Lecture Slides

MUSIC OF DISTURBANCE (PART 1)
Punk, Industrial & Noise
The Art of Noise
The period from 1820 to 1900 saw the widespread industrialization
of cities. The Italian Futurists, especially Luigi Russolo with his
manifesto “The Art of Noise” (1913) set the stage for art that was
noisy and confrontational.
“In antiquity, life was nothing but silence. Noise was really not born
before the 19th century, with the advent of machinery. Today noise
reigns supreme over human sensibility.”
“we are approaching noise-sound. This revolution of music is
paralleled by the increasing proliferation of machinery sharing in
human labor.”
Phonograph
Sound is no longer strictly a live event. It
can be captured and replayed.
People begin to listen to noise, not just
through noise
noises became materials to be explored
What is Noise?
a few definitions
unwanted sound
a sound, esp. one that is loud or unpleasant or that causes disturbance.
any sound that is undesired or interferes with one's hearing of something
irregular fluctuations that accompany a transmitted electrical signal but are
not part of it and tend to obscure it.
random fluctuations that obscure or do not contain meaningful data or other
information.
Music of Disturbance
Following two world wars, avant-garde artists searched
for new directions; their experiments reflected chaos,
hope for new freedom, and alternative orders. The
music was an assault on the senses, featuring noise,
distortion, extreme emotions, strange sounds, anger and
confusion.
Excerpt from Xenakis’s Bohor (1962)
the physics of noise
Random additions to a signal
By filtering white noise, we get different types (colors) of noise, parallels to visible light
White Noise
White noise is a random noise that contains an
equal amount of energy in all frequency bands.
White light is made up of all light frequencies
(colours), while white noise is made up of all audio
frequencies.
White noise is used in electronic music, either
directly as a sound effect or as the basis to create
synthesized sounds.
White noise is also used to mask other sounds —
the brain is able to single out simple frequency
ranges but has trouble when too many frequencies
are heard at once. When white noise is present,
other noises appear diminished.
Pink Noise
Pink noise is a random signal, filtered to have equal
energy per octave. In order to keep the energy
constant over octaves, the spectral density needs to
decrease as the frequency (f) increases.
This explains why pink noise is sometimes referred
as "1/f noise." In terms of decibels, this decrease
corresponds to 3 dB per octave.
The name of the color comes from visible light that
turns pink when a similar spectral distribution is
applied.
Brown (Red) Noise
Brown noise is a random signal that has been
filtered in order to generate a lot of energy at low
frequencies.
The "brown" name comes from the "brownian"
movement, not the color. Brownian noise is also
referred to as red noise. Visible light turns red when
a similar spectral distribution is applied.
Brown noise is obtained by running the same filter
on pink noise, as the one used to turn white noise
into pink noise. Brown noise offers the same bias
toward the lower frequencies, as white noise does
toward the higher frequencies.
Grey Noise
Although white noise plays equally loudly at all
frequencies, because of psychoacoustic properties,
it fails in giving the listener a balanced perception.
White noise can be passed through a filter, which
inverts our frequency sensitivity curves (FletcherMunson Curves), to create grey noise, a noise that
feels perceptually flat.
Grey noise and white noise would be the same if our
ears were equally sensitive to all frequencies in the
audible spectrum.
Early Influences
Velvet Underground
1967 - The Velvet Underground’s first release set
the standard for anti-establishment music. Often
cited as an influence in future punk and industrial
movements.
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simple and repetitive structures
raw expression
loud and noisey
kinetic energy
celebrated social deviance and the fringes of
‘acceptable’ society.
Punk Rock in the US
By 1971, The New York Dolls were combining trashy glam rock with noise. By 1974 The NYC punk scene was in
full swing at clubs like CBGB, featuring The Ramones and new wave groups like Blondie, and Talking Heads.
punk is more a philosophy--an abrasive, anti-establishment attitude, rather than a unified sound. Punk bands
initially sounded very different. Later in the late 70s the term came to define a minimal, fast, abrasive style of
music--punk rock--that pushed back against the technical virtuosity and large scale spectacle of progressive rock.
The punk mentality draws heavily from the Velvet Underground and Iggy Pop...
Early Influences
Iggy Pop
1968 - In Detroit, Iggy Pop was inspired by the live stage
antics of Jim Morrison of The Doors. Iggy Pop and The
Stooges’ signed with Electra Records and their first album
was produced a year later by John Cale (Velvet
Underground).
Their third album, Raw Power (1973), was their most
influential.
Pop created havoc at his concerts, losing two record deals
and freaking a lot of people out.
He was invited by David Bowie to visit England in 1972,
where Bowie proceeded to get him a record deal with
Columbia during the height of his Ziggy Stardust fame.
Bowie produced Pop’s first two solo albums and toured
with him as his keyboard player in 1977.
New York Dolls
combined trashy glam rock with noise
Only released 2 albums in the 70s before breaking up,
New York Dolls (‘73) and Too Much Too Soon (’74)
influenced both punk and glam metal bands--Sex Pistols,
Kiss, the Ramones, Guns N' Roses, the Damned, and the
Smiths
Watch: Personality Crisis (live, 1973)
Patti Smith
Poet, Visual and Performance Artist, and Songwriter
known as the “Godmother of Punk”
Her 1975 debut album, Horses, was produce by John
Cale (Velvet Underground) and featured a mix of
austere punk arrangements and Smith’s spoken-word
lyrics
Patti Smith’s influence extends beyond punk rock-the Smiths, Garbage, Madonna, Hole, and REM all
cite her as a major influence.
