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Right, clearly it comes down to the ability of handling complex patterns aurally. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with a differing opinion in taste, huh?

[Devil's Advocate Here -
Is there a difference between taste and "handling". As with drinking, some people think being able to handle booze means that you maintain a sense of awareness, other think it means that you simply didn't puke!

Its simply too advanced for some of you guys. I really enjoy the timbral diversities and rhythmic complexities. There is logic behind all those insanely fast phrases; give it another listen!

Cal, I had no idea you were a D + D fan! I haven't played in 20 years...

Right, clearly it comes down to the ability of handling complex patterns aurally. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with a differing opinion in taste, huh?

mg: do you rank your music in any kind of hierarchy? do you consider the rock and roll stuff inferior to the classical stuff?
fz: no.

mg: it's all the same?
fz: it's a different aspect of the same thing. I've got an imagination. so I earn a living by producing merchandisable manifestations of portions of my imagination.

mg: so you don't do one type of music in order to pay for another?
fz: no, I would probably do "baby take your teeth out" if nobody paid me. I mean, nobody did pay me. that particular song was concocted at a soundcheck at the place where this concert was taking place in frankfurt. we played at the alte opera in 1982, and that song came from that soundcheck.

dm: I'm still stuck on something you brought up about not ranking your compositions. if something like "n-lite" took ten years to do, and "baby take your teeth out" took 20 minutes, why should they be the same? it seems to me you've put more into one than the other, and therefore you might have an opinion of that effort yielding more than the 20-minute one.
fz: well, the function of both things is to entertain. the one that took ten years is probably way over budget in terms of how much bang for the buck you're going to get. the end of any piece is basically: you're decorating time. "baby take your teeth out" is a minute and ten seconds. okay, so it shouldn't have taken ten years. it should have taken much less, and it did, but if that minute and ten seconds amuses you, okay, fine. and then there are people who will never be able to sit through "n-lite"; it's 23 minutes long. they would rather have a minute and ten seconds of something that'll make them laugh. the point is that each piece, for what it is supposed to do, achieves a certain level of entertainment success.

dm: if you don't rank your pieces, what differentiation do you make between live work, synclavier work, and some of the work being done to fund this so called "more serious" music?
fz: well, if I had never done any rock and roll, I wouldn't have a synclavier. it's as simple as that. I mean, l earn my living by making rock and roll records. but I didn't set out to do rock and roll just so I could spend my sunset years frying my room with a high radiation source.

So, if you don't like it, you're stupid.

I can honestly say that I don't understand this record, but I like it anyway.

… 1. There is rarely a steady pulse or rhythm. How would this music be transcribed in regards to time signatures and tempo? How would measures be determined, as it seems near impossible to find the "one" beat? …

Same here, although I cannot say I like it yet :-/

Why should this be necessary at all? There is no reason why it should be possible to write it down in standard notation when there is no intention to perform it with real musicians.

Why must there be a steady pulse? Why measures? I can see no reason for it. As a musician (and for sure as a composer) you should strive to leave those conventions behind you. Otherwise you will trapped in limitations all the time. Free yourself. As musician and as listener. Notation is NOT music.

If pulse, beat, measures, etc. are the main factors in music for you should listen to disco music.

(BTW: I'm a musician, too. So to a degree I know what I'm talking about.)

Th.

I can honestly say that I don't understand this record, but I like it anyway.

I had a visit from my neice 11 and nephew 13, feeding the monkies was playing on a very low volume in the background, the adults (I use the term loosely) left the room for around 30 minuites, when we returned the kids had the music pumping and were bouncing around the room laughing their heads off, there "john denver fan" father was quite shocked, they don't act like that when they hear the wiggles he said....he's quite out of touch with what his children are watching and listening to, Ive ordered a copy of monkies for them, a little education from uncle Frank and its rated G