https://futureofcoding.org/ logo
#of-music
Title
# of-music
m

Marcelle Rusu (they/them)

09/25/2023, 2:03 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Stu7h7Qup8

I discovered Philip Glass by chance, signing out "glassworks" cd from library based off album art. At the time I was coming off of listening to overtly technical music like prog, metal etc. I was tired of self-indulgent guitars & meandering song structures that never end, and then I found philip glass who created textures I could have never imagined with use of very simple melodic loops & rhythms that when layered ontop of each other created the most rich, beautiful & outer-worldly music. On a personal note, his career is also extremely inspiring as someone who didn't reach mainstream success until well into his 40s (and IMO his best work started then), and still making music now late into his 80s. I had a go at music in my early 20s and got burnt out, but knowing I have time to enrich & progress as a creative is a very warm feeling.
I feel like as a programmer I have to make something that is useful, instead of just using it as a creative outlet, but I don't feel inspired by the idea of making useful things. I just want to follow down the rabbit hole, as if I'm a deep sea diver, I go deep into what drives me as a person & pull back something (music, code, etc). This was how I approached music, and it feels weird that I have these internal debates to maintain that stance as a computer person.
a

Alex McLean

09/25/2023, 2:27 PM
Thanks for sharing Marcelle! Maybe you will like some of the music in this thread, so much amazing 'patterny' stuff: https://club.tidalcycles.org/t/favourite-patterny-music-not-with-tidal/3569/
How are you defining 'useful' here? Maybe interrogating this term will help resolve these debates. As someone well into his 40s, I am grateful that youth does not seem to leave people these days in the same way it used to. At least I never really got the feeling that I grew up.
I definitely agree that deep-diving is a great thing to do. There are jokes about 'yak shaving' but I think to find new insights you generally have to go really deep.
m

Marcelle Rusu (they/them)

09/25/2023, 4:58 PM
I really appreciate your perspective, I've been surrounded by too many bottomline minded folks. Just being part of this community feels healing. I added something to that thread 🙂 , already got something new I love there (trans am).
i

Ivan Reese

09/25/2023, 5:24 PM
If you enjoy Glassworks and haven't heard Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, I highly recommend that next.
m

Marcelle Rusu (they/them)

09/25/2023, 5:35 PM
Yup Reich was a close second right after I discovered philip glass 🙂 18 musicians felt cold to me, tried a few times but not for me. I really liked this though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xXFn6kcBs0

Just gauging the vibe here, is sharing my own work in #of-music within the guidelines?
a

Alex McLean

09/25/2023, 8:15 PM
I've never really got into glass or reich tbh, I generally react against the idea of a composer and spent a bit too much time in music schools that are too obsessed with posh white male composers.. Koyaanisqatsi made a big impression on me though!
I think they owe a lot of their fame from importing musical ideas from overseas into concert halls. No bad thing of course!
m

Marcelle Rusu (they/them)

09/25/2023, 8:24 PM
"Koyaanisqatsi" is by far my favourite of any of these works. Fill me up with existential dread any day of the week 🙂
i

Ivan Reese

09/25/2023, 8:35 PM
For the warmer alternative that's less "borrowed", there's always Moondog.
m

Marcelle Rusu (they/them)

09/25/2023, 8:35 PM
In general, I like these ideas, but applied to the layperson. For me I've always found that in punk-adjacent music. In my late teens I discovered that "screamo" was a real genre, and not just a term to describe music with screaming. Emo, post-hardcode, hardcore, math rock all coming together with low barrier to entry DIY ethics. In that scene the spectrum of what is acceptable is more broad than any I've seen. Some very gear-head oriented, metal influenced, some very primitive, some very melodic, some very rhythmic and angular. And somehow it all made sense to play together because we were united under the only thing that mattered - feelings, typically sad ones 🙂 Other punk scenes exist which similar inclusivity & open-mindedness. That's where I want to stay, with the rest of people united on a shared meta-goal.
moondog changed my life
I am an avid looper & he validated my existence so hard
i

Ivan Reese

09/25/2023, 8:36 PM
@Marcelle Rusu (they/them) — I think sharing your music in #of-music or #present-company would be totally cool. If anyone else seems bothered by that, then we should either change some community guidelines or spin up a new "share your non-FoC personal work" channel.
m

Marcelle Rusu (they/them)

09/25/2023, 8:40 PM
I'll put this one here for now, but I did a cover of koyaanisqatsi a few years back on fretless bass with a looper & octave pedal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQVNPJ5EV3I

a

Alex McLean

09/25/2023, 8:57 PM
@Marcelle Rusu (they/them) this is nice!
there was a really great screaming + live coding performance at iclc this year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MYqEI4Nr-g

m

Marcelle Rusu (they/them)

09/25/2023, 9:01 PM
Excited to watch this when i get back from dinner !
a

Alex McLean

09/25/2023, 9:15 PM
I love the local extreme computer music scene for inclusivity thanks to folks like Rian Treanor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVf4ZrZuUMs

m

Marcelle Rusu (they/them)

10/17/2023, 5:53 PM
Finally checked this out, very cool 🙏
Me and my brother david used to do a live-coding ambient/noise duo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUTQs9cRtZY

He would do the visuals with the force and I did the audio I did 1 or 2 shows with sonic-pi, but most of the audio was just guitar or bass with a few pedals.