trance

What The Hell Is Electronic Music?

February 8, 2016 by Aaron

dj, electronic music, electronic music genres, house, max matthews, moby, synthesizers, techno, trance, turntablism

Hi! Ok so we’re mirroring some stuff that was on Third Option’s site here – because if it’s relevant both places, why not have it both places? 🙂

I probably should have started this “series” with this question – what the hell is electronic music? It seems like an obvious answer – it’s – uhm – electronic? And it’s music?

But it’s actually a deep thing and one of those esoteric things if you think a little on it. It’s like asking “what is technology?” – mostly we think of technology like smart phones or other electronical new fangled gadgets. But technology really just means “a capability given by the practical application of knowledge” (Merriam-Webster). That means an ape using a stick to capture termites to eat is technology.

Similarly with electronic music, how do you define it? Well Wikipedia says “Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production”. Yes. But actually, EVERY SINGLE RECORDING YOU EVER HEARD employs “electronics” in its production. So when you start out and you want to become an “electronic musician” you’re really just setting out to learn to record. All the technologies are the same as in rock, hip-hop, or even flat out acoustic music (when you make recordings of it). Even deeper than that, acoustics are the same science, sound is sound, and so on.

But – you have to admit, although TECHNICALLY “electronic music” means basically any damn thing other than a live performance with only acoustic instruments and vocals – in practice it means something else. No one refers to a rock band with a live drum set and guitars as “electronic music”. And no one really refers to hip-hop as “electronic music” although it REALLY actually is.

What is it then? Is it dance music? Not necessarily. Is it bloops and bleeps? Also, not necessarily. What it is is, music that is created with mostly synthesizers or computers, and even when performed live, utilizes mostly synthesizers and/or computers. Would turntablism count as “electronic music”? No not really, but turntablism and electronic music go hand in hand, because really what “electronic music” means is playing machines as instruments. That’s not even fully right…it’s more like…playing music with stuff that’s not the traditional thing…so it’s not playing guitars or drums or violins or pianos…it’s making turntables create a beat by sampling pieces of stuff…or programming a computer to create sounds that are musical…or…wait…playing synthesizer keyboards? Or…guitars live? Wait…it’s all jumbled up!

That’s because music is music, kid. Still – just like with techno or house or trance – you know when something is “electronic music”, even when you can’t accurately describe it with words. Pearl Jam is NOT electronic music. Limp Biskit and Bon Jovi, although both chock full of the use of synthesizers are NOT electronic music. Moby IS electronic music, even though he plays a live damn bass on stage.

Confusing. But not. Here’s an incredible, overwhelmingly long list of electronic music genres. My god!

I’ve been going through some of them, to try and more accurately describe (and target) Third Option. There’s a long list, and maybe one will fit! Or not. The reason there are SO many genres is because people come along and do something that doesn’t fit. A few people will usually copy the trendsetters, and then somebody names that style. That happens really quickly now.

Still, if you go back in time, you start to see that the pioneers of “electronic music” are also the pioneers of “recording” and really there’s not as big a separation between them and “traditional” musicians as you might think. I’ve had the privilege of hearing Max Matthews play quite a mean violin! (Check out that link – Max Matthews was one of the originals – basically invented digital audio. You can thank him for the CD – and he was an accomplished musician.)

So what the hell is electronic music? I couldn’t tell ya, but I think you’ll know it when you hear it 😉

Maybe Third Option will just invent its own genre. What do you think? Why don’t you send us an idea or two at thirdoption @ nquit.com 🙂

More to come…

— Aaron

Monkey Rhymes

September 22, 2008 by Aaron

aaron j. trumm, monkey rhymes, monkey set, nquit music, poetry, spoken word, techno/classical, third option, trance

Monkey Rhymes, by Third Option

Quick song. I could barely get the link and the lyrics and the buy button pasted by the time it was over!

