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Personal Contract for the Composition of Music

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Author: papergoose on July 24 2008

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--> There's a great article over at pitchfork link that makes some pretty good points about the current state of electronic music, and asks various producers what their personal contract for the composition of music would say. This was inspired by Mathew Herbert's manifesto
link

1. The use of sounds that exist already is not allowed. Subject to article 2. In particular:
* No drum machines.
* All keyboard sounds must be edited in some way: no factory presets or pre-programmed patches are allowed.
2. Only sounds that are generated at the start of the compositional process or taken from the artist's own previously unused archive are available for sampling.
3. The sampling of other people's music is strictly forbidden.
4. No replication of traditional acoustic instruments is allowed where the financial and physical possibility of using the real ones exists.
5. The inclusion, development, propagation, existence, replication, acknowledgement, rights, patterns and beauty of what are commonly known as accidents, is encouraged. Furthermore, they have equal rights within the composition as deliberate, conscious, or premeditated compositional actions or decisions.
6. The mixing desk is not to be reset before the start of a new track in order to apply a random eq and fx setting across the new sounds. Once the ordering and recording of the music has begun, the desk may be used as normal.
7. All fx settings must be edited: no factory preset or pre-programmed patches are allowed.
8. Samples themselves are not to be truncated from the rear. Revealing parts of the recording are invariably stored there.
9. A notation of sounds used to be taken and made public.
10. A list of technical equipment used to be made public.
11. optional: Remixes should be completed using only the sounds provided by the original artist including any packaging the media was provided in.

Some of my favorite from the article:

Make a full EP or LP completely sober and with no one else in the studio with you-- no exceptions. Struggle and search on your own; it makes you grow

Live acts just using a laptop should be called "semi-live." That's already common in Holland.

Whenever, as a producer, you feel yourself flinching a bit from using an idea or a sound or an effect, hesitating on the grounds that it's maybe a wee bit cheesy, then I would say just to push right past that feeling and go for it. Do it twice over, even. There can never be enough monster riffs or cheap tricks in dance music; there can definitely be a surfeit of just-so subtleties.

Challenge yourself. If it seems too easy, it is questionable at best.

Treat every track as you would a loved one; support and encourage its individuality, and never misguide or manipulate it for popularity purposes.

-----

There are many that I don't agree with, but it's illuminating to read them anyway.

What would yours be?

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Comments

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07/24/08 + Highdropod

you know em has gone cookie cutter commercial when producers start making up rules for creating it.

07/24/08 + ryansupak

I basically like what the folks had to say. I feel that we're well into the backlash against the tediousness of the dance music scene -- far enough in where a lot of people have stopped complaining and started coming up with solutions (which is great).

I think an early phase of dance music becoming fun again was the whole Justice/ironic electroclash/cocaine retro thing. (It was too rigorous and contrived to have any lasting value but it was a stepping stone.) I feel that we're seeing a beginning of a new era in which DJ's are focusing on feeling the music again (and not being obsessed with fashion, or the false hope of new technology opening new creative doors, or whatever.)

Combine this with the larger cultural trend of people bummed out about the economy so they just want some old-fashioned fun, and I see good days ahead for electronic/dance music...

rs

07/24/08 + monty

astroid said: "i mean simply to say that, if anyone isn't doing things my way, there must be something horribly wrong with their soul, mind, and penis."

ok... so my soul and mind are horrible

but theres nothing wrong my penis that a basin of soapy water couldn't cure.

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07/24/08 + astroid

the best thing about music is that genres contradict and invalidate each other. it must be this way. rule making is great, same as rule breaking. saying "I AINT NEED NO FUCKING RULES" is about as limiting as always following the same set of rules, because your subconscious preferences will then define a set of rules based on what you like.

Recent blogs: california gay-friendly folk looky here, if tubgirl were immortal, ten year goal reached

07/24/08 + SenorFrio

zanf said: ""The first rule of electronic music is...
no-one wants you to talk about electronic music""

ha ha! That's a good rule.

Recent blogs: New tracks and a comp, Stanford offering Free CS and Electrical Engineering Courses, Radiohead and some ACID!!

07/24/08 + astroid

oh i can hear you shitheads typing away

Recent blogs: california gay-friendly folk looky here, if tubgirl were immortal, ten year goal reached

07/24/08 + mlbot

can you hear jdg in particular? listen for the mash-mash-mash sound amongst all the tap-tap-taps.

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07/24/08 + jdg

To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now

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07/24/08 + astroid

i'm sure every barblues band in the US is filled with rebels who don't want or need your goddamn rules.

Recent blogs: california gay-friendly folk looky here, if tubgirl were immortal, ten year goal reached

07/24/08 + monkvolcano

astroid ur goofy rules are depriving me of ep's i could be listening/wanking to. i think u should release aboout 5 by the end of the year.

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07/24/08 + eyesnine

algorithms and heuristics are types of rules. you can't cognate without them. so, if you want to make music without thinking about it on any level, not even subconsciously, well... i think thats actually impossible. you'd be a vegetable.

rules are fun if you can play with them and make your own. its unconditionally following other people's rules thats a pain in the ass.

rule 1: in the absence of relevant rules make some up
rule 2: if your rules don't work make up different rules

i rule
i am the ruler
rules are for fools
rule pool noodle stool

rule should be spelled rool, imo

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07/24/08 + MattyBoJangl

My rules...
make every sound I use by placing each sample to make the waves.
wind all resistors, coil all inductors, paste all capacitors and hand etch all chips to build my computer.
before clicking the mouse, i should analyze the muscle twitch to make sure that my muscles don't twitch in the same way that others' muscles have twitched before me.
If I ever use the same frequency for a sound that has ever been played before, then I'm a terrible musician.
Anything resembling or having any aspect of any genre or non-genre shoot qualify for a lashing.
Music should be purely tasteful, meaning anything resembling sound is played out.
All songs done live should made on software coded live on a language new for the night.
If I follow these simple rules I will be original....and a loser.

07/24/08 + astroid

you obviously haven't heard my diplo/freebird mashup. IT'S IRONIC.

Recent blogs: california gay-friendly folk looky here, if tubgirl were immortal, ten year goal reached

07/24/08 + Highdropod

this reminded me of one of those early 90's guitar magazine articles where they would start out talking about how heavy metal has been declining since the 80's and then ask nuno bettancourt, george lynch, yngwie malmsteen and that guy who played guitar in mr. big how they've saved music with their cutting edge metal riffs later in the article.

07/24/08 + nightowl

my amateur rules

1, don't allow yourself to be limited by rules. all art advances by breaking the existing rules.
don't set out just to break rules, just don't let them stand in your way when you are
excited about an idea or a sound.
2. anything can be sampled as long as you make somethimg new & unique with them.
3.don't allow yourself to be limited by genres.
4.mistakes can be good--the "creative accident"
5.be spontaneous. even when i don't have an idea, when i sit down and start
messing around, it usually develops into something.
6.use every spare moment creating, fuck housework.live on pizza.
7. ignore all of the above rules.

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