LESS IS MORE
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...like my dear ol' friend Ludwig Mies van der Rohe would say.It’s not my intention to lecture some history of art, at least not as a mogger and not now.Minimalism marked mostly architecture and design, but was more effective with visual arts and *music*, in the way their purpose and philosophy were spread in its pure form – simplicity of means and aversion to ornamental detail. If you pay attention you'll notice that this concept is very alike between music and visual arts.bq. 
Already had the chance to watch Master Glass live... and it was, without a doubt, the best night of my life.Yes, I've already posted about him – "here":http://mog.com/bloodtea/blog_post/87502, "here":http://mog.com/bloodtea/blog_post/88580 and "here":http://mog.com/bloodtea/blog_post/88952, you can check 'em out or go to hell –, but I believe there's no such thing as *_too much Glass_* though other artists should benefit from the same minimal spotlight.h2. WHEN MUSIC GOT MINIMALIt all began in the 60's, deep inside the San Francisco and NYC underground scene, when American experimental music based in consonant harmony was denominated as _minimalist music_. In the beginning there were dozens of composers involved, but only few emerged and became publicly associated with minimalist music in the US – La Monte Young, Philip Glass, +Steve Reich+ and Terry Riley._Three Tales_ Hindenburg (parts 2 and 3)Music by Steve ReichVideo by his wife Beryl Korot.In Europe, so as Wikipedia says, _its chief exponents were Louis Andriessen, Karel Goeyvaerts, Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, Steve Martland, Henryk Górecki, Arvo Pärt, and John Tavener_. ”_Its emphasis on accessibility, periodic rhythm, consonance, and pleasant pretty sonorities drew millions of fans, especially among pop-music lovers, who had turned away from modern music, while simultaneously enraging many classical and academic musicians who saw it as a cheap throwback to a kind of mindless simplicity._”C’mon, who doesn’t know about Yann Tiersen (at least in Europe)?^_Summer ‘78_, from _Good Bye Lenin_Music by Yann TiersenVideo by Alberto Rosende Balazs (non-official)^ h3. WHAT MAKES MUSIC MINIMALbq. 
A minimalist song may present some features like repetition or stasis, emphasis on consonant harmony, a solid beat, hypnotic effect, tempo shifting with parts gradually moving out of sync with each other.According to Kyle Gann there are 9 traits common in minimalist music, _"none of them present in all pertinent examples_, _but together defining the historical outlines of the style_":- static harmony (a tendency to stay on one chord, or to move back and forth among a small repertoire of chords);- repetition of brief motives; - algorithmic, linear, geometric, or gradual processes (such as pattern augmentation by 1, 1+2, 1+2+3, 1+2+3+4 and so on); - *check _Knee 1_ (up)*- a steady beat; - static instrumentation (everyone playing all the time, an ensemble concept in which everyone participates equally); - *check _Section V_ (in comment)*- "Metamusic" (unplanned acoustic details that arise or are perceived as a side effect of strictly carried-out processes); - *check Reich's _Drumming_ (in comment)*- pure tuning or just intonation (common in the early minimalism of Young, Conrad, Niblock, and Riley but abandoned in the more public Reich/Glass practice);- influence of non-Western music or cultures. - *check _New Cities in Ancient Lands, India_ (in comment)*
Already had the chance to watch Master Glass live... and it was, without a doubt, the best night of my life.Yes, I've already posted about him – "here":http://mog.com/bloodtea/blog_post/87502, "here":http://mog.com/bloodtea/blog_post/88580 and "here":http://mog.com/bloodtea/blog_post/88952, you can check 'em out or go to hell –, but I believe there's no such thing as *_too much Glass_* though other artists should benefit from the same minimal spotlight.h2. WHEN MUSIC GOT MINIMALIt all began in the 60's, deep inside the San Francisco and NYC underground scene, when American experimental music based in consonant harmony was denominated as _minimalist music_. In the beginning there were dozens of composers involved, but only few emerged and became publicly associated with minimalist music in the US – La Monte Young, Philip Glass, +Steve Reich+ and Terry Riley._Three Tales_ Hindenburg (parts 2 and 3)Music by Steve ReichVideo by his wife Beryl Korot.In Europe, so as Wikipedia says, _its chief exponents were Louis Andriessen, Karel Goeyvaerts, Michael Nyman, Gavin Bryars, Steve Martland, Henryk Górecki, Arvo Pärt, and John Tavener_. ”_Its emphasis on accessibility, periodic rhythm, consonance, and pleasant pretty sonorities drew millions of fans, especially among pop-music lovers, who had turned away from modern music, while simultaneously enraging many classical and academic musicians who saw it as a cheap throwback to a kind of mindless simplicity._”C’mon, who doesn’t know about Yann Tiersen (at least in Europe)?^_Summer ‘78_, from _Good Bye Lenin_Music by Yann TiersenVideo by Alberto Rosende Balazs (non-official)^ h3. WHAT MAKES MUSIC MINIMALbq. A minimalist song may present some features like repetition or stasis, emphasis on consonant harmony, a solid beat, hypnotic effect, tempo shifting with parts gradually moving out of sync with each other.According to Kyle Gann there are 9 traits common in minimalist music, _"none of them present in all pertinent examples_, _but together defining the historical outlines of the style_":- static harmony (a tendency to stay on one chord, or to move back and forth among a small repertoire of chords);- repetition of brief motives; - algorithmic, linear, geometric, or gradual processes (such as pattern augmentation by 1, 1+2, 1+2+3, 1+2+3+4 and so on); - *check _Knee 1_ (up)*- a steady beat; - static instrumentation (everyone playing all the time, an ensemble concept in which everyone participates equally); - *check _Section V_ (in comment)*- "Metamusic" (unplanned acoustic details that arise or are perceived as a side effect of strictly carried-out processes); - *check Reich's _Drumming_ (in comment)*- pure tuning or just intonation (common in the early minimalism of Young, Conrad, Niblock, and Riley but abandoned in the more public Reich/Glass practice);- influence of non-Western music or cultures. - *check _New Cities in Ancient Lands, India_ (in comment)*
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