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Your opinion on "noise" music

#21
I guess I would call "good" noise music the stuff where the guy obviously has a direction he's going in. Think of the beginning of Pink Floyd's Welcome to the Machine, for example, using non-tonal sounds to build a machine-like rhythm and an atmosphere before the actual music starts. It's very well put together and lots of thought is put into it. Of course that's a far cry from the noise scene I'm describing.
 
#22
Spectrum said:
The stuff you're thinking of I think is probably more "noise rock" than "noise". Stuff like Sonic Youth, where they used a lot of noisy guitars but it was still obviously music.

This is an example of the kind of stuff I see around my area:



It doesn't do anything for me, but there are always people at these shows. Some kind of subculture maybe.

There is also a documentary out there from a few years ago, which is kind of interesting if for no other reason than it explains where some of these guys are coming from idea wise.

Click to expand...


I've never been in the mood for this type of thing, ever! I don't hate it, I just feel better when it's not around.
 
#23
I love all kinds of sound. When I was a kid a used to sit and listen to the rhythms of my stepdad's dot matrix printer and try to catch the groove of it. Also he would use his table saw and I loved the way the overtones would change as the wood moved across.
I used to connect cables on my old mixer through an effects unit and create purely electronic feedback (no microphone or musical instrument source at all). I'd sit and mess with this for an hour and did this a lot. I found it fun but I wouldn't really want to inflict it upon anyone else.
That being said, I hear lots of noises more interesting in my everyday life than anything that happened in that video.
 
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#24
There is a very clear distinction between sound and noise. Noise is random. Sound is not; it is organized. Music is the language of sound, not noise. There may be noise-like elements in music, but noise alone cannot be music, because noise, by its very definition, is not organized.

Noise ≠ music
 
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#25
I love pretty dark sounding music - music that sounds like it was made for a horror film and the sort, and while I appreciate what I heard in the Hive Mind video posted, it isn't anything that can hold my attention for longer than a few minutes. I need some sort of rhythm, some sort of melody...

The first 12 minutes of this Hive Mind video sounds like something that may be played in the background of a horror movie as someone is walking through a creepy basement, but is not the Theme and wouldn't appear on the soundtrack. This sort of music does build tension, and I expect it go somewhere after a few minutes... I can wait two minutes, but if nothing happens after that, then I switch tracks.

After 12 minutes, it did get a rhythm (funny enough, the head bangers couldn't catch it), but the rhythm only lasted 3 minutes and went back being "noise" or atmospheric sounds... A different rhythm came up near the end, but wasn't very interesting.

Thanks for posting though. I appreciate the effort, but thought the music could be better executed.
 
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#27
I'm working on a drone electronic project now. It's hard to write and keep it "not music" for me; I keep getting pulled toward melodies and chord changes, and rhythms. When I go too far away from those things, I start questioning what I'm creating. I keep reminding myself to keep it simple. I've given some parameters, like an underlying tempo and key, but I've tried to avoid much more harmonic and rhythmic complexity. Sunn O))) has been an influence in terms of the spirit of what they do, even though I'm not directly trying to emulate their style. I like waves of evolving sound. It doesn't have to have s hook in a conventional sense, but there needs to be a theme I identify and latch on to.

Native Instruments Maschine has been a big part of this for me. It has a huge sound library, which is inspiring and daunting. The 16 pad midi interface makes my brain stop working in a fretboard or keyboard sense, and makes my ears hunt for the sound I'm after. It takes muscle memory out of the creative process for me. I'm a huge fan of this product. It's not cheap, but it lights up my creativity and it's very easy to work with.
 
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#28
Jazz Ad said:
The distinction isn't always so clear. There are very interesting noise and drone experimentations out there.
Not sure if they qualify as music or noise but I often find them strangely appealing.

What do you think?
Click to expand...
All of these sounded better to me than the Hive Mind video posted earlier.

This stuff is appealing to me too, but I have to be in the mood for it and can only take it for so long.

It's hard for me to not classify this as music though. I agree the noises seem disorganized, but it's more of the fact that someone organized them in a disorganized manner, which I can appreciate.
 
#29
monsterthompson said:
I'm working on a drone electronic project now. It's hard to write and keep it "not music" for me; I keep getting pulled toward melodies and chord changes, and rhythms. When I go too far away from those things, I start questioning what I'm creating. I keep reminding myself to keep it simple. I've given some parameters, like an underlying tempo and key, but I've tried to avoid much more harmonic and rhythmic complexity. Sunn O))) has been an influence in terms of the spirit of what they do, even though I'm not directly trying to emulate their style. I like waves of evolving sound. It doesn't have to have s hook in a conventional sense, but there needs to be a theme I identify and latch on to.

Native Instruments Maschine has been a big part of this for me. It has a huge sound library, which is inspiring and daunting. The 16 pad midi interface makes my brain stop working in a fretboard or keyboard sense, and makes my ears hunt for the sound I'm after. It takes muscle memory out of the creative process for me. I'm a huge fan of this product. It's not cheap, but it lights up my creativity and it's very easy to work with.
Click to expand...

