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  4. What do you call the music?

  • What do you call the music?

    S
    S

    What category do members use to describe their music that uses the VSL library and is original music that they edit and record. More narrowly, original music that uses the general framework of the classical or romantic orchestral tradition and is designed as a stand alone composition that is performed using the VSL library. Music that is designed to support images, movies and videos, is clearly movie music. But what do you call music that is not jazz, new age, fusion or a mock up rather original compositions using the techniques and samples of instrument sets used in symphonic music?  Regards, Stephen W. Beatty  P.S. maybe we have to invent a name!
  • D
    D

    Hello!

    I teach at a college, and one of the classes I teach is a Music Survey course, consisting of music from about 400 A.D. to the present, including all of the major European periods, as well as Electronic composers and what is labeled 'New' music, and a taste of some music of the world.

    One of my 'lectures' includes the idea of how and why we even come up with labels in the first place.  I think music is music, and these days especially in the USA, business seems to love the catagorization of Types of music.  That makes it easier to catagorize and sell things.  It seems people have a need to identify with catagories.

    Of course, there are many social, political and economic reasons to make music within certain labels.  Lots of earlier labels for music are related to what the periods are called during time periods through history.

    Also, the great composers of European history had gigs where Royalty and society demanded a 'style' that would be acceptable, or their ears would tolerate.  Nothing has really changed that much  Today record companies' producers dictate how things sound and look.  I try hard to ignore labels when I compose, and just do the best I can relative to my own knowldge (or study more) and desire.  I really wish to leave the catagorization to someone else after they hear what I do.

    That said, I can't help but have some idea that what I'm working on is like the Romantic, Classical, Baroque-ish, Be-Bop and so on.  The prefix 'Neo' is commonly used to label music that is composed in the style of a certain period.

    Dennis
  • S
    S

    Hi Dennis, 

    Thanks for the reply and I agree with you that the physical,emotional aural experience is the music not the name. I also work on music that is Romantic,Classical, Baroque-ish with personal twists, however if you wanted to list your music on itunes they want a categorical name. Maybe Apollo could help, just kidding.

    Regards, Steve
  • W
    W

    edited- I should put this in a more positive way - Stephen, you have brought up an important topic-

    Orchestral samples like VSL can be used for purely artistic creation and are not a mere substitute for a live studio orchestra for commercial music.  Using a great "instrument" like VSL purely to substitute for a live orchestra in commercial music is a bit like using a Stradivarius to play Easy Listening hits with the 101 Strings.  Samples are a new art form that allow a composer to create purely, without compromises, the way a painter in his studio can create as soon as he obtains the basic tools. 

  • M
    M

    Orchestronica?

    :P
  • S
    S
    last edited
    last edited

    Hi William, I agree with your comments about digital samples creating new and powerful instruments. The first stage of development has been the increasing accurate approximation of existing instruments using higher sampling rates, the second stage will probably be the development of increasingly complex algorithms for controlling performance of instruments, MIR comes to mind, including some that are not in the 19th century skill sets and finally the creation of new and unique instruments using the information and experience of the programmers from the first two stages. Very exciting future, but what will we call it?

    Hi Michael, orchestronic is an interesting descriptive name, thank you. Mail has become email , I guess music could become emusic, classical could be eclassical (this probably would refer to mock ups of existing classics), esymphonic could refer to the digital sample sets for symphonic instruments. However, the word "symphony" derives from Greek συμφωνία, meaning "agreement or concord of sound" and does not refer how it was achieved. The word digital comes from the same source as the word digit and digitus (the Latin word for finger), as fingers are used for discrete counting. The sounds of the instruments are digitized into discrete sample, maybe prefix digi would be useful , digimusic, dimusic ? There must be some bright person out there who will invent a new word we can use on the internet to describe what we are creating.

    Happy ehorns to you all, Stephen