Dialtones- A Telesymphony

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Dec 04 - 09:00 AM

Kudos for creativity to the composers. Sometimes I think composers hedge their bets on a piece being more likely to be accepted when they weld technology to art, because technology is such an integral and almost transparent part of our environment. - And I don't think that incorporating technology into art detracts any from the piece's legitimacy as a valid art form, on par with serious music we've been brought up to revere, like Mozart. Whether the listener likes it or not then becomes a matter of opinion.

Some parts of of these audio snippets reminded me of crickets chirping....

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 04 Dec 04 - 07:00 AM

Sorry, Mark, I've still got this ringing in my ears....

The sad problem with techie geeks is that they can sometimes know too much to see the funny side of a 'joke' on technical matters... :-)

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 11:33 PM

Yes, you're correct, Robin...the piece was mistitled "Dialtones" when what they were "playing" was ringtones. Of course, they could say that since the computer was dialing the phones they were "tones that were played when the phone was dialed" and hence "dialtones" -- "Get it? It's a PUN" -- but I don't buy it. Didn't, in fact. Still, some people liked it, and they weren't hurting or offending anyone, so more power to 'em.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 08:08 PM

And I have just realised - you mean 'Ringtones' - not 'Dialtones' - trust me if you were to listen to many hours of 'Dialtones', you too would start to hear things.... :-)

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 06:42 PM

Davetnova

You'll have to speak up, I keep hearing things...

It's now how long you have to listen before you start hearing things that is the problem, but how long after you stop listening before you stop hearing things.... :-)

Certainly changed my mental perception of things, including music, and I didn't even have to inhale!

perhaps some may understand me better now...

:-)

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: Helen
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 02:34 PM

The interesting part of the experience would be sitting among the phones and hearing different parts of the performance in literal surround sound.

Helen

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: beetle cat
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 01:04 PM

Awesome. Yeah the coughing made me laugh too. In this it is the human generated noise that is the distraction, verses the pleasure as in traditional concert hall stuff.

The audience/ performer rolls are totally broken. Much like in folk music, where it is customary for the audience to to be part of the performance.

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: Davetnova
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 10:30 AM

Foolestroupe - How long did you have to listen to the 50Hz before you started hearing things?

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: RichM
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 10:00 AM

I'll put in a good word for it..

I found these to be odd but pleasing.

Marvellous creativity.

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 09:20 AM

I'm not making this up, you know....

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 09:03 AM

I once bought (secondhand - I'm not totally stupid!) a set of 'avant garde' 'musique electronique' LP's - one side of which was full of just 50 Hz mains hum...... If you listened to it for long enough (put it on auto repeat!) you began to hear things.... :-)

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 03 Dec 04 - 03:32 AM

What I want to know is, how did they get some of the phones to sound exactly like a person coughing?

For those who don't feel like going to the linked site, this concert worked like this: When you arrive, you register your cell phone number at a kiosk, and are given an assigned seat. The computer system then downloads a preset ringtone into your cell phone. The computer then knows the nature and location of each phone's sound, so the composer/performer can create specific sounds in specific locations by having the computer dial specific phone numbers. What I heard of the result was odd, but strangely unpleasant.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: open mike
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 08:54 PM

hope they didn't dial any long distance numbers...
a 28 minute call could count up!

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: beetle cat
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 08:30 PM

Oh well, yeah, I wouldn't want to buy the cd either, but it would be kind of amusing to participate in a concert. I don't know about the money part, it looked very technologically advanced, with the lighting aspect and the organization and all. To me that somehow translates to expensive.   What exactly do you mean by tonal? Its definatly not traditional, but I think that all musicians and music admirers should be able to appreciate the full definition of the term "music", and be excited about its expansion into every day aspects of our lives, such as telephone. And as for traditional, "legitimate" composers, I don't think they are realistically threatened. As music as a whole expands, every subgroup will get smaller, but there will be so much more to work with. Like no folk musician used the synthesizer.. bull. It probably actually helped the popularization of the genera. As for myself, I actually prefer folk in its barest elements, but we can all coexist.

sorry, my lengthy ranting is not justified.

I'm curious about what you say about your brother.. What do you mean? Kids play mary had a little lamb and so on, on touch tone phones, but what you are describing sounds intriguing.

I introduced this because I'm doing a report on telephone music, and I wanted to know what mudcatters thought.

thanks for your opinion.

Subject: RE: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 03:20 PM

rant on: Lazy crap which costs the symphony orgs. nothing to put on. And, it leaves legitimate composers who have something real and tonal to present left out in the cold because they don't titilate with this kind of claptrap!rant off

Other than that it sounds kind of amusing, but I wouldn't want a cd of it nor to sit through 26 minutes of it!

Years ago, my brother was teaching kids how to turn any phone number into whole symphonys...that's entertainment!

Subject: Dialtones- A Telesymphony
From: beetle cat
Date: 02 Dec 04 - 03:11 PM

http://www.flong.com/telesymphony/

AMAZING!!!!!

what do you think?