Sounds interesting. I'd like to hear what you come up with.
 
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#30
THe documentary I posted was interesting. The DGAF attitude of the artists is
Jazz Ad said:
The distinction isn't always so clear. There are very interesting noise and drone experimentations out there.
Not sure if they qualify as music or noise but I often find them strangely appealing.







What do you think?
Click to expand...


I pretty much agree with Matthew84 on this. The first two, in particular, have actual musical notes playing and are not just random noise.
 
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#32
Active noise artist here that also studied noise at University as a specialism.

There are a lot of different ways of approaching noise. 'Aesthetic' noise, 'technical' noise, etc. 'Technical' noise would be random - but 'aesthetic' noise is simply a reactive musical process. The issue is that the word itself is loaded to represent a perceived lack of 'skill' to the uninitiated and this isn't actually the case at all. Creating great noise work requires study, dedication, practice and innovation. Finding the flaws in systems and exploiting them, working from new sonic palettes, questioning aesthetic conceits. It's inherently political in nature as well and an 'aware' noise artist never exists in an artistic bubble and instead pushes against what is considered 'beautiful' - a concept that changes quickly.

Merzbow is a good starting point. He wasn't the first but he is perhaps the most influential with regard to modern noise.

If anyone's interested, I'll post up my Bandcamp page. If anybody is really interested I'll explain the process to you... very often it involves Max/MSP...

Cthulhu - absolutely. The Futurists weren't exactly a nice bunch of lads but Russolo's central premises are interesting and definitely highly influential.

My definition of 'music' is simply 'organised sound'. Nothing more than that.
 
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#33
It really is a matter of complexity in the information theory sense. The most information it is possible to contain is in a fully random signal. As you approach organization, you are actually throwing out information. When you have harmonic tones (identifiable pitches), that's even less information. Play them in scales and metric rhythms, and it starts to become simpler. Consonance and a steady tempo is simpler still. We can't make sense of a noise signal because there is no overall structure, it's pure information.

As our ears and minds become more sophisticated, we can appreciate more and more complexity in what we consider music. A Coltrane or Ornette solo contains a LOT more information than a pumping dance beat.

Maybe our alien overlords will appreciate the beauty of a pure random signal. They will eat our livers and wash it down with the Hive Mind's latest CD and a nice Chianti.
 
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#34
I've been involved with some pretty extreme performance art with a noise element. I'm hesitant to even post about it because, it is not for most people, so I'll not mention project names to avoid derailing the thread if people decide to Google them.

Their visuals are generally the main focus, and pretty extreme for most folks. The audio is a large part of the show, though. For some performances, sounds are generated by contact mics attached to implements pierced through skin. There is usually rhythmic and drone sound in the background, and occasional spoken word elements. I could never listen to the audio for long on its own, but it fits the performance. It is the right sound for that setting. It may not be what you want at your dinner party.

I've been fortunate to work with some people who are incredibly talented and uniquely creative. One of my very good friends from this circle is now touring as the guitarist for Skinny Puppy. When you interact with people on this level, you get exposed to some very interesting, ideas, techniques, methods, and philosophies. I find myself listening to music I wouldn't ordinarily "enjoy" and trying to understand how it works, even if it doesn't make me tap my toes. It also exposes me to things I had no idea existed. More than once, I've had an idea I thought was pretty unique and out there, then taken it to someone in this circle and explained it, only to have them reply "oh, that sounds like blah-blah-blah project." There is nothing new under the Sunn O))).
 
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#36
Why Nautilus‽ said:
I want to like noise, I have considered getting a noise synth multiple times, but I can't bring myself to do it. I like noise as an atmosphere, but there needs to be some melodic content eventually.
Click to expand...

51COf813vmL._SX425_.jpg


You think you have seen GAS with bass gear. Wait until you see the sound libraries you can tap into, if you buy them. I laughed at $1,000 for Komplete, then after a week, I was like "well, maybe..."
 
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#37
i've heard some noise that felt like music to me, with the background sounds changing and altering. i like the lustmord video above.

this

i don't get. it basically sounds like a running hand dryer with little variation.

this, on the other hand seems fun and interesting to hear (and watch). does it count?


and this sounds interesting and the video is funny
 
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#38
I am a fan of noise, noise rock and really anything weird. Its not easy to speak to others about it so unless somebody is into it I stay pretty quiet about it.
I was a member of a noise, ambient group years go who had a couple pieces used commercially. Back then we didn't know it was noise music we just had a blast doing it.
I had a teacher who got us into some of it when he was a Night DJ playing all kinds of crazy music well off the norm.

I am just getting back into and am a new member of a ambient, drone, rock band that does use some noise. Some people dig getting off the main path some don't. Whatever you pursue musically...enjoy it.
 
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#40
Definitely a small subculture for it here in Seattle. I've seen only a few, mainly because it was a friend's band and I like to try new things. In a live context it CAN BE interesting/entertaining, but I can't see myself ever purchasing a recording of it to listen to at home or in the car
 
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