What is Classical Vaporwave?
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- Опубліковано 12 жов 2023
- Vaporwave is a form of electronic music and internet culture that emerged in the 2010s. It generally involves stealing old tracks and slowing them down to create something weirdly nostalgic. So making a classical version it seems like a strange thing to do - but that's why I did, with the help of Daniel Hope and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.
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Haha, as a german I love it, that this is on our national TV stations(websites).
Makes me glad we pay them. (I hope you got a share of it.)
To anyone looking for the vapor wave portion, it actually begins at 55 minutes. Not mad about sitting through the pieces prior, though.
Expression of a theme stolen by mac, superb title for this track.
Hilarious song title, expression of a theme stolen by mac😅!
When I saw the title of the video I instantly knew that a vapor wave as classical or even a mash up would be perfect. I love breaking the rules and throwing together what sounds good, i find lighlty seasoning with classic, and rock or trap can be turned into grime, and or dubstep with a glitch feel to it all becuase they share a similar synth pallet, so i always find the flavors that mix the themes togther and presto disco rock synth opera!!!
To me, vaporwave's nostalgia isn't so much for a time that was lost, but a future or futurism envisioned by that time that never materialized, leaving us instead with this world we have today. It's an attempt, in a way, to create an alternate timeline while coping with the fact that that timeline will never, can never exist. I really liked the Lambert piece because it did feel more like what perhaps could have been in Classical music if perhaps Franz Ferdinand hadn't been killed or something like that, but in your case it did happen to Classical music thanks to you.
its pretty cool to think im living in the future for those people and its so off from what they wanted or expected
What you’re referring to is called "Retro Futurism." It's the time from the past in which the future was thought to be a certain way than it actually is and can be seen almost everywhere in pop culture of the 20th century. Films and shows like "Back to the Future Part II," "The Jetsons," "Blade Runner," "Demolition Man," etc are great examples of Retro Futurism. Vaporwave is like Retro Futurism combined with advanced/augmented consumerism, where the beauty lies in the aesthetic of hyper-sensationalized product placement and its nostalgic value.
Ah yes, the "future of the past" aesthetic.
@@ethantinsley8185 that's true there is some vaporwave that is sincerely nostalgic for the hyper-sensationalized consumerism and another side of vaporwave that is perhaps ironically or cynically nostalgic for it, like 猫 シ Corp. : NEWS AT 11 and that's actually why I liked the Michel Lambert piece so much because it brings in this kind of terror at the ghost of "what never came to pass because of what really did come to pass" that is just so perfect
Vesperance comes to mind here as well, maybe more fitting than retro futurism. The concept was was co-coined by early GPT4 and a Reddit user. Here’s the gist of it:
“It’s the golden hour of an era, and you’re acutely aware that you’re riding the last rays of a setting sun. You look around and see the world in the simplicity of the now, cognizant of the tectonic shifts on the horizon. And in that instant, you’re both a poet and a prophet. You feel a sense of loss for this beautiful, imperfect world that doesn’t even know it’s already a memory. Yet, there’s a thrill, a pulse of electric anticipation for the unfathomable future that’s rushing toward you. Vesperance is the emotional echo in that liminal space, where the nostalgia for what’s behind you is tinged with the exhilarating unknown of what lies ahead.” - Maskofman, Reddit
Vaporwave is musical liminality.
It's art stranded in the intersection between what was and what could have been, and our longing for lost possibilities and our grief over not being able to try again.
It's music stuck in a past where we once dreamed for a future that never came.
Bro it's not that deep 😂
Have you seen cowboy bebop the anime?
@@2u29wjiowk2iswj you should learn to appreciate art, think you'd like it sometime
Very well said.
@@2u29wjiowk2iswjMidwit
"I added a (kind of) walking bass, for no other reason then I felt it made it better". I love this - not being tied to the theoretical formal process, but in pursuit of the best final result aesthetic. Beautiful work, and beautiful process. Thanks for the window into your work!
Ah, I don't agree. DB created the theoretical formal process and then broke his own rules. Seems a shame to me. If he was trying to just write a good piece that's fine, but the entire conceit is one of DB's own creation.
