Karlheinz Stockhausen - Kontakte

Frank wrote:

...and what do you think? Without using swear words

And I am truly interested.

Thank you for your interest, but I haven't listened to it yet...

I was intrigued by the discussion title, but I haven't had the time to dedicate myself to it yet - also because, as you know, for me it is a bit of an, um, difficult matter

As soon as I can, I will dedicate myself to it carefully, I promise

Frank wrote:

Meanwhile, complexity increases given the addition of 27 instruments, and one gets the impression of following a multi-layered piece; the traditional instruments, in their relationship with electronic sounds, have several functions:

a) Underlining and timbral expansion of electronic sounds, as in the case of the 10.4'' piccolo tam

b) Completion of phrases

c) Relative autonomy of the instruments in moments when the functions separate; see when the tape stabilizes on a static band and the traditional instruments continue to interact with each other through single strokes, chords, or phrases (see 3' 9.1'')

D) Mixed situations, see the concomitance of a and c)

Etc

Even if at a perceptual level it is certainly something else, no sounds are removed or added compared to the tape-only version (which can be in quadraphonic, stereo, or mono). This means that for S., the presence or absence of instruments does not necessitate any modification of the formal functions of the tape. They can be obscured, confused, downplayed, or highlighted through fusion or contrast via the intervention of the instruments, but they constitute a texture without which the piece would make no sense.

Thanks Frank

Quite tough how I listen to Xenakis....