Yes this is the monkey rhymes one I talked of before that was so berated by some cat on Broadjam.com – here it is in all it’s glory!

i don’t know but i been told
that you want me to fold
i don’t know but i been told
that you want monkey to fold

monkey in my monkey zoo fuck you
but if you wanna look at me you must be true
and i ain’t lookin for nobody at the back of the room
you must get yourself up front if you want this tune
’cause i’m more than a skinny little lemur from burma
been to every other town down with every fraterni
tee! i’m a monkey hey! look at me
i think you need to look in a mirror
then you’ll see
hey hey! party people! look what ya see!
i guess ya didn’t realize that you’re just like me
now what you gonna say
when monkey come to play
for the last time on the last day
yeah
you won’t even look
’cause you way too shook
just like Peter when he caught Wendy with that Hook
but you don’t really need to worry when I’m stealin your curry
’cause every monkey in the jungle knows
i’m in a hurry!
to get back to the top of the food chain
keep ya monkeyin around til you go insane
yeah here we go for the last time look at me now
monkey see monkey do
breakin outta the zoo!

i don’t know but i been told
that you want me to fold
i don’t know but i been told
that you want monkey to fold

monkey
monkey see monkey do
monkey make money in the back of the santa monica zoo
monkey say the last word from the last man from the last mouth
from the last family monkey on the planet

monkey

won’t take this

anymore.

So there you have it! But hey – you still might want to get your FREE DOWNLOADS! CLICK HERE FOR THAT! 🙂

[purchase_link id=”1318″ text=”Download The Monkey Set Here” style=”button” color=”blue”]

You Can Never Stop Us

September 18, 2008 by Aaron

aaron trumm, classical, fusion, monkey set, poetry, spoken, techno, third option, trance, word, you can never stop us

You Can Never Stop Us, by Third Option

Oh wow I almost forgot about this one. The thing that I like about this one, actually, is how there’s this group of dudes (multiple version of me of course) saying “you can never stop us” real fast and for most of the time, it just sounds like rhythm instruments, but then at times I notice “oh yeah those are dudes saying you can never stop us!” That’s neat 🙂

There’s really a mixed message in this piece of poem. It’s interesting, because I do that a lot, but I think that makes a more accurate representation of “truth”. “Truth” isn’t this black and white thing where you can take one position. I’ve always said (not always – but a long time) that “truth is a mobius” – meaning that if you take a “position” on something, and follow the train of logic long enough, you’ll find yourself saying the opposite of what you started saying. I think this is part of the fundamental nature of things, where reality is paradoxical – and we do find that most of the greatest truths ARE very paradoxical. Committment-Non-Attachment is one of the major ones.

When it comes to this poem, there isn’t really a paradox as much as a double-edged sword. I was ranting about the wonderfulness of monkeys (monkeys still of course being a very thinly veiled metaphor for humanity) and I say how we dance on the corpse of impossibleness and it seems that this is good news to me, and I like it, and I want it. And then I say how we will adapt, and that still seems to be good news, but then in the next line I say “too dry, monkey? casinos with water fountains every 30 feet” and at that point it no longer seems like good news. Now I’m saying this is ridiculous, we’re not accepting, in effect, we’re NOT adapting, we’re forcing the environment to adapt, we’re trying to put water where there is not water.

And that does sort of emphasize again the mobius nature of truth and reality. We start out with adapting, take it too far, and come out not adapting. Doing the very opposite. And well, I guess I just become another person pointing out that there can be too much of a good thing, that anything taken too far is too much.

I guess that’s why some wise people say “everything in moderation, even moderation.”

The “lyrics” in question:

allow me to introduce myself
i’m the tallest monkey in the clouds
and you can never stop us
because monkeys know just what to do
where to do it
and how

monkeys know just how to howl at the moon
like wolves could never do
you can never stop us
we’ll run to the edges of earth
and when 100 of us know
the rest of know

and when the rest of us follow the edges of the san francisco trolly of the beat
monkeys help dance on the corpse of impossibleness

until the fattest monkey of them all transforms
right here in the desert
monkey wants to make a killing in the arizona sun
too hot, monkey?
we’ll adapt
too dry, monkey?
casinos with water fountains every 30 feet
monkeys
monkeys
show us your true colors

trapped at the edges of the world rolling dough

you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us
you can never stop us

Even if you want to stop us ;), there’s still free stuff at thirdoptionmusic.com 🙂

