Richard Pennycuick writes:

>Larry also used the phrase "popular American culture." If it's relevant
>to the discussion, a braver person than I might care to suggest what this
>is - or isn't.'

I will be brave enough to venture a definition.  Popular American culture,
music division, is a manufactured artifact, put together by committees
which include sound engineers, A & R hacks, marketeers, agents, and also,
almost incidentally, the musicians.  Anyone familiar with the Pop music
recording industry can, I believe, confirm this assessment, at least for
a large fraction of what is released.

In contrast, classical culture, music division, while not wholly insensitive
to market considerations, is rarely cooked up with anything like this much
predetermination.  [Perhaps I should make an exception for certain kinds
of CM described by the first syllable Min.]

Someone else ventured the constitutional idea that "all music is born
equal".  My suggestion is that different kinds of music are, in point of
fact, born by distinct mechanisms.

Cheers...

Jon Gallant and Dr. Phage    [[log in to unmask]]