Great analysis of minimalism, and definitely do I get your struggle with the idea. I had one professor hate the term minimalism for just that reason and preferred the term "pulsative" music, music that is concerned with steady pulse and not arrival. Even in phasing, where the pulse shifts ever so slightly to bring new texture and color, it never arrives. This idea makes sense when you contrast minimalism to post-minimalist composers like John Adams which take the pulsative textures of minimalism...but add back in cadential features and more a sense of tension and release in harmonic progression.
Adam Neely The idea of calling it "pulsative" does make a lot of sense! People like Steve Reich really do epitomize this concept rather well. If I'm remembering correctly there is an interview here on RUclips (done by ABC Arts on their channel, I think) of Reich detailing that when they first performed Terry Riley's "In C", he introduced the pulse because the way Riley originally wrote it, the piece had no pulse element. The way Reich puts it, he says that when people normally play Terry Riley's "In C" they are really playing Terry Riley's "In C" with Steve Reich's pulse and that the piece w/o the pulse sounds "VERY different".
Here we are: ruclips.net/video/pFS8Ru27rqs/видео.html At the 12:16 mark he talks about it. Big fan of your videos btw, Adam! You and Sideways are very inspirational and you along with other great music RUclipsrs motivate me everyday!
I like "pulsative," but I think that reduces things too much. To say that the music has pulses merely implies that it has a greater focus on harmonies over consistent rhythm. I think a more appropriate term would be "pulsative gradualism" because the pulse is a heavy component, absolutely, but Reich's influential essay "Music as a Gradual Process" (1968) pinpoints how his intent with the listener is to have them enjoy the process of how the music evolves over time, as well as tonal qualities in the harmony. "Musical processes can give one a direct contact with the impersonal and also a kind of complete control, and one doesn’t always think of the impersonal and complete control as going together. By 'a kind' of complete control, I mean that by running this material through this process I completely control all that results, but also that I accept all that results without changes.” "Even when all the cards are on the table and everyone hears what is gradually happening in a musical process, there are still enough mysteries to satisfy all. These mysteries are the impersonal, unintended, psychoacoustic by-products of the intended process.” And this is totally different from the "process music" of John Cage. Reich even identifies that in the essay: "John Cage has used processes and has certainly accepted their results, but the processes he used were compositional ones that could not be heard when the piece was performed.” Grain of salt, I guess, because he also said "serial music... is seldom audible." Gotta say, love your videos, guys!
"and definitely do I get your struggle with the idea" He literally wrote a minimalist piece during his analysis of it. He is not struggling. Rofl. There's being humble towards the genius of masters, and then there's turning your identity into the self-doubting mind of a sixth grade girl fishing for reassuring compliments. ='D Love you guys, though. =P
Watchmen actually used bob dylan, simon and garfunkel etc. because the lyrics were placed in the actual comic, i honestly thought it was pretty cool that was done because it felt like a soundtrack for the comic
Yes, with a couple of unfortunate exceptions. Most notably, for the love scene between Nite-Owl and SIlk Spectre, Snyder swapped out the Billie Holiday song referenced in the book by Alan Moore for the Leonard Cohen "Hallelujah". Got a big laugh from the audience both times I saw it in the theater. That is not supposed to be a comedy moment! Snyder should have stuck with what was in the book.
CitizenScribbler From what I have heard, this was because executives really wanted that scene to be a lot steamier, so Snyder and the crew decided to make it as over the top as possible instead.
@@diamondflaw Thats because the movie cut out the setup about it being looking for a smoke originally, so it turns into just.. a random flamethrower out of nowhere. Its a shock and a surprise, and played against Hallelujah so it seems awkward. In the comic its a euphemism for climax and handled quietly it works. Juxtaposed against an out of place song it's... weird.
@@CitizenScribbler I'd argue the film's biggest crime is actually sticking way too much with the book. Give me a reason to watch your version of a piece. Not a carbon copy of it. There are way too many homage moments in the film that makes me feel like Snyder wanted to create the exact same thing, perhaps even dumbed down at times. There is a reason many argue about whether the films or the books are more iconic pieces of art in the LOTR universe. Not really the case for Watchmen. But oh well, we did get a great TV show that brought something new to the table!!
Now I'm gonna only ever hear shave and a haircut as "This resolution, right here." Dunno if the syllables matching up was intentional, but it's a great touch.
Very nice. _Tron: Legacy_ comes to mind. Dr. Manhattan was a clock maker : the tempo of his score is centred on a ticking clock/heartbeat. It explores his emotional essence as efficiently as possible.
As a minimalist composer, I'd say you hit the nail on the head. Heck, you even helped me understand it a bit more! Though you did leave La Monte Young out, and he's typically regarded as the first minimalist. Then again, he never quite enjoyed that term. But none of them really liked the labels assigned to them *shrugs*
@@piratewhoisquiet I would say this is a pretty high brow joke but within Musical composers who work with Contemporary ideas honestly the phrase you wrote might not even be a joke. I am torn.
So... Is musical minimalism a sort of.... Musical microscope...? Showing the hidden complexity in small simple looking details? I have no musical ability / knowledge, so... Feel free to just tell me I'm wrong.
@@neothurmic3780 That's probably just one of many ways to interpret it. It could be a microscope, It could also just be a self imposed challenge, it can also be a critique of music. Minimalism is a whole bag of ideas
Funnily enough, Phillp Glass is one of the composers Ozymandias mentions as being a favorite of his during one of the in-between chapter content in the graphic novel. It's not only a fitting choice musically, but counts as a nod back to the source material.
Possibly George Antheil, or someone influenced by him. He was fond of the concept of music as a "time canvas". "Now in order to paint musical pictures one must admit right at the outset that the only canvas of music can be time. Music does not exist all at once like a painting, but it unrolls itself. Nevertheless, we must consider it in the terms of painting as something that exists all at once. In other words, time is our musical canvas, not the notes and timbres of the orchestra or the melodies and tunes or the tonal forms handed down to us by the great masters." "... what I then called 'the time canvas'. Rather than consider musical forms as a series of tonalities, atonalities with a tonal center, or a tonal center at all, [Ballet Mechanique] supposed that music actually takes place in time; and that, therefore, time is the real construction principle, 'stuff of music', as it unreels. It is the musician's 'canvas'. The tones which he uses, therefore, are merely his crayons, his colors." -- quoted in "Modernism and Music: an Anthology of Sources", ed. Daniel Albright
I mean stokowsky said "a painter paints pictures on a canvas but musicians paint pictures on silence" So he probably originally paraphrased that and stuck with it.
