Dan Bell

[The_Laughing_Man]

godfather of minimal techno.

I would argue against that, simplistic is not the same as minimal. There`s a bit more to the ethic than not using much kit.

Although I do like some Bell stuff, I hate nostalgia.
Old people talking about how good music was back then.
Horrid.

[SlavikSvensk]

I would argue against that, simplistic is not the same as minimal. There`s a bit more to the ethic than not using much kit.

Although I do like some Bell stuff, I hate nostalgia.
Old people talking about how good music was back then.
Horrid.

some would argue that predictable and/or compulsive contrarians are the problem :)

but seriously, there's a nice middle ground between obsessive nostalgia and a lack of appreciation for one's roots, which entails respecting and celebrating the past while simultaneously looking towards the future

[The_Laughing_Man]

some would argue that predictable and/or compulsive contrarians are the problem :)

but seriously, there's a nice middle ground between obsessive nostalgia and a lack of appreciation for one's roots, which entails respecting and celebrating the past while simultaneously looking towards the future

Why respect the past if it is irrelevant to you?
Yeah sure, celebrate it though.

I just see over reminiscience in music scenes as a sign of people growing old and losing touch.

[...Dave...]

Why respect the past if it is irrelevant to you?
Yeah sure, celebrate it though.

I just see over reminiscience in music scenes as a sign of people growing old and losing touch.

dude. whats wrong with remembering good times? do you not feel nostalgic when you hear tunes from when you were out having a great time when you were young?

i know i do.

loosing touch? maybe, but we all know going out now is nothing like it was back in the day. it was ****ing great

[markandrew]

dude. whats wrong with remembering good times? do you not feel nostalgic when you hear tunes from when you were out having a great time when you were young?

i know i do.

loosing touch? maybe, but we all know going out now is nothing like it was back in the day. it was ****ing great

there not one person on this board that doesnt feel nostalgic when it comes to oldschool or old tunes if they say there not there lying

[basslinejunkie]

Why respect the past if it is irrelevant to you?
Yeah sure, celebrate it though.

I just see over reminiscience in music scenes as a sign of people growing old and losing touch.

so the past is irrelevant to you? you werent influlenced at all by others and their sound? I find that very hard to believe.

must admit though dan bell is someone ive never really gone and looked into proper, apart from the obvious dbx stuff, guess i should be the sounds of it!

[teknorich]

The Blip, Blurp, Bleep album is quality. Is a collection of tracks, rather than an actual album, and they are the most obvious ones (Losing Control, Baby Judy etc) but definitely worth a listen.

[SlavikSvensk]

so the past is irrelevant to you? you werent influlenced at all by others and their sound? I find that very hard to believe.

i also have a hard time buying that. of course, there's a big difference between saying something's irrelevant to you and it actually being irrelevant to you...

sounds a bit like a political stand to me...like he perceives "obsessive nostalgics" as holding current music back, so he attacks their sacred cows...not really because of the quality of said sacred cows, but because he doesn't like the effect of the attachment to them.

i think the frustration with the "obsessive nostalgics," esp of the littledetroit variety, is understandable. but that kind of extreme stand only results in a "narcissism of the present," which is every bit as limiting as "obsessive nostalgia."

[The_Laughing_Man]

i also have a hard time buying that. of course, there's a big difference between saying something's irrelevant to you and it actually being irrelevant to you...

sounds a bit like a political stand to me...like he perceives "obsessive nostalgics" as holding current music back, so he attacks their sacred cows...not really because of the quality of said sacred cows, but because he doesn't like the effect of the attachment to them.

i think the frustration with the "obsessive nostalgics," esp of the littledetroit variety, is understandable. but that kind of extreme stand only results in a "narcissism of the present," which is every bit as limiting as "obsessive nostalgia."

On the contrary, my life is immersed and infused with music and I spend a great deal of time learning all types of techniques and methods.

Minimalism is something that was about purity of note, texture, and harmonic complexity within apparently simple arrangement.
The 12 tone system for example, was very influencial on the minimalists.
With each of the 12 tones in the chromatic scale being given equal emphasis in a piece.
This changed the way the music was made, from being about what is being played, to how it is being played and the texture and timbre, and shifitng time signatures in sublte, almost invisible ways.
Like with glass for example, he asked much from his performers, not so much the notes, but the purity they were extracted from the violin for example.
Constant pressure and smooth bowing for mazimum purity of note.
Part was similar, his early works are notoriously difficult to play, not for their tonal complexity, but for the texture he required his violinists and cellists to get from their instruments. IT required supreme mastery of the instrument, and certain non conventional techniques that ,as they were used from a minimalistic ethic, gave an illusion of simplicity.
These are just small areas of what minimalism was about.

