tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post2069305518985166555..comments2024-03-27T23:06:03.736-05:00Comments on The Music Salon: Musical "Gray Goo"Bryan Townsendhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-52880263812443676382016-05-15T07:28:25.341-05:002016-05-15T07:28:25.341-05:00Au contraire, mon ami! Vous avez raison. It is ind...Au contraire, mon ami! Vous avez raison. It is indeed La Couperin by M. Forqueray. Don't know how I got that mixed up. For one thing, La Forqueray by Couperin is for harpsichord, not viola da gamba and continuo. French Baroque composers made up a rather exclusive club who all knew one another and many of whom were related. When M. Blancrocher died four different composers wrote tombeaux for him.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-48700581844926890742016-05-14T17:23:48.970-05:002016-05-14T17:23:48.970-05:00Sorry to nitpick but the piece is not La Forqueray...Sorry to nitpick but the piece is not La Forqueray by Couperin but, rather, La Couperin by Forqueray. (Likewise, Couperin composed a piece called Forqueray.) I guess composers liked to name their pieces after the names of the composers they admired.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-35347557463241466452016-05-14T14:28:29.981-05:002016-05-14T14:28:29.981-05:00Interesting to compare that exquisite Satie piece ...Interesting to compare that exquisite Satie piece with this transcription for guitar.<br /><br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jv9iua5THA<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-9063047829747711682016-05-14T11:36:06.305-05:002016-05-14T11:36:06.305-05:00yes, HH was doing just that: simulated music with ...yes, HH was doing just that: simulated music with no content. Like customer service "hold" music. He went back to the good stuff after a few years. <br /><br />Jephnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-76129441763530799432016-05-14T09:46:26.051-05:002016-05-14T09:46:26.051-05:00And I suspect the best argument against me would b...And I suspect the best argument against me would be something a commentator wrote quite a while ago. She said simply that a lot of people like to listen to music to relax, to be comfortable, to relieve stress and so on. But for me, listening to music is a much more active experience: I want to be diverted, challenged, stimulated, intrigued and so on.<br /><br />But what I think should be offensive to all of us is music that is thrashing around, "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". The gray goo that really sticks in the mind is not relaxing or comforting at all as it is simulating real music without the content. Was that what Herbie Hancock was doing?<br /><br />Haven't gotten around to listening to those Brian Eno tracks you recommended, but I will!Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-60831096635916238222016-05-14T09:31:56.090-05:002016-05-14T09:31:56.090-05:00All the clouds turn to words / All the words float...All the clouds turn to words / All the words float in sequence / No one knows what they mean / Everyone just ignores them<br /><br />Those are Mr.Eno's comments on the fact the most people do not listen closely to music: To the point where words are just experienced as a series of vowels. That's the opening track, the rest of the album is instrumental.<br /><br />Most striking example of grey-goo I have come across is in Herbie Hancock's (!) discography. Sometime in the 80's, circa his big crossover hit Rockit, he came out with a series of albums of smooth grey-goo jazz, which were just god-awful, I mean offensively bad coming from such a towering talent. You can hear the cynicism oozing out the speakers. I can only surmise that his people told him he could make a quick buck churning out some crap background music, so he did. Nothing could be greyer. <br /><br />Still I do not balk at the 'furniture music' concept. Satie is just understated enough to make it into the "new age-ish" shuffle playlist at your local Starbucks. But just because music is capable of receding into background does not make it necessarily sub-standard. I listen to a lot of choral music which seems to serve both functions, atmosphere or close-listening, at need. Jephnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-34689125146816506952016-05-13T19:50:22.441-05:002016-05-13T19:50:22.441-05:00Right, I had forgotten that! But a Gnossienne is f...Right, I had forgotten that! But a Gnossienne is far preferable to the usual gray goo!<br /><br />It's the harmonies in serial music that have a gray gooey sound.Bryan Townsendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482696991279345516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8827040061563065922.post-85408940929415776642016-05-13T15:02:06.476-05:002016-05-13T15:02:06.476-05:00But it was Erik Satie who invented the term "...But it was Erik Satie who invented the term "Furniture Music", which is the precursor of elevator or background music. And when I think of "gray goo" I think of serial music...Ken F.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08296737421194767997noreply@blogger.com