Naut Humon

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Naut Humon: Digital Musics Jury Member

Last year's awarded works seem to suggest that there has been some sort of 'takeover' in the field of Digital Musics: it's the 'musician' with autodidactic background and roots in all facets of post-industrial youth culture. Is it there where the 'real' thing in Ditital Musics is going on? What about more 'established' music?

Humon: Let us say a 'takeover' already took place in 1999 for the Prix Ars Electronica sound category when the 'Digital Musics' moniker replaced the 'Computer Music' title to describe imperfectly the substantive, symbolic change toward a call for works from the entire global field rather than the previously predominant electroacoustic sector. Now that message has been conveyed much more clearly during the last three years and the diversity of music styles within the Cyber-Arts definition has expanded. We need more developments to be recognized!

The so-called 'real thing' in the general Digital Musics area is not just from post-industrial youth culture but from practitioners of all ages and influences. More 'established' pop music is being affected by the likes of Bjork , Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Radiohead and others who experiment with fracturing the form a bit to tantalize their listeners into alternatives to formulaic structures that traditionally rule the airwaves. The subterranean electronic scene which includes everything from IDM to the experimental noise operators is constantly testing its mercurial underpinnings by its attractive tendencies to remain destabilized.

The production modus seems to be radically different: electronic music production is organized and produced and consumed in a very 'dislocated' way. In the same time the 'curator' is becoming more important. How will these production conditions influence the whole field of DM?

Humon: Formerly the classic electronic studios in broadcast stations and university centers was where most of the access to specialized equipment happened . The possibilities presented in the home PC audio software during the nineties opened the door to the general public privatized production world we find today. In that manner the source of most music creation was actively 'relocated' from the top studio business places to the composers bedroom. The bigger recording facilities that have survived this industry wide transformation serve more as finishing houses for mastering or for higher budget orchestral / band projects with cinema or major label releases.

Meanwhile many of the independent artists are choosing to start their own small labels by 'curating' from the communities they work with in the pervasive DIY mode that dominates the underground genres.

This is a core way in which this music is noticed, disseminated, distributed and consumed. The challenge here is to find adequate avenues for exposure via concerts, installations, and internet webcasts. The Prix Ars Electronica serves as one such avenue to this hub of activities in its efforts to recognize the pioneers who push the sonic envelopes of the digital audio umbrella.

What kind of entries would you like to see this year? To what kind of music would you like to award the golden nica?

Humon: First off this is not some popularity contest! Music according to the latest trend or software may be fashionable but does it really rock? Innovation may be important here but where is the listener being taken? The so-called innovative movements today are marked by the glitch, click and the minimal hi/lo frequencies artists who are stripping back the excess tendencies common to broadstream electronica and coming up with a fundamental fuel for re-examining the organic nature of sound and its imperfections. So as this examination continues where do we find its saturation threshold? As with the drum & bass scene before the intriguing frequency/ glitch glut may be approaching another similar zenith so fresh indicators and musical directions are sought. This does not mean there isn't still a lot of room for these contemporary audio currents to continue growing but we need to find the special drivers traveling down some fresher, lesser known trails.

Are we talking the process or processed? Are we talking creative substance or use of software demonstrations? Are we playing interesting music or merely manipulating new softwares? How 'electronic' does an entry have to truly be? All these and more are questions to keep considering.

The prizes should reflect what's going on today and perhaps indicate some directions for tomorrow. The DM category needs to see more action from the sound art sector whose profile is the subject of a number of new museum and festival exhibitions. We should see an increasing population from web based labels as well whose methods of musical ignition are gradually infiltrating a broader network. The sound driven music video sector should also show some new adventure beyond the routes already recognized by Prix Ars Electronica 99's Aphex Twin Come To Daddy Golden Nica and last years minimalistic Ryoji Ikeda concert film. DVD audio / video is on the horizon so original composition in these realms will be highly anticipated.

And what about the NEW electro-acousmatic? This area is already undergoing some much needed renovation and reinvention. So the ears are primed for potential breakthroughs that demonstrate a fresh experimentation with many of the tried and true electro -acoustic methodologies.

Over the many years every panel has wished for a higher percentage of women participants and keen desire to see a better representation of artists from countries outside the Euro-American/Japan axis. How to encourage this remains a challenge and a foremost task to the Prix in general.

And finally Digital Musics is looking for sound design pieces from film, gaming and environmental formats that transcend these commercial applications and introduce other variations in special effects and musical formation.

One other thing: trying to be weird for the sake of being 'new' doesn't always work anymore. Some attempts at obvious 'strangeness' are at times quite predictable. As we all delve deeper in the search or the unknown there is occasionally a lack of historical perspective. At Prix Ars Electronica we welcome the strong radical elements who strive to break from the past by presenting powerful new experiences. Reinventions of the form, however, can be an elusive quest and not always necessary. Quality expressions utilizing the commonly seen platforms, tools and sub-genres will still be highly regarded if its distinctive elements provide a vital character.

Which project are you working on now?

Humon: As director of Recombinant Media Labs in San Francisco I find myself in a comparable situation to that of helping the Digital Musics of the Prix Ars. We are in contact with many international sound, visual and installation projects which we can help incubate or finalize for performance exhibitions. After several 'Recombinant' festivals over the years we have consolidated our base at a new production facility which currently is under construction. Our current studio has hosted residencies for many visitors who have appeared at various events which utilize the customized Surround Traffic Control AV system. Along with the Asphodel label and video hookups with the Obscura Digital company we are in the formation stages of a North American new media orchestral coalition. Curiosity seekers can contact my e-mail at if anyone likes to submit project proposals etc.



1 comment(s)
Re: Naut Humon: Digital Musics Jury Member (lesia / 2004/4/16 3:30:05 PM)