Walking bass certainly helps the canon with many voices sync for both the musicians and the audience thereby create a “structure behind local variations in the surface phenomena.”
No it obviously needs a Nightcore version now
I came down to the comments just to make sure someone had called this out. It's a very pure decision, it simply makes me smile in approval.
it's a bit of a pop idiom that unifies the idea, perhaps
David Bruce to relax and study to
Well I never expected to have my music profiled in a video like this, so, uh, thank you! I'm glad you liked "LISA," and I really appreciate you including me in the conversation on classicalized vaporwave with my humble contributions - it caused a minor stir when I shared it with the vaporwave community at first. I also did a follow-up piece based on something by another artist when I had access to an orchestra in grad school, and after that, I took to writing my own music and giving in the vapor treatment, which is very much a technique I'm still interested in, but not really able to engage in due to life circumstances.
As an aside, it's funny, it's been a good while since anybody's called me by that name, so it was weird to hear it out loud. I should really update my website...
It’s gorgeous! Gives me a similar feeling as Eric Whitacre’s Deep Field- larger than life orchestration with lots of deep emotional low frequencies
Thanks Katherine, such a great piece!
amazing work katherine!
I can definitely confirm that life circumstances suck. I think your work is really beautiful and intriguing so please please please hang onto that interest until circumstances allow. The world needs all the art we can manage.
Peace!
Kenny
Wait, are you... Vektroid?
Lully Loop is breathtaking
It might also be a fun experiment to give a recording to a vapor wave musician and let them have a go at it to see what they make out of it. Vapor wave squared could be a thing, no?
I like that idea!
Like build swap, but music!
Vaporwave Squared is already a thing, though, and it's got a name I don't remember. It's just noise at that point, though. Floral Shoppe 2 is one such example. It sounds painful.
@@losfrail6142 Now now, Floral Shoppe 2 was trying to make a point about the absurdity in how vaporwave could be created, so the ear rape aspect of it was intentional.
Vaporwave remix of Lully Loop could be wonderful.
I can't find any recordings of Lully Loop! I saw this video and immediately wanted to buy it, only to turn up nothing. I love how it sounds like a fresh iteration on Steve Reich and Phil Glass, but it's not so grating and abstract, lol... I'll just have to keep my eye out.
That "metamodernist" superposition of irony and sincerity is I think a key part of the vaporwave philosophy*. Vaporwave presents the 1980s in a dreamy, muffled haze, but I think it's important to realize that what it draws on is the most /disposable/ sounds of the '80s: clips of deep cuts from frothy pop albums, sure, but also commercial jingles, bumper music, newscast theme tunes, and the like. Things that nobody at the time would have listened to for themselves, only as a side effect of having the TV or radio on, the sort of sounds that are recognizable only as a vague gestalt of background exposure. The result is to evoke a nostalgic feeling for something that the listener is aware does not deserve to be remembered fondly, or at all. Pointing and saying "Ha! Isn't it ridiculous to be nostalgic for this pablum?" while wallowing in nostalgia for that exact pablum.
*or A E S T H E T I C
"The result is to evoke a nostalgic feeling for something that the listener is aware does not deserve to be remembered fondly" I think has too much ironic detachment for where the style came from. Vaporwave comes from the exact same time as many other hauntologies, it's all about a lost vision of the future. It came up at a time when you would commonly hear some version of "it's the second decade of the 2000s, where's my jetpack?" There's a pretty genuine desire to live inside a 1980s vision of what the future could have been.
So imagine this set being played by the orchestra but with actors drifting across the stage in costume of the era, talking indistinguishably, murmuring, laughing to allude to the aesthetic of a lost time. I think that could be a delightful experience
Funny how the trite trivia we have heard will echo around in our heads, willy nilly.
I think it is worth mentioning Zimmer's "inception" soundtrack ("Vaporwaving" Edith Piaf's "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" )
I was listening to that Piaf recording in headphones in TacoBell when the whole place was filled with twenty something soldiers in dress uniform.. Like I was in Das Boot, but American soldiers in taco bell.. weirdest hallucination I ever had without drugs. (the Defense Language Institute in Monterey had a a formal event that had just let out.. nothing supernatural)
First thing I tought watching the video.
