IZ-US

yeah, of course, i forgot the fact that he's the magical prodigy hero freed from all musical boundaries, despite having years and years to read up on a few basic things that take very little time to learn

  Quote

it's arguable that having this sort of knowledge (or lack thereof) of theory frees you a bit, imo.

music theory doesn't say, "this sounds good, this doesn't", it explains why some things sound good in most ears. it doesn't cage you in more than you want to. in fact learning more about music theory has only made me more interested in odd and bitonal progressions

the idea that someone without any musical training or knowledge is somehow holier or more "pure" is fucking ridiculous imho

i'm fairly certain in my assumptions that he has a reasonable amount of theoretical music knowledge, considering he plays the harmonium pretty well in the drukqs album, has instances of counterpoint in his music and because why the fuck wouldn't you when you're into music. it's not like it's hard to do and he seems like the guy who learns shit. i hardly buy the info that he's autistically severed from the rest of the musical world, he has his influences as everyone else

  Derelic7 said:

the idea that someone without any musical training or knowledge is somehow holier or more "pure" is fucking ridiculous imho

that's not what i'm getting at. as a consequence of learning theory in a traditional manner, i have a natural predisposition to using major to minor thirfds, maj7 -> V, dim7 -> root, 1 -3 -5 arpeggios, and all sorts of other cultural chord-baggage.

not having that is good

  kaini said:

  Derelic7 said:

the idea that someone without any musical training or knowledge is somehow holier or more "pure" is fucking ridiculous imho

 

that's not what i'm getting at. as a consequence of learning theory in a traditional manner, i have a natural predisposition to using major to minor thirfds, maj7 -> V, dim7 -> root, 1 -3 -5 arpeggios, and all sorts of other cultural chord-baggage.

 

not having that is good

 

 

haha i see what you mean, i have that too, it just comes instinctively

the sample "stop making that big face !" a the beginning make me think this is a positive track which have a connexion with childhood. Maybe the wish to have a child, or the nostalgia of childhood

and, indeed, it's a beautiful piece of music

big face=long face=sad

  Seblastien said:

the sample "stop making that big face !" a the beginning make me think this is a positive track which have a connexion with childhood. Maybe the wish to have a child, or the nostalgia of childhood

and, indeed, it's a beautiful piece of music

i always thought it was his sister. that's something i could see my sister saying to me when she was that age!

I kinda feel like all of Aphex's mid-late 90's work makes me feel somewhat nostalgic/childish. Even when I first heard it.

IZ Us definately isnt sad. But it definately isnt 4 either.

it's cherry blossom kinda sad, yeah

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakura

Yeah, it's the flowers, you know that FLAp-FLAp, y'know?

But seriously, don't you think we are reading a bit too much into one single song?

  BoomTssPhace said:

Yeah, it's the flowers, you know that FLAp-FLAp, y'know?

 

But seriously, don't you think we are reading a bit too much into one single song?

no

Fine.

-

:fee:

well i was just describing the feelings i got. what feelings the song conjures in sir afx is still a mystery to me.

  Derelic7 said:

yeah, of course, i forgot the fact that he's the magical prodigy hero freed from all musical boundaries, despite having years and years to read up on a few basic things that take very little time to learn

you don't need to be a musical prodigy to have this sort of intuition

  Derelic7 said:

  kaini said:

  Derelic7 said:

the idea that someone without any musical training or knowledge is somehow holier or more "pure" is fucking ridiculous imho

 

that's not what i'm getting at. as a consequence of learning theory in a traditional manner, i have a natural predisposition to using major to minor thirfds, maj7 -> V, dim7 -> root, 1 -3 -5 arpeggios, and all sorts of other cultural chord-baggage.

 

not having that is good

 

 

 

haha i see what you mean, i have that too, it just comes instinctively

I'm not sure that Aphex has had all that much musical training. I could be wrong though. Most scientists agree that prodigies only come in two forms, musical, and mathematical. Probably because music and math are so related. I't doesnt really matter which way whether he has had training or not, the onlly thing that mattters is his music. But like Beethoven, he was born with an understanding with music. I have always felt that you are either born with the gift of music or you arent, and there are just different degrees. Beethoven would be the extreme "born with it" and your atonal relative would be the other extreme "not born with it".

