Loved this article. A couple of almost totally unconnected thoughts:
I struggle not to roll my eyes when people talk about social media and/or streaming services as a "democratising" force. Yes, in a way they are, but only as much as Shell is interested in green energy; they'll do it, but fundamentally their goal is money and power. The democratisation is decidedly not the goal, it's merely a by-product. If we talk only about the democratising aspect of it, we make ourselves complicit in the whitewashing. Worse, we're deluding ourselves and in doing so we're setting ourselves up for disappointment (I know I'm preaching to the choir here!)
The phrase "dumbing down" currently drives me nuts. It is frequently used as shorthand for "this sounds unlike the stuff I usually listen to so I'm reflexively going to dismiss it without having really bothered to understand what the artist is trying to do". That's not to say that there's not dumbing down—there definitely is—but it's a phrase that is all too frequently used as a lazy reflex.
I've also thought a great deal about track lengths in the last years and I've realised that I'm pulled in two directions. I really enjoy cultivating the skill that enables the concision of a 2 minute track: it's really satisfying when you can do everything you want to do in as brief a time as possible. I also really enjoy extended tracks, and particularly working on sets of tracks that fit together into a larger form. I find them both very satisfying but in a different way, just as I can love both the short stories of Annie Proulx and Tolstoy's War and Peace. One of my wise former students talks about how every musician has a place in the musical ecosystem: similarly, every compositional style and approach has its place.
Oh goodness - so many interesting thoughts in here! Thanks for the reply 😊 I guess I set myself up for a long-form reply with this article 😉
1) preach! I mean, yes, 100% with you on this. Whilst most of us - hopefully - get to see the overall benefits of democracy, if your version of "democratisation" is Putin, Maduro and whoever else, then that's just a subversion of what it actually is...in their case, holding on to power against all odds/opinions/votes. Spotify have to some extent levelled the playing field in relation to the way we all have greater ability to access wider audiences, they've just essentially moved the gatekeeping to a different spot further along the wall.
2) very much so. Heartily agree. Nothing else to say.
3) yes, indeed. I, too, have really enjoyed trying to think about how to embrace concision, but doing it in a way which means, as you say, you can do everything you want/need to do in a short space of time - they key aspect being around intent and purpose. If it's primarily educational, it's less likely to need to be 10 minutes long! But, also, the time honoured expression of music in an AA(ish)BA form does just work.
I'm glad my discography features an EP of four short miniatures (Imprints 1) totalling 10 mins which make sense individually and collectively, alongside my Four Suffolk Sea Scenes featuring four distinct mini-movements totalling 15 mins but contained as one long track, to emphasise the necessity for it to be heard in sequence, as-is, for the piece to make sense and for my compositional intention to be conveyed
Loved this article. A couple of almost totally unconnected thoughts:
I struggle not to roll my eyes when people talk about social media and/or streaming services as a "democratising" force. Yes, in a way they are, but only as much as Shell is interested in green energy; they'll do it, but fundamentally their goal is money and power. The democratisation is decidedly not the goal, it's merely a by-product. If we talk only about the democratising aspect of it, we make ourselves complicit in the whitewashing. Worse, we're deluding ourselves and in doing so we're setting ourselves up for disappointment (I know I'm preaching to the choir here!)
The phrase "dumbing down" currently drives me nuts. It is frequently used as shorthand for "this sounds unlike the stuff I usually listen to so I'm reflexively going to dismiss it without having really bothered to understand what the artist is trying to do". That's not to say that there's not dumbing down—there definitely is—but it's a phrase that is all too frequently used as a lazy reflex.
I've also thought a great deal about track lengths in the last years and I've realised that I'm pulled in two directions. I really enjoy cultivating the skill that enables the concision of a 2 minute track: it's really satisfying when you can do everything you want to do in as brief a time as possible. I also really enjoy extended tracks, and particularly working on sets of tracks that fit together into a larger form. I find them both very satisfying but in a different way, just as I can love both the short stories of Annie Proulx and Tolstoy's War and Peace. One of my wise former students talks about how every musician has a place in the musical ecosystem: similarly, every compositional style and approach has its place.
Oh goodness - so many interesting thoughts in here! Thanks for the reply 😊 I guess I set myself up for a long-form reply with this article 😉
1) preach! I mean, yes, 100% with you on this. Whilst most of us - hopefully - get to see the overall benefits of democracy, if your version of "democratisation" is Putin, Maduro and whoever else, then that's just a subversion of what it actually is...in their case, holding on to power against all odds/opinions/votes. Spotify have to some extent levelled the playing field in relation to the way we all have greater ability to access wider audiences, they've just essentially moved the gatekeeping to a different spot further along the wall.
2) very much so. Heartily agree. Nothing else to say.
3) yes, indeed. I, too, have really enjoyed trying to think about how to embrace concision, but doing it in a way which means, as you say, you can do everything you want/need to do in a short space of time - they key aspect being around intent and purpose. If it's primarily educational, it's less likely to need to be 10 minutes long! But, also, the time honoured expression of music in an AA(ish)BA form does just work.
I'm glad my discography features an EP of four short miniatures (Imprints 1) totalling 10 mins which make sense individually and collectively, alongside my Four Suffolk Sea Scenes featuring four distinct mini-movements totalling 15 mins but contained as one long track, to emphasise the necessity for it to be heard in sequence, as-is, for the piece to make sense and for my compositional intention to be conveyed
Interesting stuff!
Love it Sim…great context 🙏
Thanks mate! ❤️