I thought of Tron legacy
That part where they play backwards was so sick. They nailed it. So impressive to me.
"An Empty Bliss Beyond This World" by The Caretaker is another great example of this effect. They apply the "fondly looking back to a world now inaccessible" to the theme of elderly dementia. It's the most gentle album that will ever hit you like a ton of bricks.
Yes!! I was thinking of it as some of the samples were playing. It is truly a beautiful and haunting piece. I deadass haven't been able to listen to it on my own cause it's that tragic.
Its not a perfect vapourwave comparison, but it's def close! And I think it's because all of these songs (and the aesthetic itself) are sort of tied to grief in some way?
Grief for a time you will never be in again. Grief for your own fading mind. And as another (more smarter) commenter pointed out, grief for an ideal future that we never got to see happen
It's such a beautiful concept, making nostalgia and grief audible, and then turning around and sorta poking fun at it all in the same breath.
It's weirdly comforting, honestly :']
(Thanks for letting me ramble under your comment! Have a good day, friend :D)
Sadly annoying people tried to make a meme out of it. The caretaker albums still means so much to me regardless. Listening to the albums and waiting in real time for each release really added an extra layer to those albums opposed listening them all in one take. The songs from earlier albums make come backs every now and then but are more distorted and only slightly familiar much like your real memories.
YES! James Leyland Kirby is the real MVP. Bring tissue boxes. Also, please go and support Leyland directly. Many people have taken the music and have re-uploaded to youtube to monetise it. Leyland never even monetised his music through any streaming, but others took his work and did so. You only have to search here on UA-cam to see how many of these thieving channels there are.
@@DucktorQuackers Like a burning memory you might say.
Also we should enjoy albums for what they are, as you say, not on what people do with it.
I think Staint Saens can be considered a vaperwave pioneer. 'Tortoises' from Carnival of the Animals takes the can-can melody from Offenbach's 'Orpheus in the underworld' and slowes it down and adds dream like chords to make a humoros and haunting piece.
Having grown up in the 80's, vaperwave always has me reaching for the invable cassette deck to save the tape from a horrific death! :) Great music and video!
Quodlibet in classical music more generally is strongly tied to the recontextualisation of both factual and emotional memory, often through juxtaposition; the melodies of Austrian bawdy songs appropriated by Bach into organ improvisations within sacred settings is a particularly famous example. And I think at times this can add up to a hauntological effect, as in vaporwave, where the ghosts of things which were never truly alive to begin with (at least as they are remembered or presently understood) haunt the present.
There are several moments in Charles Ives's work (particularly in the Holidays Symphony) in which familiar melodies are played in a slow, distorted, haunting manner that evokes distant memories and the complexity of nostalgia.
Absolutely! @@robrophside3691
I was thinking exactly the same!
I cannot help but wonder if maybe a slight miscommunication left you under the impression that this stuff was named after people with a crippling nicotine habit who love to pull down miles of candy-cumulonimbus from their battery-powered pocket-hookahs: "vapers".
Holy hell, David! That piece is absolutely beautiful. And the label of Vaporwave seems to fit like a glove. Big kudos to Daniel Hope and the Zürcher Kammerorchester as well
The video game soundtrack from The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild is also vaporwave in its own self-contained referential universe, distorting and altering melodies from past soundtracks into a new fresh form. Especially the day and night horse galloping themes, distorting classic Zelda melodies so much that they're almost indistinguishable and at times a brand new piece of music to the casual listener. In other words you don't always "know the difference" when it comes to vaporwave music.
Lmfao no, absolutely not. There is nothing vaporwave about anything in BotW
Mmmmmm maybe....
@@Shorkshire the definition of vaporwave is "self referential and distorted/altered." Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom soundtracks are entirely postmodern in this way.
Having just beat this game and digging into the dev history/production I fully agree. Though it seems more akin to sampling then the nuance of Vaporwave.
