Saturday, August 30, 2008

Stockhausen Fascination

I've recently struck an abnormal fascination with the early German composer, Karlheinz Stockhausen (August 22, 1928 - December 5, 2007). We know him as one of the extremely influential pioneers of electronic music during the mid 20th century.

What I respect the most about Stockhausen was his humble approach to the world of sound. For electronic music in the late 40's and 50's, post World War II, its development was thriving yet polluted through a rivalry between the French and Germans. It was divided between the French's, Musique concrète, and the German's, total Serialism. The fabulous book, Electronic and Experimental Music, includes a quote from German composer Konrad Boehmer, "You could say in the 50's, you had two types of Cold War, one between the Soviet Union and the United States and one between the Cologne studio and the French studio." It was practically a crime for either side to even have the slightest thought of experimenting with the other's method!

Stockhausen was of course a German composer and total Serialist, yet his aspirations reached far beyond sets and the conventional 12 tone chromatic scale. His thoughts of composition not only ranged through the organization of sound, but also through the actual composition and manipulation of each indiviual sound itself. By allowing himself to be influenced by the world of French experimentation, Stockhausen's palette of sounds suddenly grew significantly bigger. He went on to succesfully create beautiful music and soundscapes which were composed of individually created timbres and manipulated recordings.

I respect Karlheinz Stockhausen's attitude towards the art of sound. This serves as inspiration to me, not only through the techniques he has introduced, but in his focus to execute the creative ambitions which obviously served much importance to him. Why would anyone allow their art to be bogged down because of some half-hearted concern towards their reputation? Music then becomes instantly lifeless. Shame on you when the potential of your art is being restrained by trivial stubborness.

To supplement the portion of Stockhausen's influence to musical application, I want to briefly explain how I feel he was very advanced for the period of time in which he lived. His ideas are very consistent with modern day electronic music. He often references sampling and further manipulation of recorded sounds in order to create new original sounds. Hearing this, I immediately recall current artist Amon Tobin. Performance wise, both prefer to concentrate on using techniques to create a special sonic experience for the listener, rather than become entertainers. Yet even more similar, although Amon Tobin's music tends to be much more "musical" in terms of melody, structure, etc., the two use manipulated samples and sound effects to create unique sounds to use as the basis of their compositions.

Some interesting experiments could be done by processing short sounds and making them much longer or vice versa, as well as applying drastic filters, excessive EQ, soaking wet reverb, you get the picture. Just mess around and it's inevitable that you will stumble upon something special.

We also share a birthday.
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