In 2013, the Canadian Brass recorded an arrangement of STROBE by Deadmau5.
Deadmau5, also known as Joel Thomas Zimmerman is highly regarded as one of the grandfather's of modern EDM, releasing his debut album back in 2005. Joel has a unique sound characterized by his use synthesizers, pointillistic melodies, and his trance-like progression of sound.
The success of this arrangement is due to its simplicity. Many times, classical musicians try to include unnecessary additional harmonies and overly densify the texture. The beauty of EDM is not found in it chordal structures and complex progressions, but rather in the changes in texture, timbre, and rhythm.
This arrangement is a wonderful meshing of electro and acoustic elements, using much of the source's melodic material and maintaining the minimalistic quality of the original work.
I like the arrangement, and it's actually quite relaxing to listen to. It'd be pretty cool to hear this type of music played live at a club, restaurant, or bar. Only drawback is the electronics have an unlimited endurance compared to brass players.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite electronic music composers is Jon Hopkins. Here's one of his tunes that I enjoyed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H3pA4X-mhA
Even though this is not brass, I found this trio of saxophonists and drummer performing a tiny desk concert at NPR. Sounds like an acoustic version of electronic music to me. The group is called Moon Hooch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwBhxBBa7tE
I agree with your take on EDM. The small changes seem to make the biggest difference. Electronic music making accomplishes this task well as fatigue is not a factor One can explore the sound in it's entirety before as there is stasis or suspension of time purposely put into the music. I found the synthesis between electronic and acoustical elements in the video surprisingly accurate over the overtone series. I wonder how much of that was experimentation, trial and error, or actual algorithmic calculation? I appreciate Joel's ability to listen three dimensionally in a form of music that most people listen to two dimensionally. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love the Canadian Brass for constantly seeking new vehicles to reach audiences. What a cool idea!
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