A solution to noise in music

[ This is not meant to be taken seriously :) ]

Every generation thinks that the music of the next generation is noise, eventually they will be right. The trend continues because the focus has always been on novelty. And novelty has been confused with originality. Novelty relates to newness while originality relates to origins. This confusion, coupled with the force of logic, leads musicians of all progressive styles toward the noise barrier.

The noise barrier is the inevitable dead-end destination of western music theory. In the quest for novelty musicians have always added more dissonance and complexity to basic sounds or melodies to create something new. The logical culmination of this approach leads to pure noise. Hence, the idea of the noise barrier. Pure noise, in the scientific sense, is already a defining feature, or a basic component, of some musical styles. That's fine. But what then?

Many novel hybrid and retro styles have been developed to avoid the noise barrier. This is not necessarily a deliberate strategy but the trend is very obvious. These hybrid and retro styles can be just as enjoyable as any past style of music. The possibilities of creating retro and hybrid styles are almost boundless. They provide a way of moving sideways and backwards. But how can we move forward?

There is a type of music that abandons the established approach and breaks through the noise barrier. It by-passes the theoretical and logically habituated ways of making music. But this is not an easy way out. This music is created and simultaneously recorded in real-time. There is no preparation or rehearsal of the music so the 'style' of any recording depends on the skill and musical heritage of the musicians. This music goes to the heart of music making by returning to the origins of music and then taking a different path. The path follows intuition rather than logic. This is why it is called Intuitive Music. The music is thus freed from the compelling formulas that thrust music toward the noise barrier.

Last revised: 14 February 2005