What is Experimental Music?
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- čas přidán 12. 06. 2018
- What’s your definition of ‘experimental’ music?
In this video, I attempt to demystify this ambiguous musical genre. To help shine a light on why it’s important, and how the act of experimenting could help musicians and composers.
This video doesn’t investigate the history of experimental music, or look at the innovations and breakthroughs it succeeded in the past.
Honestly, I used to hate the term "experimental" when it applied to music. But, I eventually grew to accept it. I also learned that most debates on the term stem from such a broad (mis)understanding of it. That's one reason I made this video. To try to dig deeper into the diversity of its meaning.
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NOT RIGHT MUSIC is a part of Nook Nook Music School in Tokyo, Japan.
Marcus Staniec is the owner of Nook Nook.
He has been teaching music since 1995.
After Berklee College of Music, he moved to Japan as a musician and an educator.
He has taught music at top universities, high school, private schools, workshops, and now his own school.
He is best known for teaching “unconventional music” and improvisation.
He also continues to compose music for various media and frequently performs around the globe.
If you have any inquiries please email at: notrightmusicandguitar@gmail.com
Music games for improvisation available for free at Games For Music: musicgames.wikidot.com/
FaceBook: / wtfmu. .
Instagram: / marcusstaniec - Hudba
I see experimental music also as "inconsumable music", something that sounds new even after years.
True, but some is consumeable for me 😂
I like the reminder/injunction to try to make some music where you don't know what the result will be. Very good to keep that thought in mind, and harder to actually genuinely do than it might seem! Great vid!
Thanks, David! It's harder than many might realize. But, that very awareness is important to often revisit.
@@NotRightMusic it is hard...so I'm sharing it with yall to get it off my conscience: czcams.com/video/ugPxGVyC7Vw/video.html
I did a stereo/mono thing...
To me, experimental music is something that no one has ever tried before, or that if already tried it hasn't been explored fully or explored in new ways. But I exclude following trends. Meaning, if a rock band mixes pop rock and EDM, though it has never been tried before, it's just mixing their music with the new trend, or if a band simply mixes its rock borrowing ideas from experimental artist without really adding something new or personal or adding very very little, I would say it isn't experimental, but just trying to sell that music, because it's weird and weird is artsy aka trendy for some people, that do not understand there is very little experimentation in what they hear. To sound experimental and to be experimental, are different things in my opinion.
Hi
Props for including DJ Screw amongst the more discussed experimental artists of popular music (zorn,zappa,Sun Ra etc).
True expiremental music allows you to explore feelings you didnt know were possible, in my opinion.
Nice work, man! A lot of hard work done here. Enjoyed the part where I imagined my own experimental music. Wish you'd recorded it for me.
Thanks Martin! I did record your imagined experimental music. I even submitted it to Eurovision for you!
The recordings of Dharma Son Collective and AnomalyEnsemble have space rock elements incorporated with psychedelia, noise and experimental weirdness..Everything from spacy instrumentals to modal drones to acid rock to straight up frenzied apocalyptic noise explosions,,some of their stuff can be chaotic at times but Damn are they odd and Very original! I don't think they are on CZcams but they are definitely worth seeking out if you can find them! Some standout works are "We're Not The Only Spirits Awake" and "Kryptic Triptych" from 2006, "Subliminal Messages From The Attic" and "Zenogenesis" from 2007, AnomalyEnsemble's "Fantasmas" and "Space Peace" from 2008, "See Thru Tribulations" and "Citaedelia" from 2009, "Headcoasting" from 2010,..They are strange birds!
I make experimental music and the hardest part is getting listeners. I think you're right, experimental artists generally live in the shadows, influencing others who will eventually make the sound or technique accessible to the average listener. Evolution at its finest.
Listening to your "Destroy All Bring New" album. Really digging it! Lots of creative ideas that work together. Though, I also enjoyed your strip down "Two For Days / Lung" solo performances. Your voice fits this style perfectly there. Have you heard the famous quote from John Zorn, “We’re not on the outside looking in, we’re on the outside looking out.”?
Not Right Music thanks very much for checking it out! Zorn is a great figure. I haven't seen that quote but it definitely sounds like something he would say. I'm glad he ended up making his label because it put out a lot of really good music. My favorite of which being Kayo Dot's Choir of the Eye.
I haven't heard that album in a long time. Think I'll put it on tonight.
Anyone wants to try liquid music
For thirsty ears
I experiment with sounds when I compose music. I add effects, and distort the sounds so they can sound different.
Your 1st definition is more the way I think of it. Challenge oneself musically is a great way of saying it, as I find myself doing that without necessarily intending to run an experiment. The experimental element can be accidental / serendipitous. As a label, experimental is like saying "well I couldn't think of genre names for this". The specific genre surely still exists somehow, even if it's new and undeveloped! Or existing genres may just need to evolve a little.