Uhg this is so my jam. Thank you. (Also Philip Glass’ opera Akhnaten is life changing) I first found his piano compositions in middle school and was completely obsessed with how different and interesting his work was. Totally agree with all your points
Minimalism actually borrows a lot (like a lot a lot) from African music and African philosophies, as Reich himself pointed out. I like your professor's take on it though.
I don't know how to tell you this, but Sideways is not about music theory, he actually made a poll (I couldn't find it right now) but he mentioned that it wasn't about that, I remember that because almost everyone picked 'music theory', which made him lose $20 bucks.
What did he call it? I just used the word music theory because that’s the only term I’ve got. I guess it’s a music science channel? Music analysis? Music application? I dunno
Every shot of Koyaanisqatsi _became_ 100% stock footage shots because every single shot of the film is so iconic and incredible that studios just had to have that shit.
Pretty cool that David Hayter wrote the screenplay for this film. Though I have heard his original draft, which Alan Moore liked, was changed a great deal by the end.
@Cynical Joker Never really lied the idea of follow-ups/sequels to Watchmen, because it has to answer the questions that were supposed to be left hanging by the end - ESPECIALLY whether or not Ozymandius was right, and he had actually saved the Earth from WW3.
I really enjoy minimalism and I think it gives composers a real look at how harmonies and rhythms really work. It's not about conveying emotion nor really telling a story. The point of minimalism is helping an audience perceive properly the concept of time as a physical object. I may sound crazy but by using only the harmonies and rhythms (sort of the stage-crew to Moody's actors) we see how music works and in doing so, also time. Minimalism is fascinating and I strongly that anyone and everyone should study it a little. I hope people have found this interesting. Thank you...
Oh boy, Koyaanisqatsi. Remembers me of one of my college teachers. His first class, he put on the film and walked out of the auditorium. He came back after TWENTY minutes, stopped the film and continued the class. I don't even remember the purpose anymore, just this.
That last line brought the chills. Minimalist music is fascinating in theory. The idea of exploring the space between notes while using notes and creating more spaces.
I agree. You got the idea of Minimalism - - you have a point of departure and a point of arrival which the composer needs to fill in. It's more about the transformative process of the music rather than being spoon-fed a V-I to satisfy the listener. Avro Part is another huge name - - Tabula Rasa is fantastic! His approach is much more "musical" so to speak as he plays around with rhythm more freely
might i suggest a video based on edgar wright and how he choreographs scenes along with the music? like how in baby driver if you really pay attention almost all of the characters actions are synced up with the soundtrack that supports it, and what kind of subconscious effect it has on the viewer
67Mrluigi He’s kinda cautious about that movie because he sees it as like “a robot taking over his job”. Sideways fears films like Baby Driver, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc. doing this kinda stuff because to him it seems like the easy way out. And since he feels like studios will always take the easy way out, that means they’ll be less opportunities to write an original score and movie scores will become a drop and paste sorta thing.
oh i completely agree thats why i think a video on how edgar wright uses that to his advantage, especially in a movie like baby driver. he has everything from the characters running to his characters shooting synced up with the soundtrack, which theoretically would have a pretty significant effect on the viewer whether they realized it or not
No you're just confusing what you find essential as being something definitive. The fact that there's an infinite amount of ambiguity there is kinda the whole point of minimalism in visual art, what do YOU define as essential and how do YOU depict that? His interpretation is just different than yours.
I think your confusion over minimalism and minimal music is your definition of minimalism itself. The way I see minimalist art, is that it's about the art being an object in and of itself, free from the burden of representation or deeper meaning, it can exist purely for itself. What does a red square on a white canvas mean? Well does it need to mean anything? I mean if it's aesthetically pleasing does it need to be anything else? It's not like painting a piece of fruit, where the painting clearly represents a piece of fruit, and the focus is on the object the painting is conveying rather than the painting itself. A red square on a white canvas has no explicit meaning or representation, it's free to mean or suggest anything the viewer desires, or nothing at all. In the words of Frank Stella, "What you see is what you see." To me, that's directly analogous to minimal music. Minimal music isn't about the goal, the journey or the deeper meaning. It is about the music being appreciated for what it is. Listen to Four Organs by Steve Reich, the whole piece is one, dom11 chord, played over and over again by 4 electric organs. The dominant chord which would otherwise point us to a resolution, an arrow pointing to a goal, it is now stripped of all meaning and through constant repetition, the audience is forced to hear the chord on its own terms, purely as a sound to be appreciated, and the musical interest comes from the way the chord is broken up and rhythmically thrown around by the performers. Or how about Music For 18 Musicians, Reich's most iconic work and arguably one of the most iconic and important works of the minimalist movement. The piece is based around an 11 chord sequence, all of which are diatonic, but are mostly sus voicings that don't really point to one another explicitly, and a short, 4-5 minute piece is built around each chord. Rather than one big piece that is continually moving towards a goal, Reich merely explores each chord's harmony by recontextualising variations on the same melodic ideas, before simply moving on to the next chord and next section. The music has no goal, no meaning, and doesn't feel the need to be anything else than what it is. edit: word
Watchmen isn't the name of the superhero group, it's the Minutemen. The title Watchmen is a reference to the phrase "Who watches the watchmen?" Which ties into the themes of the story.
While the Watchmen aren't an actual group in the comic, they are in the film, being the equivalent of the comic Crimebusters. Plus, Rorshach et al aren't members of the Minutemen either, the group disbanded in 1949.
