"Somebody will ask those of us who compose with the aid of computers: 'So you make all these decisions for the computer or the electronic medium, but wouldn't you like to have a performer who makes certain other decisions?' Many composers don't mind collaborating with the performer with regards to decisions of tempo, or rhythm, or dynamics, or timbre, but ask them if they would allow the performer to make decisions with regard to pitch and the answer will be 'Pitches you don't change.' Some of us feel the same way in regard to the other musical aspects that are traditionally considered secondary, but which we consider fundamental. As for the future of electronic music, it seems quite obvious to me that its unique resources guarantee its use, because it has shifted the boundaries of music away from the limitations of the acoustical instrument, of the performer's coordinating capabilities, to the almost infinite limitations of the electronic instrument. The new limitations are the human ones of perception."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Milton Babbitt, quoted in Classic Essays on Twentieth-Century Music.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Electronic_music
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Electronic music
4 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Electronic music →
Related Quotes
"Our musical alphabet is poor and illogical. Music, which should pulsate with life, needs new means of expression, and…"
"[Nowadays] it’s cool to play an instrument, whereas there was a period of time where these kids didn’t even know inst…"
"Because American electronic music had risen from underground creative circles — and it was still largely relegated to…"
"My name is Giovanni Giorgio, but everybody calls me Giorgio."
"Once you free your mind about a concept of harmony and of music being "correct," you can do whatever you want. So, no…"
"Husband-and-wife electronic artists Louis and Bebe Barron pioneered electro-acoustic music in their homemade studio."
"Louis and Bebe Barron [...] developed the ‘tonalities’ — the accompaniment of interstellar gulps and burbles — that t…"
"Post-rock means using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textur…"
"Post-rock draws its inspiration and impetus from a complex combination of sources. Some of these come from post-rock'…"
"Some post-rock artists explicitly and consciously sought to deconstruct rock music; others realised they'd done it af…"