reactive
Recently we have seen the emergence of many generative and interactive music applications. Obviously there is quite something happening in the gaming sector and devices like the iphone contribute to this development. Now what if this is the emergence of a whole new music genre?
In the article “What the heck is RjDj” i wrote the following:
RjDj is promoting a music genre that we call “reactive”. The sound that listeners hear is produced by digital devices in the very moment it is listened to. Composers of reactive music often make heavy use of sensory input, which makes the environment of the listener part of the music that is heard. Compositions are called “Scenes”. Scenes have a different musical structure than traditional compositions and they often have no clear beginning and end. Some scenes promote active listener involvement and others promote passive listening. In any case, when listening to RjDj, take care and enjoy your mind twisting hearing sensations.
So what does RjDj do to promote reactive music?
- First of all RjDj is a platform where people can participate and contribute in many ways. Creators of RjDj scenes gather >here< and we are about to release open source software as well as an api for a RjDj website
- Second, we are trying to promote the idea of reactive and the creation of RjDj scenes through organizing “RjDj sprints“. If you are interested in hosting an RjDj sprint, please let us know, we will certainly support you.
- And third, we are not just developing the RjDj player but are also providing a distribution platform for artists to earn some money by creating RjDj scenes.
All in all, we hope this all could lead into a kickstart for reactive. Let us know if you are interested in helping, and lets discuss things also on this blogpost.
October 12th, 2008 at 9:02 am
[...] First of all we were really happy about the many reactions we got. Peter Kirn’s excellent article and his interview on the creative digital media blog deserves some special mentioning. Peter really managed to point out that RjDj is not born to be yet another iphone app. What we really want to achieve is to be the driving force behind a new music genre. [...]
October 12th, 2008 at 9:52 am
gentronica? (= generative electronica – but scenes could sound unlike electronic music)
responsive? (ok, but a bit dull)
augmentative? (bit of a mouthful)
it’s a tricky thing to name.
we need some music journalist to crank out some crazy mashup genre name…
November 20th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I downloaded RJDJ yesterday, played around with it, but really discovered its full potential when I took the city train today while listening to eargasm. Squeaking breaks, intercom messages, hydraulic doors, quiet conversations next to me, they all blended into what I can only call one glorious “train track”.
OK, it may work equally well in other environments, but hey, punk rock is not all made by, or listened to by, punks. And house is also played and enjoyed outdoors. So, I would proudly state that I’m heavily into train. I go to train parties, I buy train tracks, and I look forward to the first train subgenre. Maybe steam train, or shuttle train. Hell, I admit it: I’m a trainy! ‘Cause this new sound trainz! I tell you!!
Henk