spooky2

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Rhythm Science

Two earlier terms from DJ Spooky's book:

The vector. "the virtual dimension of any vector is the range of possible movements of which it is capable"

Actionary method. "laws of signifying sequences"

Put your name in the subject box below. Then, write in the message area, responding to the three phrases below by DJ Spooky.

First, write about what he means by each phrase. Look in the text and find definitions. Cite his definition and then put it into your own words.

Second, respond to the phrase and its definition. Some suggestions: find an example from your experience that relates to the phrase; evaluate the term, i.e. is it useful? How can you adapt it to your work?

"Dj-ing is Writing / Writing is DJ-ing"

"today, the voice you speak with may not be your own"

"the prostitute scenario is about an end to definitions"

comments:

sg --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:00:07 -0400 reply

Anthony Jimmie --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:03:55 -0400 reply
"DJ-ing is writing, writing is Dj-ing" is directed toward the theory that regardless of your medium, your messages have rhythm and music to them. You can hear the rhythm of a poem, but DJ spooky goes onto argue there are also rhythms in the philosophers' texts as much as the poet's. What i interpreted his "today, the voice you speak with may not be your own" to follow along the context of his DJ-ing. That you can convey an attitute, mood, emotion, etc. sampling others' music or literature. Its evident today when you see people put quotes from books, movies, or lyrics from songs in their profiles on the internet to "explain theselves" or to give a window's view into whats goin on in their head and heart. hell, that's what a DJ does by definition isn't it? Doesn't a DJ sit there and play other people's music but in an order and way that he's maintaining or building an emotion or "vibe" if you will.

Sandy Baldwin --sbaldwin, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:04:03 -0400 reply
Here's my response to DJ Spooky.

Zach Johnson --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:04:38 -0400 reply
The quote "Dj-ing is Writing/Writing is Dj-ing" is a metaphor. Obviously, they're not the same thing, but they share traits. Like a dj sampling different beats to create an original song, writers combine words that have been used many times before to create an original work.

In much the same way, the quote "today, the voice you speak with may not be your own" doesn't necessarily mean the voice we use every day. It's the "voice" of a writer, and the voices used by today's writers are built based upon works by past writers. Essentially, nothing is completely unique--almost everything has been used/done some time before.

I don't think I understand what the prostitute scenario is.

John Thrasher --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:07:14 -0400 reply
The first phrase seems to imply that DJ-ing is the same as Writing in that you are telling a story and informing an audience in some capacity or another by either DJ-ing, or by writing. I like how he uses DJ-ing as a comparison to writing because for him he is telling a story through music and selection. Just as a writer carefully selects his or her words, a DJ must carefully select each song. As a student I am constantly constructing writings that do this.

In the second phrase, DJ spooky is suggesting that through creative expressionism one can use his or her own talent or imagination to get a point across to an audience. For example, currently people are very politically active, and are having fun creating cartoons, flash animations, songs, and even YouTube? videos to promote the idea of either presidential candidate. By doing this, they are using their political voice to express their ideas without actually speaking from their mouths.

The third phrase by DJ-spooky is basically focussed on the idea that things are always changing, and that the idea of definitions and boundaries should be thrown out of the window in order for someone to truly be creative. At least this is how I perceived this part of the reading. I think with this "What do you want me to be today?" idea, things are constantly changing for the artist which is the only way to be original yet progressive.

Dave Ryan --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:08:14 -0400 reply
1. DJ-ing is writing Spooky believes that almost all writing has a lyrical tone. Citing Neitzche as "almost musical" is a new one for me, but I hadn't thought of writing like that (except for, of course, Dr. Seuss). I certainy don't read The New York Times as a song, though if it were it'd be a depressing one, what with all the world's ills. Music is no different in writing in that each word means something relative to the other. The melody depends on the word's gelling; a news story depends on its words and its facts.

b) "Today the voice you speak with may not be your own." Spooky's statement refers to the mesh of all kinds of factors contributing to the evolution of language. In his book he cites our basic human language with an influx of sound, melody, volume.

c) "The prostitute scenario is about an end to definitions."