Here as the same track was used in Stranger Things series 4 during the Vecna= Henry= 001 reveal, the scene is clearly a homage to Watchmen, with Henry's desire to transcend humanity being pretty similar to Dr Manhattan (I haven't actually seen Watchmen so i'm just going off of this video as reference). Great video as always
I play music, I have no idea what you're talking about half the time, but really, this is some of the best stuff on RUclips. I'd love for you to breakdown the Nutcracker. I love that music and it's so iconic, and I want to know why it makes me feel the way it does.
I cannot get over how much I love this guy's channel! He explains things really well and he gives me a deeper appreciation for music and I just friggen love everything he's doing!
Was recommended this channel by my piano teacher Erik! You may know him? He said he was friends with you in college! I have fallen in love with your videos. I’ve always had these thoughts about music and it’s awesome to see some of it in a legitimate and proper explanation! Good thing my teacher recommended such an intriguing and interesting channel. Instant subscriber from me! :)
Damn. As usual, amazing content well-worth the wait. You haven’t happened to have uploaded the full version of your minimalist Shave and a Haircut somewhere, have you?
8:06 I thought of “All My Friends” by LCD Soundsystem. Not the same key/rhythm, but same mindsets for having “the same chord progression/cuts repeating for the rest of the song.”
Phillip Glass is one of my favorite modern composers! I found out about Minimalist music from the Gattaca soundtrack by Michael Nyman. I discovered Philip Glass's music from the new Battlestar Galactica. I find Minimalist music to be really meditative and calming- and now I know why!
Another thing that sticks in my memory is the music used for the trailers. One was set to Muse's "Take a bow", the other to Smashing Pumpkins' "The beginning is the end is the beginning" (appropriate title here...). Those trailers were... really cool. Like, the kind of trailers that stand as a sort of work of cinema on their own.
I’ve listened to Philip Glass’ score for The Hours in full at least every couple months or so since that soundtrack came out about 18 years ago. It’s one of my all time favourites.
You should definitely read Paul Hillier’s book on Arvo Pärt. He touches the concept of minimalism in music in a deeper context and kind of proposes the idea that it’s way older than we think it is. In my opinion, Pärt plays an essential role in a closing of a cycle of musical thought that may have started with a minimalist approach in the first place. Great book altogether. :)
I just....MCR covered Desolation Row for the credits, and that’s the only part in which they appear in the soundtrack, but it’s also the only reason I watched Watchmen, anyway it slaps and was my favorite song on the soundtrack and you can leave me alone.
I'm always thought that the use of Pruit Igoe and Prophecies was to parallel Jon (Doctor Manhattan)'s life becoming more and more out of balance after his accident as he loses his gasp of his own humanity (Koyaanisqatsi translates to Life Out of Balance).
Very well explained. I have loved minimal music for years, long before I started my own musical education in college. It's a favorite style still, and I love how you have described it.
What a wonderful way in which to explore minimalism. I think you have a perfect understanding of it, at least in it's creation. When you pondered what a minimalist version of shave and a haircut might be like I immediately heard it in my mind's ear and it was nearly identical to what you came up with. I've been a big fan of minimalist music for years and years now. That moment in time sort of style. I almost think of minimalist music as a cousin to programme music, but rather than telling the story it's helping you experience the breeze on your skin and that soft scent of rain in the air. It's the setting rather than the action. And it's delicious.
i am speechless i was blown away by this video your synthesis of minimalism, you showing how to construct it, by god do i want to know more, seeing you doing it really enchanted me and what a great set of circumstances, manhattan being the city the movement begun, and how perfect it is to be the theme of the same name hero, while i doubt it was the case, i don't see it as being past moore intentions to do something of the sort, i think he would actually appreciate it P.S. : if you put "minimalism" on the video tittle, i think you would help many music and arts undergrads
It would of been cool if Ozymandias had a stereotypical heroic horns theme complete with the major 5th leap that slowly degraded and twisted as the film went on until the reveal of his plan where it’s I dunno inverted and in a minor signature? Also an idea for Manhattan like a c note playing on every octave on a grand piano slowly joined with other instruments. I dunno spit balling here
Thank you for explaining Dr Manhattans theme. I watch Koyaanisqatsi every once in a while. I believe Philips glass soundtrack matched so damn perfectly with Dr Manhattan and wish more people could appreciation the connection
I first encountered Philip Glass's work in college, in my theatre class actually. The production we put on had an homage to him. It was SO distinct that I recognized his work WHENEVER it showed up later in my life. He does the score for "The Illusionist" and it sells the film for me, I can't get over how his minimalist, repetitive technique works to be hypnotic rather than grating. I will always admire him as a composer.
May I add; Glass now likes to be referred to as a musical "Repetitionist". In that he doesn't like his music to be called "Minimalist". He once said in an interview that the music that he composed in the late 60's and 70's was what he considered "Minimalist" (i.e Einstein on the Beach, Music in 12 Parts, Music in the Shape of a Square, Now How, Strung Out, etc). But from the 80's onwards (i.e Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Akhnaten, The Photographer, Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqatsi, Naqoyqatsi etc), he rather composed music which he refers to as having "Repetitive Structures" rather than "Minimalism" in it.
Manhattan's theme also happens to evoke incredible sadness...& I think that comes from a quality of loneliness...which I think is the natural consequence of stripping away the nonessentiall. Social contact requires others to relate to...& he has no one anymore.
I saw someone describe the difference between Glass and other composers as that while most music moves linearaly Glass's music moves vertically. Instead of having different movements connected by transitions minimalist composers typically use a single theme or ostinato that is repeated with slight variations and progressively adding harmonic texture. This is the first video from this channel I've watched and I'm very impressed.
