Some people have suggested that I stop releasing modules that use only a
square wave sample. I suppose it is a reasonable suggestion; after all, the
aesthetic is rather jarring, at least until you get used to it. After that
the complaint goes that it's boring to hear the same sample being used over
and over again. I suppose, a matter of subjective preference, that there is
validity to these arguments. After all, if one thinks something sounds
boring or annoying, that is a perfectly valid way of responding to a piece
of music. I would suggest however that one should understand that my music
is not about using only a square wave as a sample, but rather the freedom
to compose with the raw ideas of musical notes that this opens up.
What is this freedom, and why does the square wave confer it? It is the
freedom to not have to work with the timbres of different instruments.
Square waves have harmonics, so they are not as simple as sine waves in
that respect, but square waves are utterly simple in their purity, but
still maintain a richness of sound that does not get in the way of the
ideas of musical notes divorced from aesthetics. In my view, the ideas of a
creation come before and precede the actual aesthetics. The skeleton of
Ideas which are the non-actual notes exist as ideas in the mind, and the
instruments which play the non-actual notes make them actual with a certain
aesthetic (timbre) which is characteristic to that instrument.
I work with skeletons without flesh on them because it is my preference. It
is up to the imagination of the listener to put meat on them, to make them
beautiful in a more immediate way. I suppose some would say that this is
asking too much of the listener, but I do not think so.
Let me also remind you that these are modules. If you think a track of mine
would sound better with an organ or piano or strings, by all means, replace
the square wave with it in a tracker. You have my permission, even to
release it if you want to, as long as you give credit. I release skeletons,
you may use your imagination to put meat on them.
ModTomIT 2-15-2017
modtomit@gmail.com
Created with OpenMPT 1.26.07.00