There is a piece by Max Richter called "The New Four Seasons - Vivaldi Recomposed", which I believe is similar to the spirit of "classical vaporwave" described in this video. In this piece, Richter takes fragments of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", distorts and re-combines these fragments into a new piece. In many occasions the taken fragment is looped over and over again, such as in "Spring 3" and "Autumn 3". In "Spring 2" and "Winter 3" synthesizer drones are used to create an atmospheric effect.
Thought of this, too.
I knew Richter, but never found out his work on Vivaldi, thank you so much for the recommendation
In similar vein, there is Brian Eno's "Three Variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel", which came out way back in 1975!
The best of vaporwave tends to invent "an old track" that doesn't yet exist, and then go through the entire process for it -- that you don't know what the source song is and while you try to figure out what it was, you can't know because it never existed. Its the hauntological concept pushed to its extreme.
’ve never gotten into classical music, but this whole approach, the history and the result are deeply enjoyable
Incredible to hear a classical composer like me having interests in Vaporwave, a genre I've been in love with for the past 7 years... That's crazy!❤
Alfred Schnittke did music like this in late style which he called Shadow Sounds. The Caretaker also did this with old pop music.
Could you direct me towards a few pieces?
Vaporwave is often described as just old tracks slowed down, but a lot of artists do mix samples together, add strange cuts and skips, etc. For some vaporwave albums, the point is more slowing down and distorting small sections of old music and juxtaposing these short clips against each other. For those, I feel that the effect comes from the composition of the album (see Infinity Frequencies's "Computer" series and how it strings haunting loops of distorted samples together, often creating interesting transitions, including from album to album.)
Yep! He’s also completely off base calling Washed Out vaporwave. It’s chillwave. Chillwave also has a lot of great songwriting and composition.
Chillwave is awesome
I mean, to both of you, he never said there wasn't compositional work being done (it clearly is), and of course it's implied in showing how things like this are remixed and remade. Including he himself remixing this song as an example.
I really love the tension as the third movement starts to reverse, like you're hanging in the air about to plummet. And I was amazed they could even achieve that sound live!
You should check out the Album "Everywhere at the end of time"
It has many of those qualities you descriped for musical vaperwave
The Album is supposed to represent the descent into dimentia,
featuring 6 stages: Daydream, denial, reality, rupture, horror, and ' '.
It's extremely haunting and nostalgic
I would just love to hear a whole 1 hour classical piece, strongly inspired by the sound and feelings,
It would be fascinating
Oh, and the first piece became extremely popular as the theme of the popular internet phenomena called Backrooms
I’m so glad you kept your son’s silly outro song from the last video, it’s fantastic :P
Wow, that Ryan Ayres track threw me for a loop!
This challenge does remind me of Adam Neely - I believe he tried something similar with his graduate(?) piece called Exigence. For anyone who hasn't seen the live performance of that yet, I do recommend! It's not a perfect one-to-one, but maybe can be seen as a companion to this vaporwave-as-serious-music concept
I heard their fares are quite competitive
Hey, thanks for the nice words about my little vaporwave piece! I'm just happy to have a seat at the guests' table.
Adam Neely actually appears directly in the piece. It calls for a tape recorder to play between movements, and one of the recordings it plays is Neely explaining the concept of Vapourwave. I believe the recording is taken from an old video of his, but I could be mistaken.
Reminds me of Max Richter's version of Four Seasons. Different idea but reminiscent
@SilexeoAnd same violinist playing, Daniel Hope.
Wow. What a beautiful piece you wrote David.
you hit that 1600s vibe cuz that 3rd movement reminds me of assassin's creed 4 black flag which is based on 1600s pirates so in a way it did made me nostalgic about 1600s
oh my god I love this way more than I expected. I had to listen to the whole performance immediately after watching this. I live for the dark and gloomy effect vaporwave does and to do that with classical music really peaked my interest.
My goodness, even just the excerpt shown of your Lully Loops brings tears to my eyes. What gorgeous music and deft performance. Brazo to all involved!
One of the (very few) truly interesting, inspiring, educational and valuable channels on music here on UA-cam, in my opinion. Thank You Mr. Bruce!
agreed ^
i don't care what label it gets. it's a very tantalising piece, and even more so watching the musicians giving their all for the music. it must be an incomparable feeling having your own music performed by musicians of that caliber. 💕 it is also very inspiring listening to a composer explaining his own creative process.
