![]() Support JSTOR Daily! Join our new membership program on Patreon today. ![]() It’s up to us humans to demand more from our machines. Even today, tension remains between the power technology has in homogenizing musical culture and in providing niche musicians the ability to hear and meet each other. Indeed, this reflects his 1950s perspective, when the big record companies seemed to be leading society toward lowest common denominator “ Muzak.” But it also optimistically forecasts the more democratic attitudes of the 1960s counterculture, of which early synthesizer builders like Moog were a part. Laudadio thus concludes that the repressive aspects of electronic music were the fault of social attitudes and not something inherent in the technology. Musicians everywhere are breaking their synthesizers and audiences are turning off their televisions and going to live performances again. By the time the guild has had Baque imprisoned (they frame him for murder), it is too late. He modifies the machine further and begins playing music in underground concerts that awaken strong emotions, even sexuality, in listeners. Forced to play a honky-tonk multichord in a dive bar, he discovers that its broken, out-of-tune filters allow for much more personal expression. The protagonist, Baque (a none-too-subtle reference), is a composer who is too committed to the quality of his tunes and thus is fired for returning assignments late. Lisa Marie Presley - To Whom It May Concern - Used CD - D7427A (175628195532). The guilds, in fact, have all but banned acoustic instruments, because they cannot control the emotional effect they have on listeners. Various - Tunesmith Sampler - Used Vinyl Record - D6035A - Picture 1 of 1. Human composers make this music, but settings on their synthesizers (the “multichord”) and the operations of musical guilds strictly constrain their creative choices. “The Tunesmith” is a grounded satire of these attitudes, set in a authoritarian near-future where the only music still consumed by the public is commercial jingles. Laudadio investigates these attitudes by looking to science fiction stories from the 1950s, Charles Harness’ novella “The Rose” (1953) and Lloyd Biggle, Jr.’s short story “The Tunesmith” (1957), that imagined scenarios in which electronic music threatened human culture. ![]() Many feared being replaced, either as performers or as composers, by computer processes. It’s no surprise, then, that the biggest skeptics of electronic music were musicians themselves. Flaming marvellous.Many musicians feared being replaced, either as performers or as composers, by computer processes. The show closed with Don't Dream It's Over, Lisa supplying the stately Procol Harum-esque organ break. For Weather With You, Finn plucked out of the audience a chap called Steve, who just happened to know the guitar chords and harmonies back to front. There was a heart-stopping arrangement of Private Universe, with Finn and Wendy interlocking guitars over Lisa's hushed keyboards. Don't Ask Why is bouncing funk-rock built around a tortuous riff.īut the crowd wanted some old favourites. Some of the new songs - such as the wistful Wherever You Are - are classic Finn, while others spin off into jazz-inflected territory (such as Lisa's meandering keyboard outro to Secret God). Finn had bumped into Wendy and Lisa in Los Angeles, and they ended up all over the new album, with Melvoin sharing five writing credits.įinn admitted the band were under-rehearsed, but watching skilful musicians working out their moves in public always brings a tingle of excitement. As digital cameras recorded the occasion for a webcast, Finn introduced his hastily assembled band - Dave on drums, Sebastian on bass and former Prince acolytes Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman on guitar and piano. The performance had at least one serious motive - to plug Finn's forthcoming album, One Nil. ![]() A gangly bloke called Stephen proved adept on piano, and they were joined by Mickey for a very creditable rendition of Four Seasons in One Day. He invited members of the audience on stage to accompany him, apparently unrehearsed. He began conventionally enough, bouncing on with an acoustic guitar to sing When You Come and You're Not the Girl You Think You Are, but Finn was in the mood for taking some risks.
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