Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!ucsd!ucbvax!ECN.PURDUE.EDU!davisonj
From: davisonj@ECN.PURDUE.EDU (John M Davison)
Newsgroups: comp.music
Subject: hyperinstruments, VALIS, _Omni_ magazine
Message-ID: <9103180007.AA26001@en.ecn.purdue.edu>
Date: 18 Mar 91 00:07:07 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Lines: 27


	During a visit to the Lake County Public Library, I walked
by the periodicals shelf and saw the current issue of _Omni_
shouting the title "BACH TO THE FUTURE: COMPUTER MUSIC GROWS UP" or
something like that...so I pulled it shelf and read the article,
which impressed me not only for its usage of four-letter words, but
also by the sexy lighting used in the photos of Max Mathews and Tod
Machover.  And, of course, _Omni_ maintained its reputation for
spewing lots of irresponsible, worthless assessments of the future of
computer music.  (I presume that this was largely a result of bad
journalism, but some of Max Mathews' comments worried me, as they
were pretty similar to the equally upsetting things he said at the
80th birthday celebration of John Pierce at Northwestern University a
few months ago.)

	I must admit that I have not heard Machover's _VALIS_ yet;
some critiques of the opera would be welcome.  I do remember
recoiling when I read a part of a _New_York_Times_ [I think] review
that compared it to _Tommy_...maybe that's why I didn't buy it.

	Also, what is this new "hyperinstrument" buzzword?  Simple
folks like me are unaware of what exactly that term means, and if
that represents any significant conceptual leap over what the state
of the musical arts were before the term "hyperinstrument" was
coined.  Explanations and commentaries would be very, very welcome.

-davisonj@ecn.purdue.edu