Avant Pop

For this assignment I am going to discuss the relationship between popular music and the
experimental techniques or avant-garde traditions. The popular music I have chosen is Electronic
music, as this is the area I find most appealing. As I stated in my previous assignment, Avant-garde
music, is music that is considered to be ahead of its time and pushes the normal boundaries when
making music. An example of this music is John cage with his composition four minutes and thirty
three seconds (4'33) in which a single note is not performed. When listening to the piece, it is the
audience who are actually creating the piece, as within the time sounds are created and picked up
with the silence. For example people coughing, turning pages and readjusting themselves on their
seats are all typical sounds that can be heard whilst the composition is being performed. Another
Avant-garde musician is Steve Reich with his piece piano phase two piano players begin with a 12-
note melodic section, which is repeated several times. Then the second player speeds up their line
until their second note is in synch with the first note of Player No. 1. Then Player No. 2 speeds up
again until his third note sounds at the same time as the first note of Player No. 1. Experimental
music is when the outcome of the composition is not known, or created in an abstract way. For
example in the television documentary, Here's a piano I prepared earlier: Experimental Music in the
1960's the composers were asked to roll a pair of dices in which, depending on the number, a
particular piece is played and was performed at the end of the documentary. The BBC Four music
website, wrote a brief analysis of the program saying, Experimental music was usually written in
free notation or as written instructions with no notes at all. Composers often incorporated elements
of chance, like the tossing of coins to choose notes, and performed on "prepared" instruments, like a
piano stuffed with hay, to produce unexpected sounds. Michael Nyman states that The distinctions
between the experimental and the avant-garde ultimately depend on purely musical consideration.
(pg 2) Electronic music is music that uses electronical musical instruments and technology to create
its pieces. Examples of electronic instruments to create sounds and pieces include synthesizers and
computers, which are synonymous with electro music. The electronic music we listen to today
includes many different genres, ranging from experimental music to electronic dance music. I feel
that both the avant-garde and experimental music scenes, both helped to develop electronic music
into what we listen to today. The reason for this opinion is due to the fact that, John Cage managed
to create controversy over what is music and what is not. Getting people to ask themselves is this
piece avant-garde or experimental? This was shown when he created the four minutes of silence.
While Cage did not purposely, try to fill the gap between the performer and listener, Cage managed
to create more freedom for the performer and managed to change the way we listen to music. This
way done by helping the listener to become more involved with the act of making music. This
inspired musicians to experiment more with playing and recording techniques. Such as the cutting
technique, this consisted of the magnetic tape being cut up into lots of different pieces, and then
selecting random pieces and sticking the tape back together. In 1949, Joseph Schillinger published
"A Mathematical Basis of the Arts" ...in which he proposed that popular music could be composed by
combining snippets of existing popular music. Basically, he had envisioned "sampling" before the
invention of the sampler. It could be argued that these techniques and ideas, have helped to build
and develop electronic music. Electronic music first started in the 1960's with the birth of the first
electronic keyboards. These Electric organs were the first to become widely used, along with
electrically amplified pianos, which was considered a pioneer sampling device. This was used by
The Beatles (in the "Strawberry Fields Forever" intro). Although the electronically produced sound
was very distinct in some of the songs, it still wasn't true Electronica - the inclusion of acoustic and/or
electric guitars, bass guitar and live drumming, etc. were dominant in the song's sound, making this
genre known as Electro-Acoustic music. In 1964, Robert Moog created one of the first analogue
synths on the market - the Moog Synth. This innovation made the technology more affordable and
widely available to the public. This invention helped to set up a new sound in the late 70's and early
80's, known as electronica. Electronica is music that is created using electronic instruments
(synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, computers, etc) and, unlike electro-acoustic music,
electronica dominant feature is the electronic sound. It can also be distinguished further by its
emphasis on the melodic and harmonic structure in the song, as well as its catchy, danceable
rhythms and bass lines. Some fans of electronica struggle to distinguish between genres, such as:
New wave, Techno, House, Trance, Drum and Bass, Jungle and Dance music. New Wave music
gained popularity in the 80's, artists such as The Human League, Depeche Mode and Eurythmics.
New Wave's style usually contains a strong lyrical and melodic / harmonic bent - the focus often falls
on the singer and the image he/she presents for the band, as well as the mood / content of the lyrics,
which is usually light in tone and not often very deep, although it can be highly emotional and
serious, even dark and political at times.