Naqoyqatsi is my favourite from the trilogy and the main thing that made this trilogy watchable is Glass' music. I was blown away by it, still listen to the soundtrack. yo-yo ma is great also of c. Glass is astonishing, Manhattans theme too of c, such a powerful moment in a brilliant film - leaving earth
I'm always praising this musical choice with my film school buddies. I appreciate the music theory perspective, but the film student in me likes this for a different reason. Koyannisquatsi is basically a bunch of stock footage, but the editing tells a very evocative and motivated message. This in mind, the atemporality of the film lends itself well to a minimalist score in the first place, that's probably why Glass was brought on to the project. The subject of the film is the modern world (circa 1973), in the aftermath of globalism and the military industrial complex and all that. The title translates to "life out of balance." There isn't a judgement call being made, but there is an observation. It is about modernity. So when Watchmen uses Koyannisquatsi as the theme for the first true superhero who completely changes the face of the world in the Watchmen timeline and is the product of a careless attitude to a science experiment, this is really clever on a thematic level. Doctor Manhattan embodies the anxieties that Koyannisquatsi explores. It's easily the most clever choice in adaptation to film that Snyder and his team made.
Piano Phase, Canto Ostinato, and Music for 18 Musicians. All three explore extremely fine permutations of the same core motifs. Taking this idea of minimalism it fits Dr. Manhattan very well considering the whole near omniscience thing. Also common in minimalism is repeating patterns on multiple time scales. Like having a melody loop but changing a note each time in a pattern that itself loops, and/or accumulating changes until you have an entirely new pattern. Again I'm getting Dr. Manhattan vibes from the abstract versions of these notions. Especially considering the recursive pattern of self reflection done in the Multiversity comics series. They have an issue where the characters that became the Watchmen are portrayed in a watchman-esque manner, and they are trapped in a time loop (and the issue can be read forwards or backward). But this is an entirely different discussion. While I'm rambling, I might as well name drop another good minimalism-esque work: The Disintegration Loops
What I think is a _great example_ of minimalism is Arvo Pärt's "Fur Alina". It's a 2 minutes piece for piano consisting of two lines always playing in parallel but never in unison. It has a very clear arch and (more or less) leads up to a moment. Despite all this, it is so simple and pure. I recommend playing it yourself rather than just listening.
I wouldn't be surprised if that's what it was -- the one thing I appreciate about Snyder and his team (in addition to his attempts at hyper kinetic, iconic, comic book / painting-like motion in film) is his dedication to the minutiae of Moore's work in this film, as much as Moore detests the adaptation -- I imagine there's some sort of BTS doc where Snyder talks about his thoughts on Dr. Manhattan and goes way more in-depth about the choices made in trying to help the audience depict and perceive emotionally a character that has been stripped of all time because he *is* all of time.
Moore pretty much hates everything especially if it's his adaptation as he sees there is no use of adapting. On the contrary, Dave gibbons loves Watchmen.
I am not an expert on music, and music is a smaller part of my life than with other people I know, but I think I understood what you were trying to express about minimalist music and time and events and such. I agree with the concept, or at least the attempts made at bringing the concept to fruition, but while watching the video I realized something that may contradict with the possibility of it, which is that when similar notes are played quickly in repetition, at least to me, the first set of repetitions has a different sound than the ones that come after it, and the sound continues to evolve throughout the repetition. I feel as though it is not a physical property of sound, but something in my neural processing of it that leads to this. Essentially, what I am saying is that in the attempt to preserve a moment in music atemporarily, new music is created in time. At least to my ears(or mind).
Great analysis of minimalism, and definitely do I get your struggle with the idea. I had one professor hate the term minimalism for just that reason and preferred the term "pulsative" music, music that is concerned with steady pulse and not arrival. Even in phasing, where the pulse shifts ever so slightly to bring new texture and color, it never arrives. This idea makes sense when you contrast minimalism to post-minimalist composers like John Adams which take the pulsative textures of minimalism...but add back in cadential features and more a sense of tension and release in harmonic progression.
Adam Neely The idea of calling it "pulsative" does make a lot of sense! People like Steve Reich really do epitomize this concept rather well.
If I'm remembering correctly there is an interview here on RUclips (done by ABC Arts on their channel, I think) of Reich detailing that when they first performed Terry Riley's "In C", he introduced the pulse because the way Riley originally wrote it, the piece had no pulse element.
The way Reich puts it, he says that when people normally play Terry Riley's "In C" they are really playing Terry Riley's "In C" with Steve Reich's pulse and that the piece w/o the pulse sounds "VERY different".
Here we are: ruclips.net/video/pFS8Ru27rqs/видео.html
At the 12:16 mark he talks about it.
Big fan of your videos btw, Adam! You and Sideways are very inspirational and you along with other great music RUclipsrs motivate me everyday!
I like "pulsative," but I think that reduces things too much. To say that the music has pulses merely implies that it has a greater focus on harmonies over consistent rhythm. I think a more appropriate term would be "pulsative gradualism" because the pulse is a heavy component, absolutely, but Reich's influential essay "Music as a Gradual Process" (1968) pinpoints how his intent with the listener is to have them enjoy the process of how the music evolves over time, as well as tonal qualities in the harmony.
"Musical processes can give one a direct contact with the impersonal and also a kind of complete control, and one doesn’t always think of the impersonal and complete control as going together. By 'a kind' of complete control, I mean that by running this material through this process I completely control all that results, but also that I accept all that results without changes.”
"Even when all the cards are on the table and everyone hears what is gradually happening in a musical process, there are still enough mysteries to satisfy all. These mysteries are the impersonal, unintended, psychoacoustic by-products of the intended process.”
And this is totally different from the "process music" of John Cage. Reich even identifies that in the essay:
"John Cage has used processes and has certainly accepted their results, but the processes he used were compositional ones that could not be heard when the piece was performed.”
Grain of salt, I guess, because he also said "serial music... is seldom audible."
Gotta say, love your videos, guys!
Adam Neely R E P I T I T I O N L E G I T I M I Z E S
"and definitely do I get your struggle with the idea"
He literally wrote a minimalist piece during his analysis of it. He is not struggling.
Rofl. There's being humble towards the genius of masters, and then there's turning your identity into the self-doubting mind of a sixth grade girl fishing for reassuring compliments. ='D
Love you guys, though. =P
Watchmen actually used bob dylan, simon and garfunkel etc. because the lyrics were placed in the actual comic, i honestly thought it was pretty cool that was done because it felt like a soundtrack for the comic
Yes, with a couple of unfortunate exceptions. Most notably, for the love scene between Nite-Owl and SIlk Spectre, Snyder swapped out the Billie Holiday song referenced in the book by Alan Moore for the Leonard Cohen "Hallelujah". Got a big laugh from the audience both times I saw it in the theater. That is not supposed to be a comedy moment! Snyder should have stuck with what was in the book.