That final piece is stunning, it’s like the distorted reflection of a storm brewing
I saw your opera "Nothing" at Glyndebourne when I was younger. It truly shook me. I didn't know you wrote it! Great work, and well done on writing a vaporwave piece as well!
Vaporwave isn't discordant, sad or unsettling. It’s mellow, comforting, never shrill or highly ambiguous.
Thank you David, your videos are always eagerly anticipated. They are inspiring, insightful, and accessible to all!
unbelievably wonderful. the back and forth conversation across time art is having with itself embodied in this idea is incredible; I love having the music along with the commentary, I have a much greater appreciation for what I'm hearing.
WOW! WHOA! This is crazy beautiful!!! I got goosebumps from the 1st 2 mvts but then the 3rd mvt came in and WOW WOW WOW!!! What an incredible piece!!! And as a lover of songs that get slowed and distorted (not only vaporwave), this is verifiably vaporwave! I like the approach you took! Its really super creative and honestly, inspiring. I'm not good at feeling nostalgia, but I can kind of get it from the first 2 movements. The 3rd definitely leans more into the haunting and the uncanny, very unsettling, just like I like my music :D Well done, sir!
I would have loved to see an actual effort to construct some classical purely with manipulated samples (a major defining element of Vaporwave as its an extension of the Plunderphonics experiments of earlier sample-based artistic movements) Not quite sure I would agree with the conclusions you drew.
Beautiful music tho. Can't wait to hear more!
you've always helped to keep classical music relevant to me and my musical tastes...you introduce music/ideas in a way that's so enjoyable to ingest. thanks for this David, always a pleasure :)
beatiful vid, thank you so much. incredible job w the comp for that orchestra
First thing that came to mind for classics vaporwave was some of the movements from Max Richtor’s incredible Four Seasons rearrangement!
One of the operative words I would tie to vaporwave is hollow. It has a very transient, liminal feel, and I think that's where the uncanny feeling comes from. It makes you think of a sound with meaning and presence, but something is off. It's missing something. It's close, but not quite there, like a microtone. Definitely got those sensations from your composition!
Excellent work, excellent presentation. Always interesting, much more erudite than usual fair found elsewhere. Great piece! Thank you David Bruce.
Extraordinary work! You’ve articulated some ideas I’ve been trying to get into my own compositions, maybe now I’ll have an easier time getting there. Thanks for your brilliant music and analysis!
Saint-Saens already wrote classical vaporwave. Check out the Tortoises from his famous Carnival of Animals.
Vaporwave is really the way I feel about Bach and Vivaldi's violin concertoes. To think there was a time of magic and luster, where the most exciting event of the day was to attend a concert. Though I have not studied the baroque era, I do admire it as several people adore the 'lost age' of the 80's and 90's. Glad I stumbled across this video, I have a new way of thinking about music to add to my toolbox.
Honestly the track from Ryan Ayres you showed in the video really intrigued me, it feels like a perfect track to fall into a calm but slightly sad nightmare. As a person who’s very into this kind of music, also one who’s been having trouble with their sleep (having too much bad dreams), this kind of music feels like the perfect one to play before sleep, where I can have a soft gradation from the reality to the dream realm, and makes my pre-sleep experience more peaceful :D
Thanks! Check out my other stuff if you like, because I enjoy making those kinds of vibes :)
Lully Loops, Aquamarine, and other fantastic experimental pieces in your catalogue. I do hope you get to do a concert at some point, love love love your work.
I actually did consider arranging the entirety of Floral Shoppe for string quartet/chamber orchestra.
By the way, this is the scene where I'm affiliated with ... but it's more than just "slowed down tracks" what I do.
Yeah, and these classical tracks don't sound like vaporwave, to me. I've heard elevator muzak classical that sounded more like vaporwave. Instead of being so obscure with the classical, nostalgia demands something like Taco Bell's Cannon, Moonlight So-not-a... etc. And, having strings players play slower, or play the loops manually, instead of pitch shifting and actual looping of the audio, doesn't sound right for vaporwave. I'm unfamiliar with the original piece, so I can't tell that it's been slowed down... and it's complex enough, and played smoothly enough, that I don't hear any hitch in the loop that creates a new rhythm, or anything like that. Maybe I missed what they were doing... But when I hear vaporwave, it's usually really obvious that I was hearing vaporwave. During this vid, I tried to listen for it, but that never really jumped out to me.
