electronic soul

[AK]

You can make soulful music with anything but I guess it depends on what your definition of soulful actually is. For me, it's not about what instruments are used for the music but about the content within that music.

I don't think it is one single identifiable thing, I think it's an accumulation of a number of things. Passion, experimentalism, non-conformism, individualism and artistic independence. For me, these are necessary requirements for an artist to realize themselves through a medium such as music.

It also has nothing to do with ability, production technique or even playing/programming technique. A complete novice can capture something in their music which can be captivating, non cliched and unique but again, uniqueness doesn't necessarily mean it will be soulful either.

If I could wrap up my thought in a nutshell, I would have to go with: An artist who captures feeling and emotion in his music which conveys the passion that drives him to create it in the first place.

[tone-def]

I think all music has soul. I personally can't feel the soul in all music but that doesn't mean it hasn't got any.

[mehta]

I think it's important to be a bit careful with our terminology & how it gets thrown around. For example, if we talk about "deep & soulful house" ... this really meant something in the early 90s, and I think that lots of producers still understand what it is or can be, but so many records are released now which are basically bigroom tech-house beats with a 70s funk or soul sample. So having the term "electronic soul" is a bit terrifying for me because of how it could be manipulated by commercial forces.

If we are talking about "soul" as an ineffable description of some non-qualitative aspect of the music, it's impossible to find a definition. I would tend to agree with tone-def that all music has "soul" but the listener must participate for this quality to come alive.

[steevio]

using samples from soul records etc. wasnt really what i meant, i was talking about 'machine soul'

i know its a difficult subject to get your head around.

i dont think all music has soul, not even slightly, ive recorded lots of music that has no soul whatsoever, thats why i reject it.
when i listen back, i can hear that its just a bunch of machines going round in lifeless loops, then every now and then, something comes to life, seems to take on a personality of its own that i'm just guiding with my programming. i reject 90% of everything i record.

when i said 'not the industrial stuff' i didnt mean all industrial techno has no soul, Jeff Mills would be a good example of someone who can make industrial strength techno with soul, but there is a large pecentage that has that lifeless quality.

[mehta]

Yep, I understand what you meant by machine soul. I think anyone who has worked with sound machines can understand this. I mentioned disco sampling to show how terminology can be misused. The soul we are talking about here is the subjective experience between the music-maker, the machines, and also the listener (who can also be the music-maker)

I avoid terms like deep, soul, trance, etc because even though the definitions apply, they have been appropriated by commercial forces. It's unfortunate, but I think we have to be careful how we label our practices. More people are interested in a packaged idea of a hypnotic music experience rather than the actual thing, so it's important that the practices remain esoteric so that they can maintain their purity.

As music-makers, it's essential to be aware of the subjective experience of the machines coming alive, but it's hard to communicate what that means exactly or give recorded examples of when this is or isn't happening. It's also hard to comment on other people's processes because we all work differently. I think it's important to try to find the magic of creation rather than using formulas or techniques to achieve a goal.

[simonb]

when i said 'not the industrial stuff' i didnt mean all industrial techno has no soul, Jeff Mills would be a good example of someone who can make industrial strength techno with soul, but there is a large pecentage that has that lifeless quality.

or Regis, lots of distorted sounds and industrial influence but so much soul at the same time.

[MagpieIndustries]

I spilt beer into my Virus B and it released a cloud of smoke and never worked again. Interestingly, it weighted 21 grams less afterwards.


obilbilbio i love you too.

[sorgenkind]

Steevio, I was thinking about jeff mills too. And robert hood and the other Detroit cats too.
Versus say ben sims, adam beyer and those “sampled half bar perc loop techno” guys.
I love both types of techno, whereas I’d define the Detroit one as soulful and the british - swedish as functional techno.
If that makes sense at all.
Both have place in my heart, but with a substantial difference:

I can listen to jeff mills at home (actually getting back into my record collection, I’m having a jeff mills trip at the moment.. so I wiped the dust off my old cds like time machine, lifelike, every dog has its day, some purpose makers as well) since there is a deepness in its sound which goes below the clubby groove you just want to dance your butt off to. There a musical statement in it, there was innovation (when it was originally released). Or take cathatony by kenny larkin… you can feel the soul in it. Model 500, infinti… list goes on and on.
I can’t listen to drumcode/killabite stuff at home, but I sure had countless of funny hours going clubbing when the “monoloop” guys where mixing those banging tunes with 3 decks –stuff made to dance off and not to think a lot about it (in my humble opinion).

So I’d say if there really is any soul in music, is there if the creator put some of his love into the tune, so for me it’s really whether the musician has any, or if he wants to put any in it.
I’d say soulful music has a longer lifespan than functional music, so I think if there are any tracks you are still listening 10+ years after release, there’s probably some good soul in it.
I just don’t always need to feel the soul in the music I listen to, sometimes all I need is a groovy, bassy ballsy track to switch off and move my body.

Thanks for the interesting thread.