Listen: Horses (1975)
Ramones
“With just four chords and one manic tempo, New York's
Ramones blasted open the clogged arteries of mid-'70s rock,
reanimating the music. Their genius was to recapture the short/
simple aesthetic from which pop had strayed, adding a caustic
sense of trash-culture humor and minimalist rhythm guitar
sound.”
the Ramones "not only spearheaded the original new wave/punk
movement, but also drew the blueprint for subsequent hardcore
punk bands"
All three of the founding members (Joey, Johnny & Dee Dee
Ramone) were dead within 8 years of the band’s breakup
Judy is a Punk, off the album Ramones (1976)
The Heartbreakers
Death
Pere Ubu
The Dictators
Television
Punk Rock in the UK
Punk philosophies found fertile ground in England, with a high unemployment
rate and a young generation that was angry and tired of the status quo.
The Sex Pistols and The Clash were the first big UK punk bands
Sex Pistols
In 1976, the Sex Pistols released their first single,
“Anarchy in the UK,” which ultimately reached #38 on
the UK charts.
“Anarchy in the UK” linked punk to a newly politicized
attitude- rock as an ideological weapon. Their 1977
album, Never Mind the Bollocks, hit #1 in the UK
Singer Johnny Rotten on the controversy surrounding
the group:
“I don't understand it. All we're trying to do is
destroy everything."
Live Performance: Anarchy in the UK (1976)
The Clash
Siouxsie and the Banshees
The Damned
The Smiths
Buzzcocks
2nd Wave & Offshoot Movements
The Germs
The beginning of hardcore punk
Part of the 2nd generation of punk rock bands that
emerged on the west coast.
First and only album (GI) is considered a foundation
of hardcore punk
By the late 70s, punk music referred to a fast and
minimal guitar/bass/drums style.
Strange Notes off the album (GI) (1979)
Black Flag
hardcore punk
Expanded on the sound of the Ramones, incorporating
frequent tempo shifts and angular atonal guitar solos
anti-authoritarian and non-conformist, DIY
songs about social isolation, neurosis, poverty, and
paranoia.
Henry Rollins joined as lead singer in 1981.
Major influence in Metal and Grunge genres
Listen: Rise Above from the 1981 album Damaged
Bad Brains
Hardcore +
Formed in 1977 in Washington DC
Originally a jazz fusion ensemble called
Mind Power
Fused funk, heavy metal, hip hop, soul,
reggae and punk, producing a high
speed, eclectic style of hardcore punk
Emulated by The Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Faith No More, and 24-7 Spyz
Attitude from the album Bad Brains (1982)
DNA
No Wave
No wave was not just a type of music, but an anticommercial statement that resonated throughout the
independent music, film, fashion and visual art
worlds.
No Wave protested New Wave bands like the Talking
Heads signing with big record labels
DNA’s drummer is Ikue Mori, now a notable digital
noise and laptop performer
Excerpt from Not Moving off of the No New York No Wave Compilation (1978)
The Riot Grrrl Movement
Feminist punk rock movement that
started in the Pacific Northwest in the
early 90s
addressed domestic abuse, sexuality,
racism, patriarchy, and female
empowerment.
Like no wave, Riot Grrrl was a subculture committed to DIY art, political
action and zines (small circulation, self
published magizines)
Influenced by Siouxsie Sioux, Joan Jett,
and Kim Gordon.
Bikini Kill
Jack Off Jill (and later Scarling)
Bratmobile
Adickdid
Bangs
The Butchies
Calamity Jane
Dickless
Emily's Sassy Lime
Excuse 17
Fifth Column
The Frumpies
Heavens to Betsy
Huggy Bear
Sleater-Kinney
L7
Team Dresch
Riot Grrrl Manifesto
Associated Bands
Bikini Kill
vocalist and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist
Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi
Vail
Widely cited as pioneers of the Riot Grrrl movement
shunned the media and record labels
Rebel Girl (1993) off the album Pussy Whipped
Pop Punk
The Ramones provided the blue print for bringing
punk to the masses and in the late 80s and early
90s, pop punk emerged as one of the most
commercially viable genres.
Bad Religion "layered their pissed off, politicized
sound with the smoothest of harmonies", other
groups included Screeching Weasel, Green Day,
Offspring, NOFX
Later, Blink 182, Sum 41 and Fallout Boy.
By the early 2000s, pop punk dominated the charts
Sonic Youth
Beginning of Noise Rock
Formed in NYC in 1981 and were initially part of the
No Wave scene.
Used unorthodox guitar tunings and sticks and
screwdrivers to alter guitar sounds. They build
custom effects processors and stomp-boxes and build
off of the DIY ethos of early punk rock
Stereo Sanctity off of the 1987 album Sister
Noise & Industrial Music
Noise has taken the place of punk rock.
People who play noise have no real aspirations
to being part of the mainstream culture. Punk
has been co-opted, and this subterranean
noise music and the avant-garde folk scene
have replaced it
Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth
Fort Thunder & Providence, Rhode Island
Merzbow
Merzbow, aka Masami Akita, is a Japanese musician who
has pioneered “Noise Music.” He has released 350
recordings since 1979.
“I threw all my past music career in the garbage. There
was no longer any need for concepts like 'career' and
'skill'. I stopped playing music and went in search of an
alternative.”
Merzbow, live improvisation (2002)
“Japanese Noise relishes in the ecstasy of sound itself.”