Mersh Music (God, Abba and Me)

[James B Hofmann <hofmann@AMSAA.ARPA>]

flame start

Well - I really don't see why I should appreciate commercial music
just because my life has been programmed by it from day one.  I mean
don't you think that you should CONDEMN it instead?   I think the idea
of someone profiting monetarily of his art is a co-opt of art, in effect
a RAPE of art.  If I were an artist, I would take more pleasure in getting
each person who bought my recording to sign an agreement that they would promise
to listen to it.  Now before Doug has to search 
for rationalizations or refutations to support Kate's spurious relationship with
 EMI - let me say that I think that most of what money Kate gets (and it ain't 
even half of what EMI is making I suspect) probably goes right back into her
art (i.e. her studio, new instruments, etc) ...

flame end

Fu, I read this article in Sound Choice this month about creating your 
own industrial/tape loop recordings.  It's easy - doesn't take a significant
amount of equipment (if you have two tape recorders and a walkmen you're
in business) and you can PROGRAM your OWN background music - (not saying
that you don't do that now with other artist's tapes, etc) so what you could
do is take 10 seconds (via one of those answering machine tapes) of ABBA (three
bars is legal in case you want to patent your creation) and create a tape loop
with it  (the basic way is to record the 10 seconds - put that on another tape
and then set it up so the two tapes are "off" in rhythm and record that on the
third tape player while you are playing with modulation, pan controls and 
volume) and in effect (as the article was entitled) you can "clone the drone"
They also mentioned that Steve Reich was doing this stuff 10 or 20 years ago.

You also say that "music is not the only art" but it is the one closest
to human expression.  I mean look at all the people who strum or fool with 
synth's as opposed to the number of people who paint or sculpt. 
What I'm trying to say is that a society can be judged in how they relate to
music.  I'd say that the commercial industry is in effect a condemnation of
our society.  I think the only way to break the commercial industry is to 
produce as much independent music as possible - in effect: flood the market     
this is most easily done with cassette tapes ...  gee, no wonder the record
industry would like a dollar tax on cassettes, huh? 

so like I said, be subversive - buy a cassette and record something with it.

----
hofmann (on his own account)