist composers, such as Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams have been profoundly influenced by nonwester thought; many have studied African, Indian, or Balinese music. Minimalist music grew out of the same intellectual climate as minimalist art, which featured simple forms, clarity, and understatement. Indeed, in the 1960's, minimalist muscians were appreciated more by painters and sculptors then by their fellow composers.
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Conradaroma
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The use of fewer and fewer disparate elements to create the whole is a move towards a more minimal way of looking at things. Understatement is a good description, but again, it's just another single word being used to group together a whole conceptualization.
After reading a few of these, some might say that it can be the use of simple forms to create complex structure, but if the structure is too complicated is it still minimal?
I think the best way to look at might be as a continuum...meaning what would an artist have to do to move towards a minimal aestehetic? Simplify elements or remove them? It is this process of minimalization that might help me understand what the actual "minimal" part of it all is.
man, what a tough question...
After reading a few of these, some might say that it can be the use of simple forms to create complex structure, but if the structure is too complicated is it still minimal?
I think the best way to look at might be as a continuum...meaning what would an artist have to do to move towards a minimal aestehetic? Simplify elements or remove them? It is this process of minimalization that might help me understand what the actual "minimal" part of it all is.
man, what a tough question...
Teleportation Now!
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minimal house
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Always will be among my favourite tracks. Awesome.jpls wrote:plastikman - hypokondriak
But.. "what is minimal music?" as you're all basically asking?
I don't honestly think there is such thing. Nobody knows what it really is. Minimal isn't a qualifier or a distinct way of looking at music, and it's certainly not a "genre".. not these days anyway. Sooo many people have weird ideas, like thinking it's all about using glitchy noises or short random bursts of human speech and so on. There's a lot of people pushing what is essentially early trance and house as "minimal" on the basis that there isn't much there/it's really simple. I hate the word "minimal" because so many people use it so casually now like it's an every day term and like they know what it means. Truth: it's been around longer than anyone on this board, including myself.
At most, "minimal" is just a word people throw around to distinguish from other similar types of music. And these days, so many people percieve things as being part of this sound regardless of what it actually sounds like that it doesn't really matter. Everything is minimal as far as people are concerned it seems.
The way one might view it all as an artist, however, is that 'minimal' is an approach to achieving a certain result in one's own work. it's about achieving a concept, an idea using very detailed understanding of both the goal and the techniques required to get there, using exactly what is required and nothing more. As soon as it becomes about making music or art that's "minimal" or even as soon as any concious thought is put into purposely doing "minimal", it's no longer an accurate representation of what it is supposed to be about. It becomes once again, just about making music.
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PatStormont
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