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Searching for the NEW in music by Jim Hegarty

Sometimes the vastness of the current music scene feels overwhelming. Each time I visit a Borders and browse the CD bins or the vinyl at Vintage Vinyl, I have this nagging realization that there is an awful lot of recorded music out there. An awful lot is actually an understatement. Since the invention of the phonograph around 1900, music has been recorded and distributed at an ever increasing rate. In recent time as a result of the digital revolution, recorded music is available in enormous quantities. Everyone I know records music. Making personal recordings has become nearly a universal skill. Beyond that, there is all the “produce” from all the commercial record labels, the independent labels, the start-ups, And what about all those mp3s you can download on the Internet? It's staggering. What does all this mean?

One thing that it means is that recorded music is not the priceless rarity it once was. It is super abundant and in economic terms, that does not bode well for its value.

Why record music, anyway? Early on, recordings were of such a low fidelity that it is hard for me to imagine they were very satisfying reproductions of a live event. Maybe they were collector's items, or mementos that suggested a real event. As technology progressed, of course, fidelity improved to the point that it might be argued that the sound of a fine recording is equal to or exceeds the sound one hears in the cheap seats of a concert hall. So recordings have transitioned from being an artifact of a real thing to being a hyper-reality that forces the performers to match the recording in performance.

The more I think about this, even from just a plain logic reference point (not to mention an artistic one), the more this seems like not a very good idea. Why would musicians, accomplished performers, want to be shackled to recreating an event that was recorded at an earlier time under different acoustic and psychological conditions? What's the point of that? And why would a listener want a copy of something that doesn't really represent the living, breathing, forward moving continuum of music as inspired communication. I enjoy listening to Miles Davis' recordings just like nearly everyone else, but they represent a frozen moment in time for me - actually no different than the candid photos taken of Miles in the studio. It represents a moment and nothing more. Yes, it may be a pretty awesome moment but I, and I'm sure Miles, too, would not want to be limited to the thought that one awesome moment is all there is – so you'd better take a picture of it.

So musical performers live in the moment and strive to make their performance new and fresh each moment. They strive to find more awesome moments. That's what they do. And recordings only capture a snapshot of one instance.

What sets New Music apart from most other western musical forms is that this search for an awesome moment is more extreme and intense. Separate the performer from a predetermined score, from predetermined structures, timbres, textures, and content and what is left? Raw, spontaneous creativity and expression. The freedom to go for that moment of insight, relationship, and expression. As musicians, we have the opportunity to experience a heightened sense of connectedness with our fellow performers and the audience, a heightened level of communication and unity. As musicians and listeners, we all participate in the intensity of the search for wondrous moments of insight, originality, and creativity. When this type of music "works," there is a tangible, perceptible level of intense unity and communication going on in the room that can be experienced in very few other ways.

So the next time you hear some recorded music, think about what it must have been like to have been in the studio or concert hall when that music was actually performed. It was exciting and stimulating and provocative and, more than anything else, it was NEW. It had never been heard before! Then, think: it is possible to experience that discovery of newness at each of the New Music Circle's concerts this year. All our events are NEW and you will be the first person to experience the spontaneous discovery of new ideas at each of these events. We have a great season of creativity and spontaneity ahead and we are very much looking forward to it!