Terry Riley

Back when I was an avid participator in the noise rock scene, I became to develop quite the fixation on the idea repetition. Not exactly the direction you expect to take when orchestrated dissonance is your intention, but through trying to come up with another sound to complement one i had just established, i was really attracted to the concept of progression and just building of a simple but constant framework.

This was inspired, honestly, by my lack of musical talent, but as time went on I began to discover that this idea wasn't foreign to the world of professional music. Especially not in classical music. The is an amazing minimalist scene that I was recently introduced to that is founded of that very principle of repetition that I was so enamored by a few years back.

I want to go over a few different composers that I have come to really appreciate recently, and I decided that i would start with Terry Riley.

Wikipedia Page
TerryRiley.net
Myspace Page

Al Jarnow

I came across Al Jarnow by complete happenstance. While looking through DVDs at a local record store, I became curious with the cover for Celestial Navigations, a collection of all of his short films. I am really glad I decided to investigate further when i got home and ultimately order a copy. His work is a wonderfully pleasant feast for the eyes.