– Aaron

[purchase_link id=”1318″ text=”Download The Monkey Set Here” style=”button” color=”blue”]

Kong

September 11, 2008 by Aaron

fusion music, kong, monkey set, nquit, piano, poem, techno, trance

Kong, by Third Option

and here we are
at the green leafy apocalypse of it all
fallen down
broken bones

temptation sin and banishment
here we are
in the locker rooms and candlewax shops we forgot about
everything torn down and overrun

king kong fallen in the night
done in by monkeys
mighty mighty mad world
might wonder why the jungle does this

but we all know
it was the aching sun at fault
comparing the trusses of the castles of the sky to arms
making as much sense as a garden full of monkeys
laughing laughing laughing
crazy at the sight of king kong’s blood

“some might have thought,” they howled
as he felt long ago
how one ape rule the land
tile monkeys merge one day
on high ground

til one becomes 10 becomes a million of us
joined by the tail

standing in the blazing sun
one mega monkey with a crown
gleaming
choking
groping for a name

we forgot the last
we beat sense into our own breast and put the smaller monkeys back
we call ourselves king
and kong sits soon to follow

Hmm. Interesting. A lot in here. I’ll just listen.

You too! 🙂 If you haven’t already, you can get some free downloads at thirdoptionmusic.com 🙂

– Aaron

[purchase_link id=”1318″ text=”Download The Monkey Set Here” style=”button” color=”blue”]

Monkeys Belong In The Jungle Baby

September 5, 2008 by Aaron

monkey set, monkeys belong in the jungle baby, piano, poetry, techno, third option, trance

Well here, again, is the first “track” of The Monkey Set, “Monkeys Belong In The Jungle Baby”. It’s really just the build up to the first poem thing/second track. Here’s the “lyrics”, or the “poem” for this part. Which isn’t really lyrics or a poem. It’s just some improv I did on the mic. But then I noticed that that had a little statement – we belong in the jungle. Not in vast expanses of concrete. Etc.

I’m not really sure why I was saying “lonely lovely bouncing baby”. *laugh*

monkey

lonely
lovely
bouncing baby
lonely
lovely
bouncing baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby
lonely lovely bouncing baby
monkeys belong in the jungle baby

That’s – you know – kind of all there is to this one. I regret having the vocals throughout this whole CD be a little too quiet. But I kinda like my performances from just a vocal art/sound perspective. *shrug*

So as always, I say grab some free Third Option stuff right in this link! 🙂

– Aaron

[purchase_link id=”1318″ text=”Download The Monkey Set Here” style=”button” color=”blue”]

Third Option “The Monkey Set”

September 3, 2008 by Aaron

poetry, propellerhead, rebirth, techno, the monkey set, trance

Back to music. Well I think maybe I should post all the songs for The Monkey Set at once – or maybe I’ll just embed the music player from the NQuit site. Thing is, it’s really just one long set – a 20 minute mix set – and there’s distinct sort of “songs” sort of, but taken out of context they all kind of suck in a way. I remember I was posting them individually one time on broadjam.com and people can anonymously review them, and some of them were like “this is the biggest trash I’ve seen ever!” and such. Granted that was probably a bit harsh 😉

The one that got me was the last tune, “Monkey Rhymes” is specifically supposed to be this sort of sarcastic commentary on the vapidness of rappers and the culture and such. But it’s a “persona” piece, if you will, because I take on the character of this vapid frat boy type monkey, and start bragging and stuff. The larger context and commentary was totally lost on the person that just tore it to shreds, talking about how insufferably shallow and idiotic it was and such. But then again, the thing is, I’m not sure even in the context of the whole mix set that I’ve really made it clear what I’m trying to do.

So here I am in a blog EXPLAINING what I’m trying to do 🙂

The Monkey Set was this thing I did in literally one day. Maybe a half day’s worth of work. I made all the basic beats and themes using Propellerhead’s (a software company) “Rebirth”. This is a piece of software that emulates some very old classic synthesizers – the three synthesizers that are responsible for the sound we associate with “techno” music. You know that “808” bass drum, the big smooth booming thing you hear every time you go to the club? That’s the Roland TR-808, one of the original drum machines.

