Channel Button

There are 13 articles on this title. You are reading the article ranked and rated #2 by Helium's members.

Entertainment   >

Music Genres, Trends & Scenes

Get a Widget for this title

20th century developments in western music

for strange noises and effects to appear on their televisions and radios. After the unfortunate disbanding of the workshop in 1998, a new gate was left open for a new generation of enthusiasts of electronic music to come forward.

Many new electronic music genres and sub genres have emerged over the last 20 years. With regards to the given track, L.A.S.I.K by Matmos, the appeal for the use of new sounds has become apparent. Even in the 21st Century, composers are still looking new sounds and new ways to use them. Released in 2001 by the electronic duo made up of Martin Schmidt and Drew Daniel, L.A.S.I.K is a contemporary piece following on from what the Futurist and Music Concrete composers taught. Using similar techniques to the Avant-Garde composers in terms of tonality, Matmos has created a wall of sound with different noises and frequencies that build up a huge texture. Following from the forefathers of Futurism, their instruments for composition are the sounds from a laser eye surgery procedure, a highly electronic sound which provided some of the disturbing hisses and squeaks.


For example, I went to record a laser eye surgery and the surgeon said 'OK, but you can't be in the room, so I'm gonna tape your microphone over here and record the room sound.' Obviously I couldn't push him around. So what I got was this amazing recording of horrible electrical interference because they'd taped my microphone to a high-powered laser. You kind of have to work with what you get (Sound on Sound: 2004)



After that surgery, they were able to record a second attempt, but they still used the original sounds. It shows that the machines and their behavior that many musicians have used in their compositions can be temperamental. Thankfully with the new technology of computer editing, recording, manipulating and generating the sounds for this kind of composition has been made easier.

L.A.S.I.K has shown that new and innovative ways of composing are still appearing. Musicians and composers are always going to follow in the footsteps of the Futurists, Neo-classicalists, Music Concrete and Avant-Garde composers in looking for new ways to make music. It is an effective piece of modern electronic music using ideas from the Futurist age of machines right through to 21ST Century electronic music techniques. As long as there are new sounds appearing in the world, composers will always strive to find new ways of generating sounds. It has still proven to be an endless palette for composers of any type trying to find ways to do something different.




















Bibliography

AUSITN, W W. 1966 Music in the Twentieth Century. Dent

DOYLE, T 2004. The Art Of Cut & Paste' Sound on Sound.

GRIFFITHS, P 1986 Modern Music, Thames and Hudson

OSBORNE, B. http://www.futurism.org.uk/man ifestos/manifesto05.htm
4 December 2005

OSBORNE, B. http://www.futurism.org.uk/man ifestos/manifesto18.htm
4 December 2005

OSBORNE, B. http://www.futurism.org.uk/mus ic.htm
4 December 2005

OSBORNE, B. http://www.futurism.org.uk/pra tella/pratella.htm
4 December 2005

OSBORNE, B. http://www.futurism.org.uk/rus solo/rus_frames.htm
4 December 2005

TIDSTALL, C & BOZZOLLA, A. 1978 Futurism. Oxford University Press

VARIOUS. http://www.obsolete.com/120_ye ars/machines/futurist/art_of_n oise.html
5 December 2005





Learn more about this author, Sianne Suicide.
Contact this writer Click here to send this author comments or questions.


Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

20th century developments in western music

  • 1 of 13

    by Jackpine

    Western Music has developed considerably in the 20th century.
    It first began as a kind of "rockabilly" style with home-grown

    read more

  • 2 of 13

    by Sianne Suicide

    Otherness: The search for new identities in contemporary composition

    Before the age of Futurism and the Art of Noise, classical

    read more

  • 3 of 13

    by Rob Jones

    The key in the development of Western music is the same that marks it up until this point- the rise in technology.

    Historic ally,

    read more

  • 4 of 13

    by Mark de Jong

    Through the 18th and 19th centuries, Bach's Baroque era gave way to Mozart and Beethoven's Classical period, which transitioned

    read more

  • 5 of 13

    by Peter Dawson

    WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL REVIEW:

    WOMADelaide 2007 Sounds Of The Planet

    Proving the doubters wrong, this year's festival showed

    read more

View All Articles on:
20th century developments in western music

Add your voice

Know something about 20th century developments in western music?
We want to hear your view. Write_penWrite now!

Helium Debate

Cast your vote!

Who is the better rap musician: Ludacris or T.I. (Clifford Harris)?

Click for your side.

162719

Featured Partner

The Center for Responsive Politics (Open Secrets)

The Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) is the nation's premier research group tracking money in US politics and its...more

What is Helium? | Buy Web Content | Contact Us | Privacy | User agreement | DMCA | User Tools | Help | Community | Helium’s Official Blog | Link to Helium

Helium, Inc.
200 Brickstone Square Andover, MA 01810 USA