May 22nds
5/22/1998 Constraints when composing music are necessary only to the point that the breaking of rules is necessary to finish the task. [5/22/2025: When I studied with jazz composer Bill Russo, one of the rules was we couldn’t use dots or ties. I suppose you could start with those constraints but I couldn’t imagine a music that didn’t have syncopation. We couldn’t have jazz or rock’n’ roll without it so it was always ironic for me. There’s also the idea of “rule drift” where you build in that eventuality. Making something involves steering it to a conclusion, or is a process of “fixing” things that don’t work and rules don’t allow for that, so you “jailbreak” it]. *** The concept of "evil" manifests itself through art in many ways. Think of all the ways in which evil is depicted art through human history, then think how that look of evil would sound. Manipulation of sound, especially through electronic media, is a way to express those...