CitizenScribbler From what I have heard, this was because executives really wanted that scene to be a lot steamier, so Snyder and the crew decided to make it as over the top as possible instead.
@@CitizenScribbler To be fair, I think the flamethrower burst visual was a lot more what made it comedic, not the music.
@@diamondflaw Thats because the movie cut out the setup about it being looking for a smoke originally, so it turns into just.. a random flamethrower out of nowhere. Its a shock and a surprise, and played against Hallelujah so it seems awkward.
In the comic its a euphemism for climax and handled quietly it works. Juxtaposed against an out of place song it's... weird.
@@CitizenScribbler I'd argue the film's biggest crime is actually sticking way too much with the book. Give me a reason to watch your version of a piece. Not a carbon copy of it. There are way too many homage moments in the film that makes me feel like Snyder wanted to create the exact same thing, perhaps even dumbed down at times. There is a reason many argue about whether the films or the books are more iconic pieces of art in the LOTR universe. Not really the case for Watchmen. But oh well, we did get a great TV show that brought something new to the table!!
I actually found your minimalist arrange of shave and a haircut an unironically good piece of music ngl
there's a piece by Yiruma that sounds similar, but I don"t remember the name
Yeah I like it and I would like to listen to it on its own
Reminds me of philip glass Floe
Now I'm gonna only ever hear shave and a haircut as "This resolution, right here."
Dunno if the syllables matching up was intentional, but it's a great touch.
I always think of Roger Rabbit
LeighS No ‘toon can resist...the old “Shave and a Haircut”!
I mean, "Two Bits (to bits)" is a great pun.
AGREED HA
Yo what are you doing here go make another sfm bit or something
Very nice. _Tron: Legacy_ comes to mind.
Dr. Manhattan was a clock maker : the tempo of his score is centred on a ticking clock/heartbeat. It explores his emotional essence as efficiently as possible.
So... is it 120 bpm?
As a minimalist composer, I'd say you hit the nail on the head. Heck, you even helped me understand it a bit more! Though you did leave La Monte Young out, and he's typically regarded as the first minimalist. Then again, he never quite enjoyed that term. But none of them really liked the labels assigned to them *shrugs*
labels are so very serial lmao
@@piratewhoisquiet I would say this is a pretty high brow joke but within Musical composers who work with Contemporary ideas honestly the phrase you wrote might not even be a joke.
I am torn.
@@madmanadam1 it's both, they're my favourite jokes haha, dead serious ones :p
So... Is musical minimalism a sort of.... Musical microscope...?
Showing the hidden complexity in small simple looking details?
I have no musical ability / knowledge, so... Feel free to just tell me I'm wrong.
@@neothurmic3780 That's probably just one of many ways to interpret it. It could be a microscope, It could also just be a self imposed challenge, it can also be a critique of music.
Minimalism is a whole bag of ideas
Funnily enough, Phillp Glass is one of the composers Ozymandias mentions as being a favorite of his during one of the in-between chapter content in the graphic novel. It's not only a fitting choice musically, but counts as a nod back to the source material.
Lmao @ you not remembering who to quote for "Time is the canvas on which we paint music." That quote is from you, you said it in "Sequels to Silence"
Wow. That's almost some kind of low-key subconscious boast or something. The humblest of brags.
LMAO
Such a Twist
exposed
Possibly George Antheil, or someone influenced by him. He was fond of the concept of music as a "time canvas".
"Now in order to paint musical pictures one must admit right at the outset that the only canvas of music can be time. Music does not exist all at once like a painting, but it unrolls itself. Nevertheless, we must consider it in the terms of painting as something that exists all at once. In other words, time is our musical canvas, not the notes and timbres of the orchestra or the melodies and tunes or the tonal forms handed down to us by the great masters."
"... what I then called 'the time canvas'. Rather than consider musical forms as a series of tonalities, atonalities with a tonal center, or a tonal center at all, [Ballet Mechanique] supposed that music actually takes place in time; and that, therefore, time is the real construction principle, 'stuff of music', as it unreels. It is the musician's 'canvas'. The tones which he uses, therefore, are merely his crayons, his colors."
-- quoted in "Modernism and Music: an Anthology of Sources", ed. Daniel Albright
Nice minimalist version of "Shave and a Haircut"! I love it! edit: 2:02 Yes, that is footage from Koyaanisqatsi.
ITS BEAUTIFUL
2:20 The poison for Kuzco
You deserve more likes
The poison chosen specially to kill Kuzco
@@AnnaReed42 Kuzco’s poison
Thanks for crediting me in the video! I try to provide easy access to rare or lesser known minimalist material!
Hector Blivand.
LOL Your username is pure gold sir
I genuinely want a download of that Minimalist Shave and a Haircut piece
YEA
same
Try "Peter's Advice" by Greg Haines. It super reminded me of it.
I mean stokowsky said "a painter paints pictures on a canvas but musicians paint pictures on silence"
So he probably originally paraphrased that and stuck with it.
Nice thumbnail
Ditto, Tim.
Ah, there you are, Tim
It's minimalist
Dr. Manhattan's penis
Uhg this is so my jam. Thank you. (Also Philip Glass’ opera Akhnaten is life changing) I first found his piano compositions in middle school and was completely obsessed with how different and interesting his work was. Totally agree with all your points
Minimalism actually borrows a lot (like a lot a lot) from African music and African philosophies, as Reich himself pointed out. I like your professor's take on it though.
That last line...
God, that Glass sample is amazing. I loved the episode of Mr. Robot with the "Einstein on the Beach" track.
It’s always a good day when sideways uploads a new music theory video
I don't know how to tell you this, but Sideways is not about music theory, he actually made a poll (I couldn't find it right now) but he mentioned that it wasn't about that, I remember that because almost everyone picked 'music theory', which made him lose $20 bucks.
