Re:The Impossible Music of Black MIDI
by cardamomo on Wednesday November 11, 2015 @09:12AM
(#10546718)
I'm sure many people would say the same thing about some of the music of Conlon Nancarrow. But having earned himself — among many honors — a MacArthur award and a recent retrospective exhibition and performance series at the Whitney Museum of American Art in NYC, it seems that others have found way to enjoy his work despite (or perhaps because of) its nonconventional sound.
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Re:The Impossible Music of Black MIDI
by pervycreeper on Wednesday November 11, 2015 @09:16AM
(#10546738)
There's no comparison between the two, except for both having "lots of notes"
Re:The Impossible Music of Black MIDI
by pavel_lishin on Wednesday November 11, 2015 @10:44AM
(#10547175)
For what it's worth, the couple of random Black Midi videos I watched from this thread were much more enjoyable than a random Nancarrow video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFz2lCEkjFk
So I'm not sure how you can say "there's no comparison".
Speaking as someone who's been playing classical and new music as an avid amateur (e.g. community orchestras, university orchestras) for several years, stuff like that isn't meant to be enjoyed as such. You don't put it on and relax with a glass of wine like if you were putting on a Grover Washington record or something by Sibelius.
I wouldn't even say it's supposed to be in the group of "challenging but at least somewhat structured and therefore listenable" not like In C (Terry Riley, if you're curious) or Music for Pieces of Wood (Steve Reich).
It might be intended to challenge what we think of as music, or challenge our assumptions about mechanization and culture. I'm not at all familiar with Conlon Nancarrow, but if he's in gallery exhibitions, and not on tour, that's the angle.
Re:The Impossible Music of Black MIDI
by pervycreeper on Wednesday November 11, 2015 @04:44PM
(#10549548)
Try listening to Study no. 7, it's thrilling.