.microsound 1999-2008 realtime reading group

xmacex · 2024-08-05T19:45:45.723Z

I want to read through the archive of the .microsound mailing list.

So, what is .microsound? According to the website this culture left behind:

.microsound is was an unmediated mailing list oriented toward discussion of the styles of digital and post-digital music promulgated by the proliferation and widespread adoption of digital signal processing (dsp) tools.

.microsound is was not a “genre” mailing list, since this proliferation has occurred largely without regard for stylistic boundary. instead, .microsound presents presented itself as a forum for the discussion and exploration of a more general “digital aesthetic” manifesting across a wide variety of styles and disciplines – from academic computer music to post-industrial noise to experimental ambient and post-techno.

I figure reading through the mailing list archive in realtime is a great idea, month by month. So a month of their time in a month of our time. If one would start in October 2024 and arrive on the site 25 years delayed, the effort would be finished in November 2033.

I imagine spending perhaps half an afternoon per month, on a day which suits me. Skimming of course. Or maybe studying details of something if I felt like it. It’s hard to know in advance.

What to expect? I have no idea honestly, but an excavation into the archive a now extinct culture left behind. A dive into another culture, another internet, another “lines” perhaps?.. their dreams, passions and surely struggles too. Would such a 9-year reading group finish? Unlikely although not impossible. Maybe we will meet familiar concepts ¹, familiar instruments ¹, familiar ideas about music, æsthetics and internet ¹ ²,… even familiar people. But all with a perspective of 25 year archaeological distance.

If someone else would like to do this too, I imagine gathering up maybe once a month or once every half of a year to talk about it. How? Maybe just below in the comments, on a chat, even an video call/stream, or maybe write some norns code based the experience.

Interested?

kim · 2024-08-05T20:37:30.967Z

On 24 April 2008, someone writes

I for one don’t especially like this increasingly automated approach to making music. Ableton Live used to be a very neat tool for doing certain specific things, but it has swollen into this beast that practically makes the music on its own.

http://vze26m98.net/archives/microsound/html/2008/2008-04/msg00083.html

ses · 2024-08-05T21:42:20.430Z

Having mostly lurked and briefly participated in the list, I’m keenly interested. I actually did a not-so-deep dive into the list archive myself a few years ago, as well as the archives of the phonography, lowercase-sound and ambient mailing lists of the same period. It was an emotionally loaded experience.

JES · 2024-08-05T22:10:33.811Z

Interesting idea. I was active on listservs at that time but not that one. I’d be up to try it, though I am not making any long term commitment.

bgc · 2024-08-06T10:18:40.946Z

would you be able to share links to those archives please? i am quite curious to have a read.

DoS · 2024-08-06T10:22:17.559Z

bgc:

share links to those archives

There’s a start and end point shown in the OP:

xmacex:

start in October 2024 and arrive on the site 25 years delayed, the effort would be finished in November 2033

Or you can find the full archives by year here.

bgc · 2024-08-06T10:27:24.143Z

ses:

s well as the archives of the phonography, lowercase-sound and ambient mailing lists

I mean these, should have written it on my post for clarity. sorry…

DoS · 2024-08-06T10:42:09.749Z

bgc:

should have written it on my post for clarity.

Apologies in turn as I’m sure I could have read a little closer and extrapolated what you intended to ask for!

xmacex · 2024-08-06T11:06:57.805Z

Thanks, I added a direct link to the mailing list archive to the OP, in case of missing it on the left side of the .microsound monument website.

Do appreciate the æsthetics of the archive itself, it looks like Mailman to me¹

Besides the mailing list, the .microsound culture left a bunch of other stuff too behind, including chat histories with DJ Spooky, tracks, samplepacks, Max patches, and readings… These all are on the website.

Any guesses if the microsound.org website will last until 2033?

From the guidelines of this ancient culture

although certain aspects of production inevitably enter discussion, .microsound is was not a music-maker or fan-boy list; if you’re after detailed deliberation of the merits of this or that dsp card or vst plugin, we recommend lists such as csound, MAX/MSP, pro-audio, freesound, music-dsp, structured audio, lo-fi, and gameaudiopro or a plethora of other listservs that capably handle these topics.

.microsound is was an unmediated list, but that doesn’t mean anything goes. posts ~~should concern~~ concerned topics of historical, conceptual, or experiential relevance to digital and post-digital music. mean-spirited pissing contests ~~will not be~~ were not tolerated.

.microsound ~~refuses~~ refused to become a sounding board for ebay auctions, playlists, and the periodic expurgations of listmembers’ record collections. extended for-sale lists ~~are~~ were not allowed, although brief posts containing urls where such lists can could be viewed ~~are~~ were acceptable.

Sounds familiar?

¹ and imagine some future people arriving here on lines in 2033, looking at what we left behind when we will be gone.

jojjjajjr · 2024-08-06T19:37:08.022Z

Any guesses if the microsound.org website will last until 2033?

It’s on archive.org fortunately! I’ve been digging around for old max patches on archive dot org this week so this website is another fun find. Thanks!

ses · 2024-08-07T16:47:13.935Z

It’s been some years since I looked into these archives, and unfortunately, I’ve failed to locate them on the web now.

I don’t remember clearly, but I may have partial local backups of some list archives. I’ll try to find them in my old hard disks.