It's a fun video... I'm not really disappointed at all, that it didn't come out more vaporwave-y, IMO. It's not like I went into it really needing to hear the most vaporwave-y classical music possible. Just checking out the results of an interesting first experiment... interesting thumbnail title, and it was fun.
Hey Kirayoshi!
Yeah, the subject is more nuanced for sure, but I'm just glad somebody more entrenched in the classical paradigm is willing to take the genre seriously and engage with it intersectionally, which is too rare these days.
- Katherine (Kevin)
@@kathrayresI thought I recognised the name =]
You and I should do a podcast-like discussion about the “musicology and potential possibilities of vaporwave”. Call it a more fun rendering of a seminar/conference presentation =]
I think some of this is predicated on a fundamental misunderstanding of how vaporwave is constructed and produced - two clues to this are the inclusion of the track by Washed Out as an example of vaporwave (they do not consider themselves vaporwave, nor does the vaporwave community consider them an example) - but also the insistence that vaporwave is simply the slowing and blurring of music and calling it simple. One listen to something like Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol I or I'll Try Living Like This would reveal an entire world of very complexly constructed vaporwave that's doing a lot more than simple slow+reverb. However, I do think you stumbled into the right idea by the time you arrived at the final composition, especially with the decision to make the audio seem backwards. They're you're finally starting to get into the fuller potential of the style. That said, I don't think this is entirely new ground - Desert Sand Feels Warm at Night or Infinity Frequencies could both be said to have tread this ground before, albeit approaching it in different ways
Bravo, once again! Thank you for your insightful and inspiring work!
Hi David, I've watched almost all of your videos, and I have a playlist of your works (licc quartet and second half of gumboot) that I listen to when it's sunny, and fresh crisp weather to augment the experience, so yes, your optimism comes through very clearly in your work and I appreciate it a lot!
As here described, “metamodernism” looks lots like an existentialist movement. I subscribe much under existentialism, it’s a light to shine on postmodernism’s darkness. It says: there’s no universal answers, but there _are_ still answers (albeit different) that are good for different people with their different views and needs, in their unique positions; and there _is_ single truth, contrary to postmodernism, but this truth is not Procrustean, not in any way to be applied as uniform standards of living or behaving-the truth is vast and there’s much for us to learn; and if for each their own sense, then for each should be a tailored communication and understanding. These goals are hard; as hard as they go; they can’t be achieved once and for all, but they can be walked to. I feel that existentialism goes well with striving to be humane _and_ progressive at the same time. Just what we always needed and still need today, IMO.
I think a lot of the components of "classical vaporwave" could be found in the minimalist composers of the '60s, and further into the '80s with works like Gavin Bryars' 'Sinking of the Titanic' and John Adams (the second movement, 'Mother to the Man', from 'Naive and Sentimental Music' also uses the "backmasking strings" effect). Perhaps a little too energetic for genuine "vaporwave" aesthetics, but Todd Levin's 'Deluxe' has always struck me as having a kitschy, plastic orchestral nostalgia (recycling the 'Thunderbirds' theme and cartoon music)*!
*correction: it wasn't the 'Thunderbirds' theme, it was 'Space: 1999', and it wasn't "cartoon music" (I was thinking of John Adams' Chamber Symphony there!), it was '70s Disco!
Every time I watch one of your videos, David, I want to pull myself out of whatever funk I’m in and try my hand at making something again.
Clear, humble, sincere, and inspiring as ever!
Thank you David for all your work! You made me approach classical music with a complete new set of eyes - I feel I found a new way to approach music and composing in a completely new way. You're a force of great and good change. I hope you know that!
Metamodernism is a great way to describe your music and what you do. Blending parts of the past, new techniques, large appeal to audiences and also humour and deep emotions is what I’ve always felt from your music. The Lick Quartet is so ironic, poignant and appealing, but beneath the surface it is some crazy music with deep roots running through a history of string quartet tropes and styles.
