You guys are in some sort of semantic/ethical battle... There is something kind of smug, though, about calling techniques "tricks", and certainly about keeping them secret. I think that's what's annoying William. I mean, can there be "secrets" in a score of Bach, Mahler, Berio, or Rihm? Of course not. Because they're published for everyone to see and to learn from. It may be the case that someone "did it first", but that means little once a new technique has become established. After that point, everyone uses it according to their taste, and a dialogue begins -- a process which provides the basis for developing a musical culture. If we all walked around speaking our own secret languages, we wouldn't get much done... But then, this is all "academic", isn't it?
The keeping of secrets may, on the other hand, be one of the things that keeps "very comfortable" composers very comfortable! [;)]
My secrets:
1) that quintuplets are the new triplets
2) that ornamentation is long overdue for a comeback
3) that multi-octave scales produce the best polytonality (and the most
bearable kind of homophony - see 4)
4) that homophony should be reserved for special occasions only
5) that key signatures should be banned, regardless of whether
the music itself adheres to a given scale
6) that the closest one should come to direct repetition is to repeat
the pitches while varying the rhythm, or vice versa, but never to repeat
both verbatim
Now everyone can make music exactly like mine! (huh? wait a minute... come to think of it... why would anyone want to?...) [;)]
J.