Anyway, too technical, I know. I fired up that software, and it’s a looping software. You set it in motion and it just keeps playing some loop of something and as it goes, you can change settings and have it change what it’s doing. So what I did was, I live on the fly changed and morphed and mixed like a DJ or something, and I did that for around 20 minutes. I recorded that on a .wav file. I did this on my normal old PC in my apartment. This was the first time I started doing things this way, realizing that technology had changed, and since I could save stuff to digital files, I could easily do a bunch of the work that used to be done in the studio on any old computer.

Then I took that big ‘ol .wav file to my little studio (which was downstairs in this house a bunch of us lived in), and I went and added a few extra drums and played some other synthesizer stuff on the keyboard to make it a little bigger and juicier. Then I took this little “poem” I’d jotted down about a monkey escaping from Santa Monica Zoo (track 2 I think) and going with that theme, I started recording vocals and writing new little stuff and recording it.

The picture in my head was of Curious George if he’d decided to become “cool” and started going to nightclubs and dancing with the sorority chicks and becoming one of these 20 something hipsters I hear so much about 😉 Really it was this jokey funny fuck around thing, but then I started looking at it and this jokey funny fuck around thing I thought I was doing was really this commentary on life in the club scene, life in general, the fuck ups of our society, all that shit. And there was this really pedestrian analogy of human-monkey, which has been done to death, but I didn’t mean to do it, so there it was. And in one piece, there was all this race stuff that I hadn’t noticed, and I had without even realizing it, thrown in this black thing and said “and NOBODY calls us MONKEY, anymore”, and realized “oh my god the slave drivers and klansmen and racist boobs of the south used to call people monkeys” and I thought shit man, this is sort of powerful.

So I went forward with it, taking on the persona of this monkey who’s been wrapped into this world of fucked up drugs and anger and machismo and dominance, but who is in fact NOT the vapid dumbass you hear in the last tune (if you’re not paying attention). He’s actually smart, and he’s decided to become educated, and he’s the leader of this revolution. And there’s even some of one of my core beliefs in there, about the cycle repeating, and about how when you rise up and make a revolution, and take power, you become the thing that someone else needs to rise up and revolt against. You become your enemy.

There’s just a lot of stuff in there, man.

But in the end it’s so avant-garde and thrown together, that I mean I kind of doubt that most people will really hear all that’s in there, from a poetic standpoint. From a musical standpoint it’s really just this mixset. Big deal big whoop. But I ended up releasing it and it’s sort of turned out to be this Third Option thing that’s a lot different from any other Third Option thing.

Here’s track 1 – at present (incredibly) I don’t have a way to string them together for you…yeah I know

So yeah – there you go – if you want, I’ve got FREE Third Option stuff 🙂 RIGHT HERE! 🙂 🙂

– Aaron

[purchase_link id=”1318″ text=”Download The Monkey Set Here” style=”button” color=”blue”]

Goody Proctor

May 6, 2008 by Aaron

aaron trumm, goody proctor, nquit music, techno music, third option, trance

Goody Proctor by Third Option

This was fun. I kept being moved by it. The samples I took from a cassette tape of an audio play – or maybe it was a recording of a theater production of The Crucible. I don’t really remember who it was that did it. I think it’s in the credits on the album cover.

LIFE, WOMAN! A lot of times in life nowadays I’ll randomly say “there is blood on my head! cannot you see the blood on my head???” and this is where I get that. It’s fun. “HUSH!”

I am innocent to a witch! I know not what a witch is! How do you know then that you are not a witch??

THAT is some McCarthy era shit right there. Or some now era shit! *laughs and laughs*

I don’t even know what a terrorist IS!! THEN HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE NOT A TERRORIST???

How do YOU know, that you are not a terrorist?? – A message from Homeland Security

I wonder why I said terrorist and not communist…you be the judge! lol

ok when you’re done laughing (at me), get you some free music over at thirdoptionmusic.com 🙂

Abel Sheram

What The Hell Is Electronic Music?

Monkey Rhymes

You Can Never Stop Us

Kong

Monkeys Belong In The Jungle Baby

Third Option “The Monkey Set”

Goody Proctor