Kudos 👏🏼
This concerto sounds fun! will it be recorded and availabe as a CD at some point?
Wow. Watched the entire performance. What a wonderful composition. Thank you and thank the algorithm for putting you in my feed today. A new fan and subscriber as of today 😊
I'm always inspired by your videos, man. Thank you!
Elevator muzak been had vaporwave classical wrapped up years ago!🤣
Don't get it twisted - they had classical muzak
Now we're getting into mallwave
I never really deeply thought about vaporwave or what might be the deeper cultural implications and whatnot of it. Amazing video and execution in your concerto!!! Bravo!!!
There are 2 main types of Vaporwave. One of them uses slowed-down samples of older musics.... the other is basically the same, but doesn't use older musics (it's all custom) like Blank Banshee.
The rest is all sub-genres and cross-genres.
Some of the sub-genres of Vaporwave are things like Mallsoft.
"Paradise Of Yesterday : Nightlife" Is a very good album.
This is such a fantastic exercise in discovering the importance of context and meaning beyond just the "waveform" or "sheet music" of music. Thank you for opening my eyes to such niches.
Listening to the Vaporwave examples in the beginning, I think you are missing a huge ingredient in emulating its sound: pitch. In the digital realm, we are used to slowing down recordings without side effects, but if you slow down recordings in the analog realm, the pitch is shifted down by nature. Your Vaporwave examples are lower pitched and I'm pretty sure it is intentional and not just a side effect, as the editing is most likely done on computers. As a result it sounds like slowed down tape which adds to the nostalgic feel. Even if you don't know the sound of slowed down tape - I'm born after tape was a thing, anyways - the lower pitches make the music more mellow and calm.
By my own definition, the violin is not a Vaporwave instrument. Slowed down violins should probably be emulated with violas.
4:04 XIII is definitely not 14 ;)
These were very interesting ideas you brought into these old pieces. I especially enjoyed the revese-like sounds. I wonder how a piece played backwards this way and then reversing it would sound compared to a forward played version.
There is a sociological similarity between the soft pop/cheesy R&B/Muzak that vaporwave pulls from and classical in that, at least for the layperson, they tend to be musics experienced in a fleeting manner, familiar but vague. In the former, it’s the music played over the speakers in the mall when you were a kid, in the latter it tends to be something experienced in the background of other media: film, TV, ads, even meme videos. So it becomes something the listener knows but can’t place, recognized but unable to say from where. The Lully loops piece does a good job of creating that feeling.
And hey, if traditional vaporwave invokes a sense of the lost promises of the early neoliberalism of the 80’s and 80’s, maybe classical vaporwave invokes the lost promises of the early enlightenment era that Lully was writing in.
I like the piece but even if I was told that what I hearing are Lully quotes I would never have made the connection to vaporwave if it wasn't explained to me. I think what's missing for me here is how vaporware doesn't just slow down the music it samples, it slows down and chops it in a way that makes it sound like elevator music, you are almost ready to ignore it and then you realize that you recognize a familiar motif. I think in that way vaporwave can be a critique of consumerism in sound as well as in it's visual style
The choice of the decade being 80's is not coincidental either, it's a time that many listeners of vaporware weren't alive in but we had a chance to interact with the aesthetics of it through games like GTA Vice City or Hotline Miami. The "microtonal variations" of the tape wobble effect is not something that people listening to these songs would've experienced much on their relatively new cassette players but someone playing with their parent's old walkman with a 30 year old belt in it would have thought that this is what music sounded like in the 80's.
I think this is where the element of metamodernism comes in, vaporwave draws attention away from itself (it doesn't matter) just to pull you back in with the feelings of nostalgia (it matters to you). To me personally it's an important component of what makes vaporwave, vaporwave. I don't know if you can replicate that element of drawing attention away from itself while having the piece performed on a stage in a concert hall by musicians who dedicated their life to music and playing on instruments worth tens of thousands of dollars. But then again maybe there are audiences out there who have similar relationship with 1680's as I have with 1980's
Meta-Modernism is yet again a word for something I’ve been feeling for a while, but couldn’t quite put my finger on. Many thanks!
wth is that ending music, lmao
Man, this video was utterly entrancing. Actually, the music too was just. Amazing.
