>I'm from the "other school" and for me music is artistic expression, first 
and
>foremost. While it is nice when in also communicates, the chief thing when I
>do art is that there is something inside of me seeking to get out, music is
>the medium for this expression. And the curious thing is that I never can
>truely "hear it" until it has gotten out. Music speaks first and foremost to
>me, and if others recieve some communication from it, well and good, but 
hen
>I do not compose commercially.
So you're composing for an audience of one. works for me.
>
>You see, if as you argue, that music is communication, and that 
ommunication
>is a science, then one should be able to "compose" music by following the
>scientific principals deduced from analysis. That being the case it should 
e
>possible to teach a computer these rules, and to apply them objectively and
>the results should be as satisfying as the greatest masterpiece of whichever
>style you prefer.
Never said that all communication is a science. Barrio Slang, Banger Jive,
Cockney Rhyming Slang and several other dialects manage to communicate with
more art than science, especially in the case of the latter of the three.
Dan walked down the street.
On a brisk March day Dan took a leisurely stroll down the avenue.
Both communicate. One is more artistic. You need look no farther than Aretha
Franklin's "Middle Era," where, having been told she could sing the phone 
ook
and sell gold records, she believed them, and learned that there was more to
music than a great voice.
>
>[OK, perhaps I'm playing a bit as Devil's Advocate, for I will admit that
>there is a "scientific component" -- I will also argue that the chief thing 
is
>"art"]
I will argue that there is no chief thing in either. The gifted composer will
use whatever method it takes to realize the art that must be made, and if it
requires more art this time and more science next, it matters not.
The menu is not the meal. The music is not the method.
And by the way, good points, well said.....
--- WWIVGate 1.12c
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