created 2025-03-05, & modified, =this.modified
tags:y2025musiccreationperformance
While writing electronic music my intent is often to have the ability to perform it. But I also feel like much of the music I listen to, and often enjoy, doesn’t have a performance potential to it.
Things in this category might be:
- heavily sampled ambient environments or found sounds
- computer music (akin to a tool-assisted speedrun)
- multiple song parts at once
You’ll listen to a modern electronic track and it’s clear that it was mostly “penned” with precision automation and curve adjustments. The notes are drawn in as if the notation, or the act of writing, was the performance. Performing this is a matter of pressing play. The artist made it with mouse and keyboard (not a piano keyboard). The human elements might be there, but simulated, or might be absent.
NOTE
I’ll even have moments where I’m playing against a heavily quantized track as a human, and have to either shift the backing track and humanize it, or more heavily edit my human performed guitar.
They can butt up against one another otherwise.
This degree of computerized music has proliferated where people can make such precise, deliberate actions to create sound and explore the space of possible sound.
To some degree, this transition has occurred in traditionally maximally performed instruments like the guitar. Artists will overdub with MIDI note controlled guitar plugins. Even effects like reverb create a simulated performance.
Also somewhat strange with electronic music is that when I am creating something, I can within reason choose the degree of difficulty. I can make it so wrong notes are automatically shifted, or make so a track is played by a linear sequence of button presses. Engineering and optimizations manifest different than when simple holding a piece of stringed wood.