1. a) "Dj-ing is Writing / Writing is DJ-ing" Certainly all words can be lyrical. Whether it is writing news, writing a blog about your favorite cat, or chronicling your journey b)"today, the voice you speak with may not be your own" It is very easy - in opinion writing - to have your voice change. I took this a little differently than spooky. I'm told constantly by other writers -- or generally conversation starters -- that opinions change over time. College is for liberal views, they say, and as you get older you get more conservative. I certainly hope not. I like to see the stupidity in both sides.

c) The prostitute scenario is about an end to definitions." I'm not quite sure what this is -- maybe perhaps because I missed that segment in the book and Gwen isn't letting me look at hers. Nice one, Gwen.

Stephen P. Myers --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:11:09 -0400 reply
"DJ-ing is Writing/Writing is DJ-ing": In this Mr. Spooky refers to the fact that in both writing and DJ-ing takes things (be words or sounds) and combine them to make a form of communication.

"today, the voice you speak may not be your own": People quote movies, television, songs, comedians, even other peoples writings. Certain phrases have been burned into our mind as common, but not necessarily our own. Think people saying "I have a bad feeling about this" most times it is a reference to Star Wars, or the rate in which most jokes today are ones by comedians rather than our own

Gwen Schoolcraft --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:11:26 -0400 reply
"Dj-ing is Writing / Writing is DJ-ing" emphasizes that "writing is music," according to DJ Spooky. Consider poetry, for example. There is a certain rhythm and flow to the literature that gives it characteristics of music. Similarly, even writing in novels can have beauty and is truly an art. Choosing the right words for the right meanings is a difficult task.

"Today, the voice you speak with may not be your own" illustrates the combination of basic primal languages with new languages we've created today. DJ Spooky says that our entire youth culture is based on "the premise of replication, which itself derives from the word 'reply.'" He goes on to explain that the way we see, think and hear today is a "refraction of the electronicized world that we have built around ourselves." I take this to mean that the society in which we live shapes the way we are--we can't just always form our own opinions because we have pieces of society teaching us to think a certain way.

Stephen P. Myers --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:12:53 -0400 reply
Our culture has become one of catchphrases. Did I just go there? Oh no, I didn't. That's what she said. Snap! We say these things unaware of their cultural references and have been branded into our language. Originality is dead.

Stephen P. Myers --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:13:16 -0400 reply
Your response to the second quote is interesting. I hadn't thought about it in that sense--I thought a little more broadly. It is definitely true movies, songs, and so forth are constantly quoted. I don't think a day goes by that I don't hear at least one Anchorman reference.

Vanessa White --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:13:23 -0400 reply
1. Dj-ing is Writing/Writing is Dj-ing, he means that they are one in the same-writing is a creative process where you take something you have/know and turn it into something that is of you, by you-and DJing? is the same. He says that writing is infectiousness (p. 57). If you think of writing as creating new music or DJing?, it could become a completely different process than those boring papers you crank out for English classes that always follow the same style. You could string words together that move. I'd say the phrase is useful-it gives life to writing and doesn't constrict DJing?.

1. Today, the voice you speak with may not be your own. He kept repeating something his mother said, about "who speaks through you today?" It's kind of like we are the experiences and the people around us-we all have a different way of looking at the world and we all come into contact with different people at different times in our life-and that is what makes us who we are and what we say and how we think. Maybe you're just regurgitating what you heard DJ Spooky that subliminal kid say in some book he wrote. Maybe you've compiled the thoughts of two of your best friends and made them your own. (p. 84) Is this bad? I'm not sure. It still has your flavor, right, it's still YOU saying it.
2. The prostitute scenario.I feel like I'm running out of time, to find this one. An end to definitions, an end to limits-the scenario where you take yourself and run with it and don't concern yourself with the norm or the rules or what anyone else is putting into your head...or you take EVERYTHING that everyone is putting into your head and go with that. Or not? Prostitute seems to signify - all kinds of people.

