Wiardgroup

You know I have been thinking for a long time now, that calling it "electronic music" has 
really been a one ton anchor around the neck of electronic sound.

That isn't to say you can't make "music" by electronic methods, but those methods open a 
whole new range of possibilities, that we have no category for. So they have been forced 
into the category of "music". And fit is often uncomfortable.

In one sense, I feel this is unfair to music. Perhaps we think of music as a container that 
can stretch infinitely. But the question arises, "Should we expect music to absorb ever 
sonic possibility of the human mind forever". Could this possibly be destructive to music 
itself?

Secondly, when you call it music, you force upon it centuries of tradition. You create an 
expectation in the listener that is an automatic limit on what the artist can present. And 
you exclude those who love sound, but are untrained in the traditions of music.

Third, supposing we have a very capable electronic sound source. Perhaps only 10% of the 
possible tonalities it can generate fit within our traditional description of "musical". What 
about the other 90%, just throw them away? I have heard some very evocative sounds form 
electronic sources, rich and interesting, but in no way could I call them musical.

As Gary Chang pointed out to me, virtually all "music" is associated with some ritual. 
Weddings, funerals, graduations, coronations, arrival of dignitaries, mating rituals are 
VERY big. But so called electronic "music" has no associated ritual. So in the past, they 
tried to fit it into some existing ritual, without much success.

We need terms like "sound sculpture", "electronic tonality", "tone poem", "noise poem", 
"sonic attack", "tonal protest", "anti-music", "music for other species", "dadaist sound 
montage", "surrealist vibration collage", "invisible object", "atmospheric disturbance", 
"aural archeology" or whatever. These need to be accepted as legitimate artistic 
expressions. Until then, the potential of electronic sound will remain largely unheard.

This assumes we are still on the ascending side of civilization, where the refinement of 
distinction in thought is relevant. If not, then the first one to grab the biggest rock wins!