Computer Music and Democracy.

IT ALL SOUNDS THE SAME!!!"

But if all those kids are making sounds in their bedroom, publishing, distributing, and talking about them, what is so wrong about that? What should they be doing instead? Roland Barthe's ideas of musica practica uncover the contemporary condition of passive, fluid music versus the active, muscular, amateur musics of folk traditions.

It is easy to make mediocre music in a computer. But even if the interest in electronic music grew to an unexpected degree, there would never be as many mediocre electronic musicians as there are hopelessly mediocre pop stars. In fact, there will always be many more mediocre AND successful rock stars than mediocre and unsuccessful electronic musicians. Anyway, who are these experts who always make music for us?

We see no difference between playing the computer and playing the flute. Computer music is not going to change the world much more than a flute. There are very few people who are "getting somewhere" playing the flute, but must every activity come to a marketable end?

Does the computer support democracy? If everyone had access to a computer, would all of our lives be better? That's what they said about the telephone, and the mobile phone, and most "new" technologies, and it hasn't worked yet.

But, EVERYONE should go make their own CDR! We will not like most of it, we will not support most of it, and we may even fight against the ideas much of it represents. But we are very glad that people are doing it, another folk tradition, an active, flawed amateur music production.

a. salinas and a. bergman

This Land is Your Land

aaland@luckykitchen.com

Spain 2002

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