You speak with this straight faced and approachable passion with what you create. Able to describe your choices in such a way where I not only appreciate your music more, but all music just a bit more. It's inspiring, had I the time among all my other hobbies and work and life, I might delve into composing myself. Just because I find your style so intoxicating.
Really, even with everything else in my life, I might just have to try my hand.
Great job, Mr. Bruce. In exploring the genre, you told a satisfying story of curiosity, emotion, and creativity. It underlines to your audience that we ought to never stop learning, as it would rob us of the fruits of pioneering and humanity.
I think there's an important point to consider when something sounds "nostalgic": The listener. Does the listener feel the nostalgia (Even if they weren't alive at that time)? Maybe it sounds nostalgic to people during those times, but to us it feels so far away that it no longer feels nostalgic, it just feels as if you're distorting a melody or idea. That's why I would struggle to call it "vaporwave". I also think that the critique of consumer culture plays a role in what makes vaporwave what it is. At least that's my opinion. Amazing piece though!
Yeah. I went down the vaporwave rabbit hole about 5 years ago and figured that it does for millennials what something like boards of Canada does for gen x
Keep going David. This is great work and important for pushing music forward as an artform. As an underground techno artist these are all techniques I experiment with and appreciate.
Great Work, David. Very beautiful piece
That "Visi d'arte" sung by Callas has me on the brink of tears, even after only 3 seconds 😂
Great video, i am entertained and informed all at once. I really enjoy hearing your perspective.
I just got done listening to the original recording. It was FANTASTIC! Also, Adam Neely's voice makes an appearance. That was really awesome!
Love what you did with these compositions David!
it's wonderful to see a musician from an older generation take a style or trend from the new generations seriously instead of just writing it off as "lazy" or "a fad". there are also completely original works in the vaporwave genre, from producers like HOME (who made resonance, now also one of the most famous vaporwave tracks of all time which i believe is for the most part original). and this piece david bruce wrote is beautiful, and i agree that the "walking bass" really added a whole lot.
When the first song you referenced was Washed Out Feel it All around, I was in. I always refer to that track as the one that really brought chillwave/vaporwave forward. Awesome video!
All I want is to sit in the middle of art like this, close my eyes, and listen. To be blanketed by sound, enveloped in it. Your music is beautiful
I'm going to be honest; I watched the pre- and post-commentary before listening to the piece. Well-written video -- intrigued me enough to go back and listen!!
Absolutely beautiful!!
Love this exploration a lot. A lot of what you're going for here reminds me of the feelings I get from 'Everywhere At The End of Time' as it starts to kick into the second and third parts. That spooky creepy feeling of misplaced nostalgia, or of something feeling somewhat amiss.
Wow, this sounds amazing, great job. Gives me shivers. I really want to listen to the full track now, seems I need to become patreon to someone for the first time.
As I am just a bad audio designer for my own games I think you made a good job on this. Made me feel different emotions. Thanks and stay curious and being inspiring!
Amazing video! Channel deserves more than a million followers!
Thank you for talking about metamodernism here in a musical context, to help me understand the idea. The metamodernism video came up in my feed but I'm not a movie person, so I really struggled with it and didn't reach the end.
Great piece and great work David !!
great content as always. Insightful, witty and interesting.
It sounds beautiful David!
I think the last bit of your video demonstrates Metamodernism very well. Heartfelt musings on finding meaning and hope when also not thinking that there's a grand plan, then 'DAVIDDAVID BRUCE! DAVIDDAVIDDAVIDDAVID BRUCE!'
Of everything you showed, your stuff is the best feeling. And that’s the essences of vapor wave.
Your "remix" from Michel Lambert is SO SO SO GOOD! It conveys an emtion I had never felt when listening to music.
You're always a breath of fresh air, David!
Loved your reflections at the end!
I love this explanation. Thank you for this
Your videos have got better and better of the years!
Great video!! The piece is really cool with great artists! Congratulations!!
Amazing channel! Thank you!