What did he call it? I just used the word music theory because that’s the only term I’ve got. I guess it’s a music science channel? Music analysis? Music application? I dunno
Every shot of Koyaanisqatsi _became_ 100% stock footage shots because every single shot of the film is so iconic and incredible that studios just had to have that shit.
Pretty cool that David Hayter wrote the screenplay for this film. Though I have heard his original draft, which Alan Moore liked, was changed a great deal by the end.
@Cynical Joker Huh, that's interesting. Personally I think that'd be an awful idea, having just seen IT from last year. But interesting nonetheless.
@Cynical Joker Never really lied the idea of follow-ups/sequels to Watchmen, because it has to answer the questions that were supposed to be left hanging by the end - ESPECIALLY whether or not Ozymandius was right, and he had actually saved the Earth from WW3.
Man I really just like the way you drop down the rabbit hole over anything. Very informative.
I really enjoy minimalism and I think it gives composers a real look at how harmonies and rhythms really work. It's not about conveying emotion nor really telling a story. The point of minimalism is helping an audience perceive properly the concept of time as a physical object.
I may sound crazy but by using only the harmonies and rhythms (sort of the stage-crew to Moody's actors) we see how music works and in doing so, also time. Minimalism is fascinating and I strongly that anyone and everyone should study it a little.
I hope people have found this interesting. Thank you...
Minimalism is such a soothing genre to listen to. It almost feels like Ambient. Give a Eluvium a listen.
Same feels as the Interstellar theme
I would pay seven million dollars for that thumbnail.
I'm gonna' be honest. I'm a fan of Phillip Glass, and I genuinely enjoyed what you did to Shave and a Haircut
The reason they used licensed music was those songs are directly quoted before specific chapters in the book.
the "its gonna rain" one actually gave me anxiety
It scared the absolute shit outta me when it just suddenly started playing, and it also made me super uncomfortable listening to it.
1:35 “Art is how we decorate space; Music is how we decorate time.” ― Jean Michel Basquiat
I completely forgot that I am watching a video about Watchman's music.
I've seen Koyaanisqatsi with live music.
Just wanted to show off with that fact.
Oh boy, Koyaanisqatsi. Remembers me of one of my college teachers. His first class, he put on the film and walked out of the auditorium. He came back after TWENTY minutes, stopped the film and continued the class. I don't even remember the purpose anymore, just this.
That last line brought the chills. Minimalist music is fascinating in theory. The idea of exploring the space between notes while using notes and creating more spaces.
Alt title: Minimalism and Time
I agree. You got the idea of Minimalism - - you have a point of departure and a point of arrival which the composer needs to fill in. It's more about the transformative process of the music rather than being spoon-fed a V-I to satisfy the listener. Avro Part is another huge name - - Tabula Rasa is fantastic! His approach is much more "musical" so to speak as he plays around with rhythm more freely
5:08 a good visual example is watching the blinkers of the cars in a turn lane
I love ur content dude
might i suggest a video based on edgar wright and how he choreographs scenes along with the music? like how in baby driver if you really pay attention almost all of the characters actions are synced up with the soundtrack that supports it, and what kind of subconscious effect it has on the viewer
67Mrluigi He’s kinda cautious about that movie because he sees it as like “a robot taking over his job”. Sideways fears films like Baby Driver, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc. doing this kinda stuff because to him it seems like the easy way out. And since he feels like studios will always take the easy way out, that means they’ll be less opportunities to write an original score and movie scores will become a drop and paste sorta thing.
oh i completely agree thats why i think a video on how edgar wright uses that to his advantage, especially in a movie like baby driver. he has everything from the characters running to his characters shooting synced up with the soundtrack, which theoretically would have a pretty significant effect on the viewer whether they realized it or not
Not even 3 minutes in and I'm already impressed with the wonderfully phoned-in interstitial texts. Fantastic work, as always.
I'm really sorry, but the picture at 3:50 is *not* a house. My mind was stuck because it wasn't it.
Houses have roofs.
No you're just confusing what you find essential as being something definitive.
The fact that there's an infinite amount of ambiguity there is kinda the whole point of minimalism in visual art, what do YOU define as essential and how do YOU depict that? His interpretation is just different than yours.
roofs have shingles
@@hiimchrisj he was kinda joking. jeesh.
I think your confusion over minimalism and minimal music is your definition of minimalism itself. The way I see minimalist art, is that it's about the art being an object in and of itself, free from the burden of representation or deeper meaning, it can exist purely for itself. What does a red square on a white canvas mean? Well does it need to mean anything? I mean if it's aesthetically pleasing does it need to be anything else? It's not like painting a piece of fruit, where the painting clearly represents a piece of fruit, and the focus is on the object the painting is conveying rather than the painting itself. A red square on a white canvas has no explicit meaning or representation, it's free to mean or suggest anything the viewer desires, or nothing at all. In the words of Frank Stella, "What you see is what you see."
To me, that's directly analogous to minimal music. Minimal music isn't about the goal, the journey or the deeper meaning. It is about the music being appreciated for what it is. Listen to Four Organs by Steve Reich, the whole piece is one, dom11 chord, played over and over again by 4 electric organs. The dominant chord which would otherwise point us to a resolution, an arrow pointing to a goal, it is now stripped of all meaning and through constant repetition, the audience is forced to hear the chord on its own terms, purely as a sound to be appreciated, and the musical interest comes from the way the chord is broken up and rhythmically thrown around by the performers. Or how about Music For 18 Musicians, Reich's most iconic work and arguably one of the most iconic and important works of the minimalist movement. The piece is based around an 11 chord sequence, all of which are diatonic, but are mostly sus voicings that don't really point to one another explicitly, and a short, 4-5 minute piece is built around each chord. Rather than one big piece that is continually moving towards a goal, Reich merely explores each chord's harmony by recontextualising variations on the same melodic ideas, before simply moving on to the next chord and next section. The music has no goal, no meaning, and doesn't feel the need to be anything else than what it is.
edit: word
Very insightful
I agree
Very interesting.
That's not what allegory is...
