MEDIATION, MEDIAnATION
In an earlier post I mentioned the media theorizer, Marshal McLuhan. There has been some renewed interest in his work in the last few years. His most famous or infamous aphorism was: "The medium is the message."
By definition a medium is something that lies "in between". When we say an artist uses oil paints as their medium, it both means that they are expressing their art with particular things or means and that their art is being expressed by means that is intermediary between the artist and those receiving the art.
So mediation is really everywhere around us. Even in science we might say that the method used to experiment and evaluate experiments is a medium -- a device used to evince some clearer perception.
Music has ridden a wave of media invention especially since instruments have been electrified and the processing of sounds has become refined and more complicated. The electric guitar in a way led the charge.
Along with these developments has been a kind of industrialization of music. Sometimes, in fact, one wonders of the authenticity of claims of being radical or visionary are more substance or marketing.
While I was in Ireland I noticed that interest in traditional music is still strong but it also has an uphill battle with modern forms of music that would be recognizable anywhere in the world.
It takes two to tango: the artist and the listener. There is much music that is produced in a very modern way with depth and soul. But nothing is quite as immediate as listening to an artist who has internalized his or her instrument and is communicating with it directly, intelligently and emotionally.
This is why sometimes it is wonderful especially to listen to less mediated music, a solo instrument or performer. I picked up a disc of the late Derek Bell formerly one of the Chieftans playing solo Irish harp. Listening just to harp you can feel the plucking, the sensitivity of his touch his caress of the instrument against his body. It is an intimate experience, a privileged one.
When the interest in Celtic music increased about twenty years ago you heard all kinds of music that I would call "atmospheric". A major part of the atmosphere was the plaintive sound of the Irish or uilleann pipes. I also picked up a disc of solo Irish pipe music. I would not call it plaintive at all. When given the chance to step to the front of the stage, it is aggressive and in fits joyful and definite.
The breathing and the sounds from the chanter and the drones are distinguished from one another and in constant conversation.
Ensemble music can be wonderful, but stripping away some of the complexity reveals many things and especially the voice of a particular artist. If we give ourselves the chance we might experience a very soulful connection between the artist and ourselves, how they have received and shared life and how we experience life. This helps us be open to revelation -- a chance for new perspective and new hope.
We are a media nations and we need to use these tools carefully and be able to strip them down enough to found soul speaking to soul.
By definition a medium is something that lies "in between". When we say an artist uses oil paints as their medium, it both means that they are expressing their art with particular things or means and that their art is being expressed by means that is intermediary between the artist and those receiving the art.
So mediation is really everywhere around us. Even in science we might say that the method used to experiment and evaluate experiments is a medium -- a device used to evince some clearer perception.
Music has ridden a wave of media invention especially since instruments have been electrified and the processing of sounds has become refined and more complicated. The electric guitar in a way led the charge.
Along with these developments has been a kind of industrialization of music. Sometimes, in fact, one wonders of the authenticity of claims of being radical or visionary are more substance or marketing.
While I was in Ireland I noticed that interest in traditional music is still strong but it also has an uphill battle with modern forms of music that would be recognizable anywhere in the world.
It takes two to tango: the artist and the listener. There is much music that is produced in a very modern way with depth and soul. But nothing is quite as immediate as listening to an artist who has internalized his or her instrument and is communicating with it directly, intelligently and emotionally.
When the interest in Celtic music increased about twenty years ago you heard all kinds of music that I would call "atmospheric". A major part of the atmosphere was the plaintive sound of the Irish or uilleann pipes. I also picked up a disc of solo Irish pipe music. I would not call it plaintive at all. When given the chance to step to the front of the stage, it is aggressive and in fits joyful and definite.
The breathing and the sounds from the chanter and the drones are distinguished from one another and in constant conversation.
We are a media nations and we need to use these tools carefully and be able to strip them down enough to found soul speaking to soul.