Louie Olive --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:13:38 -0400 reply
In the first phrase D.J. Spooky uses his trade of DJing? to apply to writing, because he believes that DJs? are the people who mash things together, take parts from everywhere and turn them into a cacophony that we term "music." He wants the reader to understand that he believes writing is the same thing, in the same multimedia sense as well. Writers don't just take words and string them together in a linear order to make a story with a very definitive beginning, middle and end. True, some do, but how many stories have we read where the end is the beginning or vise-versa? Writing IS DJing? because writers draw from every outlet they can to create their work--their personal lives, the stories others tell them, what they see on TV, etc, and THEN they mash them together on paper, just as a DJ mashes together his sounds to make a "fly track." He also allows his comparison to work both ways, however, because he says that "DJing? is writing," and truly, it is. Writers weave a story out of nothing, but DJs? do this also, they pull sounds out of the emptiness around and place them together in order to create an effect, tell a story, or provoke an emotion, JUST as a writer does with words. The tools that writers and DJs? use to create these effects may be different (DJs? use sound, writers use words), but they are in effect, using the same techniques to accomplish similar results.

In the second phrase, DJ Spooky alludes to the fact that because we are so constantly bombarded with information and media from all places, we speak not from our own hearts and minds, but from the heart and the mind of our culture. He attempts to say that our voices are defined by the culture we live in, the sounds we experience, the sights we see, and the stories that we create when we interact with the world. Our voice is not our own--it is our culture, but DJ Spooky believes (and I agree with him) that we define our culture by what we do, so our the possession of our voice is trapped in a perpetual paradox of definition. Is it our own? Is it our cultures? Are the two the same? Or, perhaps, it doesn't even matter who's voice we speak with.

As kind of an extension of the 2nd phrase's ideas about definitions, the third phrase investigates the need (or perhaps the lack of need) because when you buy a prostitute, you are pretending that she is someone else, someone you love, and not some random person you're paying to have sex with you. Spooky argues, however, that it doesn't matter, that the definition of a person is unimportant, and that our culture is so fixated on change anyway, the moment that someone obtains a definition, it is torn away by the tide of motion created by the fluidity of our culture. The prostitute is the prime example--because she can be anyone. And who do YOU want her to be?

Terri Lutgring --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:13:49 -0400 reply
"today, the voice you speak with may not be your own" is talking about how our surroundings mold and form how we think. He refers to these as "a heirarchy of representation that models human thought as a distributed network". I think about this alot, if I could remove certain elements from my past or present where would my thoughts be directed. If I had been born into a different family, different relationships, no television, no music, etc. I could certainly be a different person.

"The prostitue scenario is about an end ti definitions" I think what he means by this phrase in relation to the material is that the prostitute is different things to different people and so is music and art and even text. There is no distinct definition to it. He says "Nothing is direct, everthing is an interpretation". This is such a true persona of music especially. My experiences lend a hand in my interpretation of what I hear, I may like something because it reminds me of a good time where as someone else may hate it because they think of something bad.

Stephen P. Myers --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:14:01 -0400 reply
Our culture has become one of catchphrases. Did I just go there? Oh no, I didn't. That's what she said. Snap! We say these things unaware of their cultural references and have been branded into our language. Originality is dead. (Dave Ryan)

Valerie Phillips --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:14:31 -0400 reply
I read this awhile ago, and did not bring the book to class, so it is hard to remember. I think the first phrase means they are both a rhythmic process. There is a rhythm to getting the message out and there is a process for each. I know this is true for writing. In many writing situations, finding a rhythm greatly helps. The second phrase goes with understanding how greatly influenced one is by culture and mass media. You really need to not only know your medium, but how to segregate yourself from the influences around you. We are constantly bombarded with images and sounds, an it is hard today to distance yourself from all of these. I think if you are writing about something you really care about, or something you want as factual as possible, then you really need to research the facts and your presumptions carefully. The third comment I don't remember reading.

beth ploger --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:15:00 -0400 reply
1-> "DJ-ing is Writing/Writing is DJ-ing" .. Spooky says there's no difference between the two. DJ-ing is musical.. and so is writing. And they're both an art and they both have some sort of rhythm.. It goes both ways. Plus, when DJing?, you are in a sense writing.. you're writing a script of music for everyone to enjoy.

2-> "today, the voice you speak with may not be your own" I think this could mean that in today's world we may not just be talking for ourselves, we may have a lot of other influences around us that make us think differently. I also think it could have something to do with technology. With texting, IMing?, etc., we communicate and speak mostly through type rather than voice.. I think it's useful in a way. I definitely would rather talk via text than voice nowadays.

