SAMSTAG_28.02.2009_SEKTION IV_15-20 UHR
13_15:45 Re-introducing Life into Art: Musical Sampling/Recycling of Sounds
Leigh Landy, Prof. for New Music, De Montfort-University Leicester (GB)
In many ways, all non-representational arts have distanced themselves to a greater or lesser extent from their potential public over the centuries due to the fact that art and life have been largely separated. For example, the art for art’s sake movement was rather explicit about this separation. Ironically, most human beings still enjoy and find it natural to make links between the artistic and lived experience. The inclusion of the sound as potential musical material has not only led to new and radical forms of sound-based music making, but also to the opportunity for life to become part of music. Appropriation ranges from Duchamp-like ready-mades (e.g., soundscapes and ‘phonographies’) to the minute plunderphones of John Oswald. This talk will focus on the impact of the use of real-life sounds across the musical spectrum, primarily those employing electroacoustic or new media approaches. The speaker will include examples from some of his own recent sound-based works to illustrate key concepts. Sampling is one case where musical experimentation may actually lead towards increased appreciation and artistic participation in new forms of music making.
Leigh Landy
Prof. Leigh Landy holds a Research Chair at De Montfort University where he directs the Music, Technology and Innovation Research Centre. His compositions include several for video, dance and theatre. He has worked extensively with the late playwright, Heiner Müller, the new media artist, Michel Jaffrennou and the composer-performer, Jos Zwaanenburg and was composer in residence for the Dutch National Theatre during its first years of existence. Currently he is artistic director of Idée Fixe – Experimental Sound and Movement Theatre. His publications focus on the studies of electroacoustic music, in particular issues related to making this music accessible. He is editor of “Organised Sound: an international journal of music technology” (CUP) and author of five books including “What’s the Matter with Today’s Experimental Music?” and “Experimental Music Notebooks”. “Understanding the Art of Sound Organization” (MIT Press) and “La musique des sons/The Music of Sounds” (Sorbonne MINT/OMF) both appeared in 2007. He directs the ElectroAcoustic Resource Site (EARS) project and is a founding member of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Network (EMS Network).