I call it 'label attachment.' Slap the word 'experimental' on any other genre and hope that alone will draw interest to the music. “Experimental eletro-cartoon jazz - that should get people to listen to my music!"
I get upset that my music is never quite experimental enough. Like I’m missing something when I’m working. Ah, who knows.
im a closet experimentalist with music. but have released some of my work on the internet, but dont share it with people i know. not because im afraid of what they will say, but more afraid of what they dont say.
Fantastic video! I'd love to see you make more videos on various musicians and composers. My definition of experimental music is like your second one. Anything that is hard to define and attempts to break musical rules. After typing that out I realize how hard it is to define!
Thanks Faces! My next video will feature an amazingly creative, and little known, musician and composer.
Thanks for your defintion. I agree, not an easy feat!
I love this video, how inspiring and reassuring.
Very interesting stuff. I happened to have found you from a video talking about noise in music. I’m liking your content so far.
Thanks so much! I'm listening to your music from your channel. Some very creative ideas and well put together. I appreciate how you talk about the tracks in your description.
Not Right Music Thank you for that. I don’t have too much experience or skill right now, but I am having fun with it.
So far your music is unique and personal. So, you're off to a great start! I hope to hear a lot more.
I decided to try to make some experimental music, I'll tell you how it goes!
I just think of it as playing with music, not being strict with it
Kinda like abstract art, going with the flow and wherever your luck and instinct leads you to
a friend sent me here.
i'm not sure, so long after the silent music of john cage and raymond scott, the AMM albums, braxton's scores and so on that 'experimental' music is really that 'experimental' any longer and is not itself a set of formal exercises avant inclined people like myself engage in.
not that there isn't still new forms to be found but so few experimental artist i know are looking for them
also: like he said - make yer own music! make it with anything you can find and in any way you like.
As long as humanity continues to progress so will music. Our experiments in life can influence the music we make and that itself is experimental. As great as those known and accepted 'experimental' composers are, one doesn't have to even be aware of them to experiment with music and sound. As you stated, make music. Experiment with it and try new things that you might not even understand most of the outcome of. Checking out the music on your channel it's obvious that you understand this, but I've met many musicians who don't, or are completey unaware of it's importance.
My approach to music is simple:
1, All sounds are none other than Buddha's speech & musical.
2.Break the
rules.
3 All dissonance is self-resolving
4.Any tempo is variable and all rhythms are also buoyant and malleable.
5.The musical sky is wide open without limits
Can you hear it? Well isn't that what I'm experimenting to find out? :o Nice videos man, keep it up!
Very nice!
On cid you're explaining my thoughts
This video in itself pretty experimental
Wow! That was quite the visual feast. I'm one of those guys who tries not to label music. When do you think is an appropriate situation to use the experimental tag?
Thanks Ben! And interesting question. For me, I think tags of musical styles work well when verbally communicating about music. Of course one can't fully grasp the idea of what the music in question sounds like with tags, but thats only step one. Step two would be to actually listen to the music.
My definition is music that gives off ENA vibes, computer, retro, low poly 3d art, pixelated ps1 graphics, white background, grids
As a free improv musician, I am predisposed to champion free improv as the most experimental form of experimental music. We never know what we're doing.
i finally understand now
Lunga vita alla musica sperimentale !
rhythm and tones with the distance of phi(golden ratio).
experimental music is like NASA´s Perseverance on Mars exploring new worlds
well done
Thanks! Your channel has quite a lot of interesting videos. I love a good drone as well!
experimental music:
music special intended to make people ecstatic or deliriously
Ecstatically delirious is my preferred state, so you must be on to something! Love it!
For me when I think “Experimental music” I usually think Oingo Boingo, Creature Feature or The Garden which Is my three favorite Bands l
oh the kitty cat Gamma wave crested my triangular egg shell slipper supporter , indeed in the room that wasn't there a ghost trumpet amused itself with mirror back flips behind tea cup theory .
czcams.com/video/Ypy3dT7BsQM/video.html
That's the best definition of experimental music! Especially when applied to cat noises!
You forgot Aphex Twin
I suppose if an artist is experimenting it's experimental. This was a pretty good video my dude. Anyway, I reckon if an artists calls themselves experimental then they are most of the time. If they believe themselves to be truly experimenting, then they are. It's as simple as that to me.
See, I really like this duo called Psapp. They are sometimes credited with pioneering the genre of electronica called toytronica where they use toy instruments and other oddities within some of their music. (Not all their music, but a lot of it and it's not just toys y'kno)
czcams.com/video/gJhVjRAo8RU/video.html (Link to a song) That particular one has stuff like a cash register in it. Personally speaking I really enjoy it and I think to most they could call it experimental, but who knows.
