Original size 1600x900
Question and Stance
I believe that musical novelty is possible, but the challenge lies in defining «novelty» itself.
If we define something as new only if no one has ever heard it before, then contemporary musical culture might genuinely seem like an endless repetition of the past. Virtually every genre has predecessors, and any unusual composition can be broken down into already familiar musical elements. But must novelty necessarily mean the complete absence of the past?I do not think so. For me, musical innovation lies less in inventing entirely new sounds and more in changing the ways those sounds are created, combined, and perceived.
Acceleration
Why Technology Does Not Guarantee Novelty
In class, we discussed accelerationism—a philosophical movement connected to the idea of speeding up technological, economic, and cultural processes. I find it interesting to examine contemporary electronic music through this lens. Technology allows musicians to create increasingly complex sound structures that transcend traditional instruments and conventional notions of composition. However, this acceleration alone does not guarantee the emergence of something new.
Holly Herndon / PROTO
I consider Holly Herndon and her album PROTO (2019) to be a fine example of musical experimentation.
Its creation utilized the artificial intelligence system Spawn, which was trained to interact with human voices. Here, technology functions not merely as a sound processing tool, but as a distinct participant in the creative process.In my opinion, Herndon’s innovation lies not simply in the use of artificial intelligence. What is far more interesting is how her music forces us to reconsider the concept of authorship. If a piece is created through the interaction of a human and an algorithm, where does human creativity end and machine creation begin? Perhaps in the future, this question will be as vital as the music itself.
1/2