Edit: I think you wanted "analogous"
+MopedOfJustice yeah me english no good. I knew it started with an A lol. Thanks.
Watchmen isn't the name of the superhero group, it's the Minutemen. The title Watchmen is a reference to the phrase "Who watches the watchmen?" Which ties into the themes of the story.
While the Watchmen aren't an actual group in the comic, they are in the film, being the equivalent of the comic Crimebusters. Plus, Rorshach et al aren't members of the Minutemen either, the group disbanded in 1949.
Here as the same track was used in Stranger Things series 4 during the Vecna= Henry= 001 reveal, the scene is clearly a homage to Watchmen, with Henry's desire to transcend humanity being pretty similar to Dr Manhattan (I haven't actually seen Watchmen so i'm just going off of this video as reference). Great video as always
That was a really good explanation. Both of what minimalistic music is and of how it applies to the character Mr Manhattan from Watchmen.
You know what's the perfect resolution?
"Minimalism began in Manhattan in the 1960"
I play music, I have no idea what you're talking about half the time, but really, this is some of the best stuff on RUclips. I'd love for you to breakdown the Nutcracker. I love that music and it's so iconic, and I want to know why it makes me feel the way it does.
I've always liked minimal music for some reason and now I think I get it... At least a little. Thanks Sideways, this was a great video!
I cannot get over how much I love this guy's channel! He explains things really well and he gives me a deeper appreciation for music and I just friggen love everything he's doing!
This is like listening to Brian Cox talk about astrophysics. I don't understand a damn thing, but it's super fascinating and weirdly soothing.
Was recommended this channel by my piano teacher Erik! You may know him? He said he was friends with you in college! I have fallen in love with your videos. I’ve always had these thoughts about music and it’s awesome to see some of it in a legitimate and proper explanation! Good thing my teacher recommended such an intriguing and interesting channel. Instant subscriber from me! :)
Damn. As usual, amazing content well-worth the wait. You haven’t happened to have uploaded the full version of your minimalist Shave and a Haircut somewhere, have you?
8:06 I thought of “All My Friends” by LCD Soundsystem. Not the same key/rhythm, but same mindsets for having “the same chord progression/cuts repeating for the rest of the song.”
I’m actually in love with your minimalist composition of Shave and a Haircut and I need it in my life like all the time please
I needed me some sideways today. Thank you for letting understand this aspect of music a bit more
Most of the music you played to represent minimalism literally sounded like an anxiety attack.
I love the theme that you made (or at least choosed) hwne you made the explanation of how to make a minimalist theme
Phillip Glass is one of my favorite modern composers! I found out about Minimalist music from the Gattaca soundtrack by Michael Nyman. I discovered Philip Glass's music from the new Battlestar Galactica. I find Minimalist music to be really meditative and calming- and now I know why!
Another thing that sticks in my memory is the music used for the trailers. One was set to Muse's "Take a bow", the other to Smashing Pumpkins' "The beginning is the end is the beginning" (appropriate title here...). Those trailers were... really cool. Like, the kind of trailers that stand as a sort of work of cinema on their own.
I’ve listened to Philip Glass’ score for The Hours in full at least every couple months or so since that soundtrack came out about 18 years ago. It’s one of my all time favourites.
I cant retain even half of the information you give, but its amazing, and please, never stop
You should definitely read Paul Hillier’s book on Arvo Pärt. He touches the concept of minimalism in music in a deeper context and kind of proposes the idea that it’s way older than we think it is. In my opinion, Pärt plays an essential role in a closing of a cycle of musical thought that may have started with a minimalist approach in the first place. Great book altogether. :)
I just....MCR covered Desolation Row for the credits, and that’s the only part in which they appear in the soundtrack, but it’s also the only reason I watched Watchmen, anyway it slaps and was my favorite song on the soundtrack and you can leave me alone.
A few nights ago I saw Smashing Pumpkins playing the song they used for the teaser.... I just like that song.
I would have reference John Carpenter.
not gonna lie, that shave and a haircut minimalist piece was a bop
With shave and a hair cut you’ve finally showed me what was the name of that piece that I,ve been looking for years. I can’t thank you enough
Thank you! I feel like your the only one talking about watchmen's music in detail.
I'm always thought that the use of Pruit Igoe and Prophecies was to parallel Jon (Doctor Manhattan)'s life becoming more and more out of balance after his accident as he loses his gasp of his own humanity (Koyaanisqatsi translates to Life Out of Balance).
Fascinating. Beautifully made.
Very good. Your perspective makes a lot of sense to me.
Very well explained. I have loved minimal music for years, long before I started my own musical education in college. It's a favorite style still, and I love how you have described it.
I love your work. Please don't give up.
What a wonderful way in which to explore minimalism. I think you have a perfect understanding of it, at least in it's creation. When you pondered what a minimalist version of shave and a haircut might be like I immediately heard it in my mind's ear and it was nearly identical to what you came up with. I've been a big fan of minimalist music for years and years now. That moment in time sort of style. I almost think of minimalist music as a cousin to programme music, but rather than telling the story it's helping you experience the breeze on your skin and that soft scent of rain in the air. It's the setting rather than the action. And it's delicious.
This video was amazing! It really made me want to go support the original release by rewatching Watchmen
5:07 I remember having to analyze this song for Academic Pentathlon back in middle school
Would the "Windows XP Startup Sound slowed down to 24 hours" be considered minimalist music?
i am speechless
i was blown away by this video
your synthesis of minimalism, you showing how to construct it, by god do i want to know more, seeing you doing it really enchanted me
and what a great set of circumstances, manhattan being the city the movement begun, and how perfect it is to be the theme of the same name hero, while i doubt it was the case, i don't see it as being past moore intentions to do something of the sort, i think he would actually appreciate it
P.S. : if you put "minimalism" on the video tittle, i think you would help many music and arts undergrads
It would of been cool if Ozymandias had a stereotypical heroic horns theme complete with the major 5th leap that slowly degraded and twisted as the film went on until the reveal of his plan where it’s I dunno inverted and in a minor signature? Also an idea for Manhattan like a c note playing on every octave on a grand piano slowly joined with other instruments. I dunno spit balling here
Thank you for explaining Dr Manhattans theme. I watch Koyaanisqatsi every once in a while. I believe Philips glass soundtrack matched so damn perfectly with Dr Manhattan and wish more people could appreciation the connection
"How would you go about musically representing Dr. Manhattan?"
