Kai Zhang-Looking Outwards-11

DEADMAU5

Talking about computational music, one of the most hyped music type EDM (electric dance music) is definitely worth mentioning. And Deadmau5 is one of the EDM artists that I love the most. Here’s one of his latest release:

EDM is a music form that’s sythesized in computer using various music generating programs. In these programs, there are many different tools that can generate different sound effects as well as editing existing sound files. For this perticular sound type, there are usually repetitive beats sythesized and played along with back tracks. Often times, vocals are also involved that adds to the richness of the music piece. In Deadmau5’s music, usually there are very long repetitive elements but slowly more and more elements are added along with the change of flow.

Music taste is rather subjective, so what I want to highlight is his workflow. In the foloowing YouTube video, Deadmau5 is streaming his composition on a track. And that’s also what I appreciate about him, which is sharing the working process with his audience. Ableton Live is one of his many weapon in the toolkit that powers his music pieces. As in the video, he’s experimenting with all types of sound and see how they’re mixed in a harmonic style. And the tools are also very powerful of doing all kinds of gestures to the play of sound that makes into a masterpiece.

I also learned about making EDMs in one of the music department courses. And what I appreciate about his ideology about sound is that everyone can make very good music. EDM opens up unlimited possibilities that even if you can’t play any instrument, you can still make a musician.