I mean, everyone studies the same notes right? But look at Fingerbib,,, super super simple, and super super amazing. You cant teach that.

Being very well versed in music theory myself, I feel that music theory is important because otherwise I would not be able to communicate with other musicians. But when I am playing or writing or whatever, I dont think about it, I just use my ear. This is an interesting discussion. I would still say that Aphex was "born" with it. Not to the extent of someone like Beethoven, but definatley more so than the average person.

Or something like perfect pitch for example. You can be born with perfect pitch. You can learn relative pitch but you cant acquire perfect pitch.

i'm also confident he has next to no musical training, or theory in the traditional sense of the word. however, i know what derelict means at the same time, i can hear a melody in a track (and not necessarily an aphex track), and think 'that's a very aphexy melody'.

  Quote

Or something like perfect pitch for example. You can be born with perfect pitch. You can learn relative pitch but you cant acquire perfect pitch.

not true, much like you're not born with an innate sense of proportions/perspective in art, but have to learn it. talent in the traditional sense doesn't exist imho, it's all about what you devote yourself to learning.

  Quote

i can hear a melody in a track (and not necessarily an aphex track), and think 'that's a very aphexy melody'.

i get that sometimes too. usually when similar synth timbres are used in electronic music.

you may argue that alot of his music is simple, however alot of his isn't. bit pop bands and acts these days are very experienced and capable players yet do extremely simple music and melodies. analord is very original musically, there's instances of counterpoint here and there, usually a melody added being transposed to the 5th on some analord tracks. Drukqs is wankery both with drill programming and the melodies that are blatantly meticulously programmed and refined

however there's a big difference between learning music theory/playing and deciding to follow it. you may let it dictate what you compose or you just use it as a tool to help you understand things more

i'd hate to have this turn into a music theorist vs "natural" self learning debate but it'd seem odd if he'd learn things like extensive synth building, computer programming and music sequencing, yet have no interest whatsoever in music theory. people are inquisitive by nature

i don't think he's in some sort of autistic bubble musically, but he's just doing his own thing, probably deliberately breaking the rules many times, much like so many other artists have done. jimi hendrix grew up in a blues environment and was a well classically taught guitar player, yet he went and completely redefined rock

what i recall from the top of my head among his interviews are things like recording scales with a violin for samples from the ICBYD period, complaining about learning to play the keyboard to be able to make music that you want, and yet again the harmonium playing in the drukqs track penty harmonium which is obviously not programmed

Perfect pitch is different from relative pitch and cannot be aquired. People with perfect pitch are naturally born being able to recognize notes as you and I recognize colors. Where as relative pitch is aquired through study. It cant really be compared to art.

And Jimi Hendrix was not a classically taught player. He saw a lot of wanker blues guys and thought, hey thats cool, lets use a fuzz box. One of my favorites, but he definately wasnt a classically taught player.

  Derelic7 said:

analord is very original musically, there's instances of counterpoint here and there, usually a melody added being transposed to the 5th on some analord tracks. Drukqs is wankery both with drill programming and the melodies that are blatantly meticulously programmed and refined

my music theory isn't amazing, it's first year music college stuff, and i can construct counterpoint to drukqs level (i am not implying i have richard's ear for melody or texture!). and no-one is debating his percussion sequencing skills. he invented this shit we're discussing.

  Derelic7 said:

however there's a big difference between learning music theory/playing and deciding to follow it. you may let it dictate what you compose or you just use it as a tool to help you understand things more

 

i'd hate to have this turn into a music theorist vs "natural" self learning debate but it'd seem odd if he'd learn things like extensive synth building, computer programming...

you see, i don't think he did these either. i don't beieve he built any synths, or wrote any packages from the ground up. patches? sure. software? nah.

he's one of those lucky cunts who have an innate sense of melody, timbre, rhythm, whatever, who took the piss out of the music press, created a self-generating and perpetuating myth, and sat back and watched the money roll in. and he still has that innate sense, and i still love his music. he is, as he has acknowledged himself, a cunt.

sad

  GORDO said:

big face=long face=sad

water tight logic

  kaini said:

maj7 -> V, dim7 -> root, 1 -3 -5

:undecided:

world rdj prefer perfect pitch or perfect crotch??

i demand answers