I love Psapp! The arrangements in their songs are very playful and creative, yet with an honesty to them. I remember when "Tiger, My Friend" dropped and how weird everyone thought it was. Then that sound was copied and "freak folk toytronica" became a thing.
Awesome user name btw!
Alon Mor
That's all I've got to say.
Was he playing experimental music in the background?
i dont know!!
¿Travis Scott's Rodeo?
no entiendo pero diré que haré experimental aunque no sepa
Well ,I closed And Imaginate An Experimental Speedcore , iDK Why (Experimental Is Latnemirepxe Backwards lol) I guess what is because the world "mental". Yep. I like it (100 - 800 bpm)
Awesome! Now can you reproduce it!
+Not Right Music
Ok , will try it on FL Studio 20
"CodePhantom - String Theory"
WARNING: It's Noisy . And else........It's PoMo!
Looking forward to it! Can't get enough of that noisy PoMo!
@@NotRightMusic
Update: i will be using 2 music softwares (OpenMPT and FL Studio), and my name will appear as "Goa".
I will sen you the .MOD module. Get ready for _extreme experimental PoMo!_
I like when people try to create new sounds or different sounds.
Like the guy who made a virtual instrument out of the sound of ice breaking on a lake when he noticed it changed pitch over time.
What I don't like are people bashing pianos with objects or weird performances where someone just plays a single note for a long time. To me that's pretentious.
But I think I know the difference now 😁
I'll be blunt: experimenting is fine (I'll go even further and call it "necessary"), but if the result turns out crap don't try to make it a new musical genre unless you're making comedy. I'm pretty sure some "experimental musicians" exist because they release it anyway.
(...you see, I have a strong opinion on postmodern art)
In the video, especially at the end, I talk about how it's healthy for musicians to experiment and try things with unknown outcomes. And I emphasize how these experiments will most likely be private personal exercises. But, it's a hard lesson to teach because the term 'experimental' has become subjective with its multiple definitions. It's doesn't even have to have anything to do with postmodern art. Simply, anther activity that musicians can do.
What is and what is not
Listen to Opus Aurilux 1 (Into The Fields Of Blissing Remix) of Loud & Cloud on #SoundCloud soundcloud.com/loudncloud/opus-aurilux-1-into-the-fields-of-blissing-remix
I like that you included DJ Screw in your photo montage 1:13 . Hip Hop's use of the turntable to manipulate existing music is a beautiful example of the spirit of experimental. Please check out the experimental music on my channel and subscribe, everyone. I'm in love with this stuff and want to know more of you! I will subscribe back. Perhaps we can collaborate/perform together some day!
Also here is one of the best experimental music albums out there
czcams.com/video/wJWksPWDKOc/video.html
This is bwautiufl
I like ecoerimental music
"söma experiments" korg volca drums, roland fantom s synths, RITM-2 analog synth, guitar, vocals SunRa interview, AcidPro re-touch
czcams.com/video/YJsRmVxUu2A/video.html
listen to arca or sophie and thats what experimental music is
1:59 What is this website?
It looks like bandcamp
oi
I'm honored Mr. Clean sir!
Kira and L
As a person who makes very "experimental" music, I have to disagree. We need to stop experimenting. Take time to appreciate, borrow from, juxtapose music that already exists! :)
Of course I'm being a little sensational. But I truly believe if artists never develop the skill to appropriate experiments and exercises for use in meaningful expression, experimentation is almost pointless. We should encourage learning from past experiments rather than making new experiments.
Thanks Zak! I always hope for constructive disagreements. I guess it would help to know your definition of experimenting. I'm merely trying to encourage people to leave some time to experiment with what they're doing. If even for a short period of time.
In your second comment, if you're basing your comment off of my (first) definition in the video than I, ironically, agree with you. At the 3:35 mark in the video I talk about those who develop their skills and use them for experimenting. That section was much longer, but I cut it because it sounded a bit too negative for the videos I like to make here.
I'd love to hear your music btw :)
soundcloud.com/fakezakerymizell/lost-in-paradise
I had a lot of fun with this one. I call it "personal" rather than "experimental"; Pierre Schaeffer, John Cage, and Joseph Haydn did all the experimenting for me!
Zak - not just saying this for whatever reason, but DAMN, this is some AMAZING music you have right here! I'm a sucker for anything I perceive as collage, and this patchwork of exotica, lounge, and other surprises is organized to create a colorful world to get lost in. With enough attention to detail to drag me in and immerse me.
I'm currently involved with a collaborative project of an ever-changing and never-ending music/sound collage piece. Contact me by email if you're interested.
Lost in Paradise is almost over now. Will be moving on to the others shortly.
