What Is Interstitial Music

[rolanoid]

Hi

Can someone kindly please explain what the term interstitial music means? I can only find medical references to it.

Thanks
Michael

[mojobone]

In radio, they're called "bumpers". It's the music they play when going to or returning from a commercial break; usually thirty seconds or less. (and sometimes also between segments) Play 'em off, Keyboard Cat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAepgZ5iM5k

[jnmorrison]

Here is a very interesting very academic paper on, well actually more about the subject- specifically a modern piece of music and it's qualities that make it an interstitial music.

http://www.tombakercomposer.com/interst ... 0music.pdf

The author, presumably Tom Baker, draws a very interesting parrallel between music and architecture. (two expressive art forms)
Essentially, he argues, the thing that makes architecture great is it's relationship to it's space- both surroundings and within the piece.
So music, he says is the same- the music is really the relationship between the performance space and the space between the notes or "events" themselves.

So - from what I understand/can recall from my University days, and to answer your question more succinctly:
interstitial music is the "music" that happens between the events of sound - or the silence between explosions; and further still the music that happens between the music and it's surrounding space.

Check out that article it's pretty cool, if you have time! (only 6 pages)
Also google John Cage- as he did a lot of work in this area!

Hopefully this helped, and I didn't ramble too much!
Anyone else feel free to correct me, or to add anything that I've missed.

[mazz]

I totally love the idea of the space around the sound and how it relates to space in architecture, in fact, my favorite music these days is silence (or as close as I can get to it, living in the city!), but I have a feeling the answer to this particular question is what Mojobone mentioned:

Music in the spaces between dramatic or comedic scenes, either in live theater or in TV.

I was told at a young age that the space between the notes is as important as the notes themselves, and it's only now in my life that I'm beginning to get an inkling of what that really means. But it's not the same as interstitial music as it's used in the production world.

HTH,

Mazz

[mojobone]

Here is a very interesting very academic paper on, well actually more about the subject- specifically a modern piece of music and it's qualities that make it an interstitial music.

http://www.tombakercomposer.com/interst ... 0music.pdf

The author, presumably Tom Baker, draws a very interesting parrallel between music and architecture. (two expressive art forms)
Essentially, he argues, the thing that makes architecture great is it's relationship to it's space- both surroundings and within the piece.
So music, he says is the same- the music is really the relationship between the performance space and the space between the notes or "events" themselves.

So - from what I understand/can recall from my University days, and to answer your question more succinctly:
interstitial music is the "music" that happens between the events of sound - or the silence between explosions; and further still the music that happens between the music and it's surrounding space.

Check out that article it's pretty cool, if you have time! (only 6 pages)
Also google John Cage- as he did a lot of work in this area!

Hopefully this helped, and I didn't ramble too much!
Anyone else feel free to correct me, or to add anything that I've missed.

Thanks for the post, not sure if it's entirely on point, but I enjoyed it nonetheless; it's certainly informative, which is as much as can be asked. (I also enjoy finding new perspectives on older music biz paradigms) I think Matto may have the definitive word on this....Um, interstitial as defined in this article is maybe a bit different than what I'd expect to hear from a music supervisor; the context is theory, rather than application, and maybe not so relevant, vis a vis an average Taxi member. Fascinating stuff, nonetheless. I can't think of an artistic discipline where the use of space, either positive or negative, doesn't have a very great deal of impact on the final product.

[mojobone]

Sorry, had to switch browsers-I love it, no other site makes me work this hard, heh.

"music is really the relationship between the performance space and the space between the notes or "events" themselves." from your mouth to God's ear, heh. Yeah, that's pretty much it.

[jnmorrison]

Yeah - it's funny...while I was typing that little post - you snuck in there and gave him the answer that he was probably looking for.

So anyway - long winded, but pretty interesting nonetheless!

Cheers,
Nick

[rolanoid]

Thanks for the replies. Not quite sure if I totally get it but I understand it a bit more now. Seems like a bit of an esoteric concept - at least for me.

Regards
Michael

[georginasaint]

Ok, this is a very interesting thread guys.
Someone once said to me "I love your music. Especially the spaces between the notes" and I thought they were being insulting... implying that silence was better. But maybe they were dead serious. OMG maybe it was a huge compliment Only now, years later, I get it.
In an art lesson once, we were told to draw a table - but not draw the table but the space between the table's legs - draw the angles and lines. I get that. So apply that to music.... interesting!
Thanks for the info. It will make me think more about this.

Georgie

[gongchime]

It's the old "functionality is the empty space in the room, doors and windows and not the walls themselves."

However, the post-postmodern Japanese philosopher Karatani says westerners have a structural bias so we resort to architectural metaphors for literally everything. But poststructuralism has had a huge impact on postmodern thought. They even refer to the current time frame as the poststructural era.

For example, to westerners the kidney is something you can cut out of our body and hold in your hand. To Chinese medicine the Kidneys are a bodily PROCESS of filtering blood that absolutely cannot be cut out and held in your hand.

To contemporary psychology, the billions of psyches in the world cannot be compartmentalized for every purpose as Id, Ego and Superego. That's only one model and there are many others which may better serve one's purposes than those three. Although those were effective in communicating Freud's ideas at the time. That's all they were though, just a way of communicating ideas and not factual compartmentmentalizations.

Identity now doesn't even have compartmentalizations such as age, race, or gender. We don't even have a stable identity that can be isolated as Greg or Mazz or whoever. You're different with different people and in different environments. And can have more than one personality operating simultaneously while being part of a group personality. That's where we're at.

This thinking has come back and affected architecture in the postmodern era. Walls seque into ceilings. (Notice in using a musical procedural metaphor to talk about architecture) It's difficult to identify when you're inside or when you're outside the structure as there's not single identifiable walls. Paintings wrap around from wall to ceiling etc...like techno or process music morphing through it's changes.

This has affected music as well and some people are not giveng their music any sections per se and blur the line between audience and performer by giving the audience music to perform and for the "band" to listen for par tof the "performance." Sitting in a cirlce not up on a stage and letting anyone play along who wants to.