Challenge accepted.
Bro just made a gorgeous piece of minimalist music as a teaching tool incredible
I first encountered Philip Glass's work in college, in my theatre class actually. The production we put on had an homage to him. It was SO distinct that I recognized his work WHENEVER it showed up later in my life. He does the score for "The Illusionist" and it sells the film for me, I can't get over how his minimalist, repetitive technique works to be hypnotic rather than grating. I will always admire him as a composer.
May I add; Glass now likes to be referred to as a musical "Repetitionist". In that he doesn't like his music to be called "Minimalist". He once said in an interview that the music that he composed in the late 60's and 70's was what he considered "Minimalist" (i.e Einstein on the Beach, Music in 12 Parts, Music in the Shape of a Square, Now How, Strung Out, etc). But from the 80's onwards (i.e Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Akhnaten, The Photographer, Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqatsi, Naqoyqatsi etc), he rather composed music which he refers to as having "Repetitive Structures" rather than "Minimalism" in it.
Manhattan's theme also happens to evoke incredible sadness...& I think that comes from a quality of loneliness...which I think is the natural consequence of stripping away the nonessentiall. Social contact requires others to relate to...& he has no one anymore.
That was mind-meltingly intense! Great job!!
I saw someone describe the difference between Glass and other composers as that while most music moves linearaly Glass's music moves vertically. Instead of having different movements connected by transitions minimalist composers typically use a single theme or ostinato that is repeated with slight variations and progressively adding harmonic texture. This is the first video from this channel I've watched and I'm very impressed.
Philip Glass can do traditional builds as well as anyone too (see: "Mishima/Opening").
Why did the last line feel like it was the beginning of a conspiracy
Naqoyqatsi is my favourite from the trilogy and the main thing that made this trilogy watchable is Glass' music. I was blown away by it, still listen to the soundtrack. yo-yo ma is great also of c. Glass is astonishing, Manhattans theme too of c, such a powerful moment in a brilliant film - leaving earth
I'm always praising this musical choice with my film school buddies. I appreciate the music theory perspective, but the film student in me likes this for a different reason. Koyannisquatsi is basically a bunch of stock footage, but the editing tells a very evocative and motivated message. This in mind, the atemporality of the film lends itself well to a minimalist score in the first place, that's probably why Glass was brought on to the project. The subject of the film is the modern world (circa 1973), in the aftermath of globalism and the military industrial complex and all that. The title translates to "life out of balance." There isn't a judgement call being made, but there is an observation. It is about modernity. So when Watchmen uses Koyannisquatsi as the theme for the first true superhero who completely changes the face of the world in the Watchmen timeline and is the product of a careless attitude to a science experiment, this is really clever on a thematic level. Doctor Manhattan embodies the anxieties that Koyannisquatsi explores. It's easily the most clever choice in adaptation to film that Snyder and his team made.
Piano Phase, Canto Ostinato, and Music for 18 Musicians. All three explore extremely fine permutations of the same core motifs. Taking this idea of minimalism it fits Dr. Manhattan very well considering the whole near omniscience thing.
Also common in minimalism is repeating patterns on multiple time scales. Like having a melody loop but changing a note each time in a pattern that itself loops, and/or accumulating changes until you have an entirely new pattern. Again I'm getting Dr. Manhattan vibes from the abstract versions of these notions. Especially considering the recursive pattern of self reflection done in the Multiversity comics series. They have an issue where the characters that became the Watchmen are portrayed in a watchman-esque manner, and they are trapped in a time loop (and the issue can be read forwards or backward). But this is an entirely different discussion.
While I'm rambling, I might as well name drop another good minimalism-esque work: The Disintegration Loops
What I think is a _great example_ of minimalism is Arvo Pärt's "Fur Alina". It's a 2 minutes piece for piano consisting of two lines always playing in parallel but never in unison. It has a very clear arch and (more or less) leads up to a moment. Despite all this, it is so simple and pure. I recommend playing it yourself rather than just listening.
The best part of the watchmen soundtrack is the MCR cover of Desolation Row
Thank you for the consistently stellar content!
i absolutely love the take on shave and a haircut
8:00 thanks my OCD is now trying to kill me. When it finished I had to go back to the original and then jump back to where I was.
I see no one mention that the serialism example sounds like the guardian battle music from the legend of zelda: botw
I wouldn't be surprised if that's what it was -- the one thing I appreciate about Snyder and his team (in addition to his attempts at hyper kinetic, iconic, comic book / painting-like motion in film) is his dedication to the minutiae of Moore's work in this film, as much as Moore detests the adaptation -- I imagine there's some sort of BTS doc where Snyder talks about his thoughts on Dr. Manhattan and goes way more in-depth about the choices made in trying to help the audience depict and perceive emotionally a character that has been stripped of all time because he *is* all of time.
Moore's never seen this movie (according to himself, at least).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen_(film)#Production
Moore pretty much hates everything especially if it's his adaptation as he sees there is no use of adapting. On the contrary, Dave gibbons loves Watchmen.
Koyanisqatsi was such a good movie
I haven’t seen Watchmen, but gosh, does it look like a masterpiece.
I am not an expert on music, and music is a smaller part of my life than with other people I know, but I think I understood what you were trying to express about minimalist music and time and events and such. I agree with the concept, or at least the attempts made at bringing the concept to fruition, but while watching the video I realized something that may contradict with the possibility of it, which is that when similar notes are played quickly in repetition, at least to me, the first set of repetitions has a different sound than the ones that come after it, and the sound continues to evolve throughout the repetition. I feel as though it is not a physical property of sound, but something in my neural processing of it that leads to this. Essentially, what I am saying is that in the attempt to preserve a moment in music atemporarily, new music is created in time. At least to my ears(or mind).
Absolutely love this version of Watchmen so much.