I like your edit. I feel the same way about personal. If you caught my conclusion at the end of the video, that's exactly what I sound most of all this actually is, personal.
Trippy lol
Like experimental art that doesn't look like art...I would propose that experimental music does not sound like music.
Interesting, then we would need a definition of music.
I agree with this. We all have an intuitive understanding of what music is which changes with time. If the music challenges this understanding it is experimental. For some people, simply playing off-beat might count, while for others more is needed.
@handupy - This works very well as a definition from the audience. Which is a wonderful topic and would be a whole new video! What about a definition from the musician/composer's perspective?
I considered from my perspective as a beginning musician. Perhaps I should have made that clear. Anything that I am not "comfortable" doing or that I have trouble fitting into a song is experimental to me. Currently, for me, slap bass is experimental to me. It is inconsistent and I do not know how to fit it into any of the songs.
@handupy - that's a positive attitude to have. In any stage as a musician. I'm gonna have to remember that. Thanks!
As soon as I watched this, I went into my DAW and just made random sounds until something came out. I'm gonna rap over it and release it soon. I would be honored if you took a listen.
it must make me feel excited , aroused ,a bit violated sounds like lunch with Kevin Spacey, but seriously it must be edgy and uncompromising
💀
eh.. at least its not harsh noise. :)
I can't wait to make my own fartwave tweenwave experimental album using my asscheeks as instruments.
def grib
sorry but this is definitely a wrong definition, which by the way, is not open to personal interpretation (just like one can't choose what romanticism and baroque are).
Stockhausen, Schaeffer, Coltrane, Russolo, Zappa ARE NOT EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC for Christ sake...
Experimental music is not:
• experimenting with sounds
• improvising
• doing strange sounds
• making things differently
• mixing generes etc...
• structuralism
• musique concrete
• serialism
• DJing
And that's why the 99% of so called experimental musicians (always self taught) are just doing sounds and not experimental music.
Experimental music is music “indeterminate with respect to composition/score/algorithm"
Check Nyman's book which has been for decades THE book of experimental music.
Read with more attention what Cage has written.
Cardew, Cage, Feldman (early), Brown, Fluxus... that's experimental music
Autechre is experimental music as well (algorithmic composition).
Thanks for sharing your ideas. As I said in another comment, I prefer disagreements like yours. That's one reason for doing this video. They're expected, and I hope to get more of them.
The title of this video may be deceiving because it deals more with the verb ‘experiment,’ then with the genre. Like most of my videos here, I introduce various ideas for young musicians for them to try out along with their regular practice routine. Here, I’m telling them to experiment with how they create music.
As for an established definition. The term has been applied to various techniques by various people. It has even been used as an attachment to other musical styles (ex. experimental-rock, experimental-jazz) which is, at this point, impossible to decline. Many may not like it, but it’s here to stay, regardless of an agreed definition. Go play some Schaeffer to various groups of professional musicians, composers, scholars and ask them what style of music they think it is. I’ve been there. Can you guess what they call it? Most of the time experimental. And they even have their reasons. This interests me more than any established definition. I’d even say that they are right because Schaeffer himself called his music experimental.
I’ve read and studied Nyman’s ‘Experimental Music’ book. It’s a proper introduction for a school of thought of a particular music from the 50s to 70s. I’m fully aware of that, however not interested in it for this particular video. I’m no Cage disciple, however I’ve done my fair share of studying his work and ideas.
“Experimental music is music “indeterminate with respect to composition/score/algorithm”” - For the Cage and Fluxes camp I fully I agree with this definition. But, for educational reasons towards an unknown audience who I must assume knows nothing about any of this kind of music I must simplify the definition and idea and present it in an interesting way.
What are your thoughts on how the term has morphed into various definitions and ideas these days? Most of which have almost nothing to do with the definition you agree on. Because, personally, I’ve heard many varying definitions, even from different educated people on the subject.
Not Right Music great response. It has opened my views on the subject. The term experimental is so vast. Thank you for presenting and expounding on it.
you must not simplify because you talk to non academic audience. Not this way.
That's distorting history. I feel "experimental music" is the most abused and misused term ever in music. There is a concept behind experimental music. A process.
Without concept, score, process, we don't have experimental music.
If you want to discuss the definition of experimental music I’m all about it. But, to cherry pick an insignificant part of my comment, while ignoring everything else, and accuse me of distorting history I'm thinking that you’re not serious, or simply trolling. Simplifying is not distorting history. Sorry. It’s a common teaching method used for introductory courses and the like. If I tell a non-musician to slow down, rather then use the term ritardando, nothing is being distorted.
Tobor like it or not experimental music does have multiple definitions. Let me simplify it for you: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_music
its basically shit made better