Samples, Sources, Influences

This week in class, band 3 led the way in discussing the essay "The Death of the Author" by Roland Barthes. Here, Barthes makes a strong point in saying that a work of art or literature is not an original, independent thought, but rather a culmination of ideas, cultures, and experiences that influence the person creating the work, whom Barthes calls the "scriptor."   This reminds me of a quote from Bob Dylan although I can not remember the exact words he used, in which Dylan explained that rock and roll is about stealing others' ideas--it's not a matter of how original you are, it's just a matter of how good you are at stealing these ideas.  Although this statement seems very blunt and harsh, there is a lot of truth to it.  As a musician who is active in songwriting and composing, I can relate to it strongly.  No matter how original I may feel the music I make is, it will always be a result of the influences that I take in.  There is no way I can break free from or deny this.

One of the most literal examples of this idea, that a work created by a scriptor is drawn from several sources rather than the individual, can be seen in the process of sampling music.  While some may shake their heads at sampling, saying that there is no originality in such a method, this technique can provide for a very interesting form of artistic expression. Through sampling, one can take an idea and twist it around to make a completely different statement.  It is a process of literally cutting out a piece of art and putting it in a completely different context, as most other artists, writers, etc. do in a more abstract way.

One of the best examples of sampling can be seen in the Australian electronic group the Avalanches.  On their debut album, entitled Since I Left You, the Avalanches take approximately 3500 samples and fit them into eighteen songs.  The result of such excessive sampling is fascinating, as you hear everything from old Motown records to movie soundtracks to old television and radio show sound bites mixed together, creating a unified, yet eclectic sound.  By listening to this album, one can see the creativity, as well as the careful, time-consuming effort, that went into creating this work, even if a majority of the actual music on the album was made by someone else.

So as Bob Dylan said after being accused of plagiarism, any work we do is influenced by something that has already been done by someone else before, whether we are aware of it or not.  It's only a matter of what we do with these influences.  There is a large difference between the Monkees trying to be the Beatles, and the Olivia Tremor Control, a 90s "indie rock" band from Athens, GA, taking the template formed by the Beatles and bringing modern, external influences to it.  

And with that, here is the video to "Frontier Psychiatrist," the single made by the Avalanches.

--Ryan