3-> "the prostitute scenario is about an end to definitions" I think this refers to the point of needing to end the idea of definitions. The need for individualism. Prostitutes can't be out on the street worrying about how everyone defines them.

Stephen P. Myers --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:15:17 -0400 reply
hahaha.-V

Karen Scott --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:15:18 -0400 reply
"Dj-ing is Writing/Writing is DJ-ing" means that the concept is the same for both DJ-ing and writing. The DJ has this thought in mind that is represented by a song, plays the song andmoves on to the next, mixing sometimes to more accurately present the thought. The writer uses stories and phrases the same way a DJ uses songs and sounds. Maybe you've heard the song, maybe you've heard the story. There can still be new twists on either. "Today, the voice you speak with may not be your own." You can sometimes hear your mothers words coming out of your mouth, your brother's, your best friend's. We all influence each other. Communication in general is a mix of our own vast experiences. "The prostitute scenario is about an end to definitions." You do what you and get what you get. Everyone does basially this, which discounts individual meaning attributed to different jobs.

Daniel Mitchem --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:15:41 -0400 reply
"Dj-ing is Writing/Writing is Dj-ing"- With this quote DJ Spooky is talking about how the writing comes through you. How you manipulate words/languages from other writers and remake it as your own. This is the same with music, and Dj-ing. Since music, in essence is writing, and Dj-ing is mixing up music: adding a unique twist to what is already given. My Response: I agree with this at its core. It seems a very rare thing to see a truly unique idea. An Idea that is not based on any previous work. In this way it seems that most of the media we absorb has been "mixed", often it isn't new, but it is reorganized and revolutionized to something that is almost entirely unrecognizable.

"today, the voice you speak with may not be your own"- I don't have the text in front of me so I'm not entirely sure what Spooky's definition of this phrase would be, but I think it is a play on what the first quote. That the idea of "mixing" or "remixing" with writing or music also applies to voice. How often are phrases, ideas, spoken words authentic to your self. I for one have hard time thinking of anything. Does remixing words/phrases/ideas/etc make them authentic to whomever remixed them?

"the prostitute scenario is about an end to definitions" - I'm somewhat flummoxed by this quote, as it is talking about truth and how advertising is the new argument, making something appear better than it is. In essence, arguing to persuade, but I'm not entirely sure what the quote has to do with it. Apparently I need to re-read some of this for better understanding.

Jenn Dempsey --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:15:50 -0400 reply
The phrase "Dj-ing is Writing / Writing is DJ-ing" very generally answers my question of how some works (visual or audio) are considered literature or art. When someone is dj-ing, they are expressing their writing or someone else's in a way that either reinvents their writing or someone else's. Dj-ing is about relaying a personal experience and manipulating your means to suit the message you want to send. Also "writing is dj-ing" expresses the same concept. When you write anything, you write something that you want the reader to read, which is probably going to be a personal experience or something you're personally interested in. A writer can choose to relay this message by whatever means, for example, a book, song, or a short story that doesn't make any sense. The writer can manipulate the message in the same way that a DJ does: they both make choices about what they want the reader to know and how they want the reader to know it. DJ Spooky makes this point in saying that both writing and Dj-ing have a certain rhythm that the author/DJ creates. "Today, the voice you speak may not be your own" refers to way culture overpowers individuality. Especially since it's so easy to connect internationally, we are overwhelmed with culture. DJ Spooky makes the point that this overexposure of ideas might influence your own voice and make it not yours. Your voice can be a combination of cultures, maybe the ones in which you're most exposed. I agree with this comment, although it is a scary thought--will anyone have an individual choice in the future when global communication or even travel will probably be very easily accesible? For example, if you were to write a song would you be able to think of ideas without thinking of your favorite songs at the same time? Or you might even think of the most catchy songs at that time, even if you don't like them.

Ashley Brown --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:16:48 -0400 reply
"Djing is Writing/Writing is Dj-ing" is the concept that both are mediums and are conveying a message. DJ-ing is through music, scratching, etc. And, writing is through essays, poems, etc. Also, DJ-ing and writing are both art forms. I think the only difference between the two is that we are all taught at a very young age to write but dj-ing is more of an acquired taste.

