Emptiness is a playground

[Shepherd_of_Anu]

I have had a thought for about a decade now and it occurred to me the other day that I don't think I have ever shared it anyone other then one or two friends. I am sure its nothing that hasn't been thought of before but I have not heard anyone speak of it myself.

When I first started listening to minimal music I had a very hard time getting people to accept it. Most people thought it was nice but a little boring compared to the kind of music they were used to hearing at warehouse parties, festivals, and big raves. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out what it was I liked about it and why others did not share my discerning taste. Its not to say that everyone found the music boring. Some people, those who I would describe as having active minds tended to enjoy the music a lot.

I came to the conclusion based on the kinds of people who liked the music that much of minimal music's intrigue comes from the empty space. I think people who are creative enjoy minimal music more because their minds fill in the blanks... no wait that is not what I mean to say... their minds embellish the sound which is there. The empty space allows more room for interpretation. I have always thought that the empty space has its own rhythm and in emptiness creativity can be found. Structure in empty space is an important component which is often overlooked.

Ten years ago when I first heard the the song "Form is Emptiness" by Swayzak on Forcetracks I was enthused by the concept. It was my first exposure to this Buddist concept and I loved it right from the get go. It makes me think of complimentary sets in set theory and the role they play in defining the whole. Who is to say that our emptiness is actually empty though? Have we ever experienced emptiness in physical form? Its doubtful, I read in Popular Science that in one cubic centimeter 100 000 particals of dark matter flow though that space every second. Sorry, I am getting off topic.

The emptiness can be relative but it is so important. Empty space in music is as powerful as negative space in visual art.

What is more graceful then a beautiful sound reverbing off into the emptiness? Nothing. Pardon the pun. Sorry, silly joke

I guess I just want to emphasize that 'emptiness is form' and 'form is emptiness' and that the interplay of form and emptiness can be the most intriguing area of exploration in music.

Emptiness is a playground.

[Phase Ghost]

Right on man. It's not the beats, but the space between them. That's what attracted me to the Basic Channel and Deepchord sound 10 years ago. So little, yet so much.

No point in trying to convince anyone of anything. There's always going to be like minds finding their own path to this wonderful music.

[steevio]

absolutely.

unfortunately much music which is called minimal these days, just isn't.

i think that using space as rhythm is the most important thing to get right for real minimal music.

one technique ive used several times is to have absolutely no sounds at all on the offbeat instead of the obvious hihat hit. it has a similar rhythmic effect. repeating bursts of silence using gates etc. can be very 'percussive' in a sense.
this principle can be used in many ways. gates and inverse envelopes can be used to shape empty space.
i think you have to give equal emphasis to the shape of the space as well as the sounds.

[pafufta816]

"it's what you don't play"

[kdgh]

hmm.. not in my 'minimal' perspective. I see minimal more as in essence... Find a couple of good elements instead of 20 different single shots hidden in delay and verb. dare to let them sound and create something with them less.


in my opinion producer J Dilla was also really minimal. 4 track only and some really tiny edits that did the trick and kept you going on his music for hours. Tho it isn't dance music, doesn't really matter to me. It's more a way of looking at it.

No right/wrong thing going on here... just my 2 cents

[AK]

Yeah, the minimal stuff I heard, was, for a while, a track with short sounds in. Little clicks, knocks, 808 toms and a few moronic synth notes as short as percussion sounds. Too many jumped on that bandwagon and minimal got a bad rep of it all sounding the same. Didnt help the fact that sample cd producers chipped in with even more clicks n pops and even more people jumped into the picture and assumed this was the defining factor of minimal music.

I dont even know what minimal is, do I need to know? Nah, I kinda like interpreting things my own way. I do like things quite sparse where the empty bits are as important as the rest. Rhythm is obviously as much about what isnt in it as what is in it, but your sounds cant hide in minimal. Everything is up on display, so for me, that includes the music too. It has to be interesting musically as well as rhythmically. I couldnt very well hear a minor chord stab repeat itself over a root and 3rd bassline for 6 minutes. I know there are those who can and Im not saying Im right, I just get bored easily.

I guess Im quite alternative in what I find musically appealing but rhythmically, its the sparseness and timing that create what I consider a good groove. More to it than that obviously but the anticipation and space allows for call and response type passages in music which I find really cool when done well.

[pafufta816]

I couldnt very well hear a minor chord stab repeat itself over a root and 3rd bassline for 6 minutes. I know there are those who can and Im not saying Im right, I just get bored easily.

you just described dub techno pretty accurately. i dig this kind of thing, the more ambient the better. when i was younger i hated this sound. i heard some trance songs from the early 2000's that sounded like that, sticking with a stack of tones that repeat ad infinitum.

how can we embed more repetitiion and monotony into a genre already well known for those qualities? : P

[AK]

Each to their own on that. In music, Ive always been attracted to rhythms and repetition but my attention span is weak when it's not given a few suprises along the way.