For me, it seems that Hood was influenced by minimalism, but didn`t quite get it, wether he lacked the technical knowledge or skill to reproduce it, or just didn`t fully understand the ethic. The tones he used lacked any real textural or harmonic depth. The structure was minimal, but remained too rigid, and although polyrythmic, lacked fluidity. I think part of the lack of textural depth may be purely down to the limitations of what he had available to him as well, equipment-wise.
Probably as he himself was trying something new, so it didn`t fully succeed, but for me, what he did has little merit in minimal-ISM.

I`m a full on music nerd, I think about these things, possibly too much, but it`s one of the reasons I have starting writing classical pieces, to more fully understand the beautiful maths behind music.

[SlavikSvensk]

On the contrary, my life is immersed and infused with music and I spend a great deal of time learning all types of techniques and methods.

Minimalism is something that was about purity of note, texture, and harmonic complexity within apparently simple arrangement.
The 12 tone system for example, was very influencial on the minimalists.
With each of the 12 tones in the chromatic scale being given equal emphasis in a piece.
This changed the way the music was made, from being about what is being played, to how it is being played and the texture and timbre, and shifitng time signatures in sublte, almost invisible ways.
Like with glass for example, he asked much from his performers, not so much the notes, but the purity they were extracted from the violin for example.
Constant pressure and smooth bowing for mazimum purity of note.
Part was similar, his early works are notoriously difficult to play, not for their tonal complexity, but for the texture he required his violinists and cellists to get from their instruments. IT required supreme mastery of the instrument, and certain non conventional techniques that ,as they were used from a minimalistic ethic, gave an illusion of simplicity.
These are just small areas of what minimalism was about.

For me, it seems that Hood was influenced by minimalism, but didn`t quite get it, wether he lacked the technical knowledge or skill to reproduce it, or just didn`t fully understand the ethic. The tones he used lacked any real textural or harmonic depth. The structure was minimal, but remained too rigid, and although polyrythmic, lacked fluidity. I think part of the lack of textural depth may be purely down to the limitations of what he had available to him as well, equipment-wise.
Probably as he himself was trying something new, so it didn`t fully succeed, but for me, what he did has little merit in minimal-ISM.

I`m a full on music nerd, I think about these things, possibly too much, but it`s one of the reasons I have starting writing classical pieces, to more fully understand the beautiful maths behind music.

plenty of classical minimalism is about small vocabularies of relatively "unaltered" tones, e.g. john cage's "string quartet in four parts," (which is really worth checking out, if you don't already know it), or shifting patterns of short repeated tones, like "in c" or "music for 18 musicians." that's exactly what rob hood was doing, albeit in a far more superficial way than said composers. but hey...all techno is superficial compared to the giants of contemporary classical. by the bar set by classical minimalism, virtually all "minimal" electronic music is "kiddie minimalism." but nothing wrong with that...just the nature of the beast.

[The_Laughing_Man]

so the past is irrelevant to you? you werent influlenced at all by others and their sound? I find that very hard to believe.

must admit though dan bell is someone ive never really gone and looked into proper, apart from the obvious dbx stuff, guess i should be the sounds of it!

no, I do on occasion, although rarely, listen to old stuff.
It`s just with techno changing so much in the last few years, lots of poeople have been going on about "the good old days" and it just says more about an aging generation of ravers turning into their dads.
I`m just having a bit of a groan that`s all.
I blame James Ruskin, he knows I invented the name James Ruskin, without me he would be nothing.

[basslinejunkie]

no, I do on occasion, although rarely, listen to old stuff.
It`s just with techno changing so much in the last few years, lots of poeople have been going on about "the good old days" and it just says more about an aging generation of ravers turning into their dads.
I`m just having a bit of a groan that`s all.
I blame James Ruskin, he knows I invented the name James Ruskin, without me he would be nothing.

fair doo's, know what you mean really whats the point looking back when you can look forward kinda thing. your view is probably different to alot of us as u actually make music, so you have to lok forward.

thing is though there is just so much amazing stuff from ' back in the day' that you just simply cannot ignore and still sounds just as good if not better now!

good music is timeless.

[The_Laughing_Man]

good music is timeless.

Oh I agree, for sure.
Techno has always been a very transient artform though.
I think it is so closely related to the zeitgeist (or at least it should be) it can become irrelevant pretty quickly.

Yes my perspective is different, I`m very much into all aspects of music, in being so deep into the mechanics of it, it`s very hard to not pull things apart and look at them from the inside, which often gives an extreme nerd perspective to the outsider.
My belief is you you find your passion and you have the ability, then go all the way, get right inside.