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December 24, 2009
Silence Defined
A graduate student asked me recently for my definition of silence. It was not an easy task. I wanted, at first to succinctly capture the essence of silence's role in both the musical and every-day environments, however this proved to be more of a paragraph than a phrase/short sentence, which is what the student wanted.The short definition:
Silence is the space we live in.
The longer definition (gist):
Silence is an inter-dependent element of music that is both rythmical and spatial aspects. The rythmical component acts between notes. The spatial component is heard both harmonically (above and below, around pitches and other sound events) and in the listener's aural environment inhabiting the spaces around the edge of the aural experience. The rythmic element of silence also lends to a psychological sense in the act of listening. It is this sense of space/place that positions the listener within the context of the music, as a participant in the musical experience.
Originally from Thoughts on Music and Silence, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2009 at 09:49 PM