Megan Vassar --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:16:50 -0400 reply
"Dj-ing is Writing/Writing is DJing?" Spooky says, "Writing is music, I cannot explain this any other way." I think what he means by that is with writing you have to feel a flow like you would with a beat or rhythm in a song.If you do not feel the rhythm of your writing then you are not writting with your heart and mind into it and the reader will be able to tell. If you write about something you are not interested about it will show through your writing and I think that is what he means. "today, the voice you speak with may not be your own" spooky says " Recording the voice proposes an ontological risk. The recorded utterance is the stolen sound that returns to the self as the schizophonis, halluncinatory, presence of another." By this I think he means that once you copy something it is no longer what it was originally, its been tainted almost. Everything today is a mix of things from the past and I believe that is what he is trying to say. " History is doomed to repeat itself" is a quote most people have heard and I think it is similiar to what Dj Spooky is saying in that chapter. Everything that is new is just some form of something from the past. "the prostitute scenario is about an end to definitions" I think what he means by the prostitute is that we stereotype a person to a word, but they are not all the same and should not be looked upon or group that way, like a definition. As times change so do definitions.

Stephen P. Myers / Dave Ryan --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:16:55 -0400 reply
A culture of catch phrases indeed. I always love when professors say, "This sucks." There is a vulgar and explicit meaning behind this, but because it's now common slang, no one things about it. I had a long discussion in another class about how scholars often say, "This sucks."

Erin Humphreys --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:17:00 -0400 reply
DJ Spooky says that "Dj-ing is Writing, Writing is DJ-ing," and explains that "writing is music." By this, I believe that DJ Spooky means that both genres require an audience, and interaction, and both have a certain rhythm and movement when the interaction occurs. I do agree with this, and find that both writing and music to be very involved and rich. They are layered, and can be emotional.

He also states that "today, the voice you speak with may not be your own." I think that in terms of technology and the inter-connectedness of the world today, that one can accidentally, or purposefully, get lost in whatever medium they choose to. We can project any image we would like to, or have images projected onto us by other people or things. No one ever knows if another person's voice is their own...

Jenn Dempsey --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:17:08 -0400 reply
hatever means, for example, a book, song, or a short story that doesn't make any sense. The writer can manipulate the message in the same way that a DJ does: they both make choices about what they want the reader to know and how they want the reader to know it. DJ Spooky makes this point in saying that both writing and Dj-ing have a certain rhythm that the author/DJ creates. "Today, the voice you speak may not be your own" refers to way culture ov

Dave Ryan / Stephen P. Myers --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:17:46 -0400 reply
That's what she said.

Vanessa White --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:18:57 -0400 reply
I agree with the hearing things your friends say and repeating it, but maybe with your own style. I'm definitely an example of this. But I'd like to think that all my friends combined make me the individual who I am.. who knows. [bp]?

Erin Clemens --center, Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:19:03 -0400 reply

"DJ-ing is Writing / Writing is DJ-ing"

It seem to DJ Spooky that the divisions between various mediums/media are false, that there is an element of musicality to the written word just as there is an element of linear coordination to the music. Different communicative inputs bleed into one another and are not separate disciplines, although they may require utilizing different mindsets to work within them. He gives the example of Nietzsche, "whose brilliant texts are almost musical". And, indeed, DJ Spooky proves this himself by his own beautifully rhythmic and densely layered prose, which bear nothing if not a resemble to the thoughtful layering of his mashups and musical work. I find this to be very true myself - I don't think people are born to separate creative and expressive inputs, but I think rather we are cultured to see them only in a certain way.

"Today, the voice you speak with may not be your own"

I think here he's trying to make a point of the kind of ambient awareness we all grow up with in a globalized, digitalized age, where we are constantly aware of the events surrounding others and effects of their thoughts, actions and decisions. We are connected together in constant ways that we never have been before, and because of this our thoughts and our ways of expressing them have probably been influenced more than a little by that ambient culture and awareness. They may not be wholly our own expressions, but rather those impressed on us in a voice other than our own. I certainly agree with this precept, because it seems to me that I have something of an unconscious awareness of a kind of globalized history or interchange that in no way involves me, in addition to being familiar in some respects with things I have never experienced myself.

"The Prostitute scenario is about an end to definitions"