Is Einaudi’s music actually good?
November 8, 2023 1:22 AM Subscribe
Composer, David Bruce - who's prior instinctive answer to this question would be "no!" - spends a week trying to challenge himself to like it and understand the appeal. As part of the process he wrote "Field".
He doesn't talk much about the culture of how these tracks are played and experienced i.e. through Spotify algorithms. There is something distanced, background, simple, throwaway about this music, and I wouldn't be surprised if most of those streams are for people who never spend much time thinking about what they are particularly listening to. Einaudi is incidental, unchallenging and perfect fodder for the algorithms to chew up and spit back out.
It would have been interesting for Bruce to think a little more about the culture of ambient, incidental, background music on places like YouTube and Spotify. A phenomena perhaps indicative of the fast paced and mediated stressful world, and people trying to find some solace in music like Einaudi's, relying on those same media spaces and mechanisms.
posted by 0bvious at 3:44 AM on November 8, 2023 [7 favorites]
It would have been interesting for Bruce to think a little more about the culture of ambient, incidental, background music on places like YouTube and Spotify. A phenomena perhaps indicative of the fast paced and mediated stressful world, and people trying to find some solace in music like Einaudi's, relying on those same media spaces and mechanisms.
posted by 0bvious at 3:44 AM on November 8, 2023 [7 favorites]
I am apparently one of the three people on earth who had not heard of Einaudi, so I'm very glad I watched this video! And yeah, I'll be adding him to one of my Spotify "i'd like something pretty that i don't have to think about too much" playlists.
Some of Bruce's observations match another kind of music I've been trying to find a label for, a sort of meandering, emotionless music that is technically proficient but that has something missing. An aging rock band turning to synths, for instance, to create long tracks that don't feel like they're going anywhere, or a guitarist playing something that sounds like a song but turns out to just be--as Bruce puts it--fragments of melody. Long, long strings of fragments. And actually another thing he pointed out seems to apply to a lot of this music, a sort of emptiness; you've got a lot of notes lying around but they're not doing anything, they're pointing to the space without constructing something in it.
It can be frustrating to stumble across that music when you want something with more of a spine, more of a point, but it's definitely useful music nonetheless, with a place and a context, and certainly doesn't deserve to be hated.
posted by mittens at 5:16 AM on November 8, 2023 [7 favorites]
Some of Bruce's observations match another kind of music I've been trying to find a label for, a sort of meandering, emotionless music that is technically proficient but that has something missing. An aging rock band turning to synths, for instance, to create long tracks that don't feel like they're going anywhere, or a guitarist playing something that sounds like a song but turns out to just be--as Bruce puts it--fragments of melody. Long, long strings of fragments. And actually another thing he pointed out seems to apply to a lot of this music, a sort of emptiness; you've got a lot of notes lying around but they're not doing anything, they're pointing to the space without constructing something in it.
It can be frustrating to stumble across that music when you want something with more of a spine, more of a point, but it's definitely useful music nonetheless, with a place and a context, and certainly doesn't deserve to be hated.
posted by mittens at 5:16 AM on November 8, 2023 [7 favorites]
Einaudi is apparently huge in the UK, with a real fanbase, TV appearances, and so on. This is not just about algorithms. There's a history of artists making simple, more approachable versions of "complicated" or "highbrow" music and bringing it to the mainstream. (Think of the "Hooked on Classics" phenomenon in the US in the 80s.)
Honestly as an American this video introduced me to Einaudi's music and I'll probably listen to more of it, sometimes I want something simple to relax with. They also sound fun to learn as a beginning piano player.
posted by mmoncur at 5:51 AM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
Honestly as an American this video introduced me to Einaudi's music and I'll probably listen to more of it, sometimes I want something simple to relax with. They also sound fun to learn as a beginning piano player.
posted by mmoncur at 5:51 AM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
I have never heard of this guy either. His website is pretty decent - scroll down, pick an album, start playing the embedded youtoobs to hear his work.
The first track I tried sure is some ambient piano. It's got about as much motion and drive as Eno's Music for Airports, and it feels like it a perfectly fine piece of sonic wallpaper. Other tracks are more upbeat but I'm generally noticing a lack of key/mood/rhythm changes, one piece just kinda picks a mood, establishes a few loops, and brings them in and out for several minutes. Which is basically a description of Orbital's entire catalog. Are they good loops? I dunno, I haven't listened deeply enough to know.
posted by egypturnash at 6:07 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
The first track I tried sure is some ambient piano. It's got about as much motion and drive as Eno's Music for Airports, and it feels like it a perfectly fine piece of sonic wallpaper. Other tracks are more upbeat but I'm generally noticing a lack of key/mood/rhythm changes, one piece just kinda picks a mood, establishes a few loops, and brings them in and out for several minutes. Which is basically a description of Orbital's entire catalog. Are they good loops? I dunno, I haven't listened deeply enough to know.
posted by egypturnash at 6:07 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
I've heard some things from Einaudi I really liked, but when I went to find more it all seemed like mediocre New Age twaddle. I don't know if he has different composing "modes" or if the few things I like are just random outliers.
Coincidently I was recently telling a friend about live-coding music, and how it typically ends up being just a series of tweaks and diversions but having no form or overall structure. Perhaps this works better if you are hearing it live but I've yet to hear a live coding session I would listen to twice because, as Gertrude Stein might say, there is no "there" there.
posted by Ayn Marx at 6:10 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Coincidently I was recently telling a friend about live-coding music, and how it typically ends up being just a series of tweaks and diversions but having no form or overall structure. Perhaps this works better if you are hearing it live but I've yet to hear a live coding session I would listen to twice because, as Gertrude Stein might say, there is no "there" there.
posted by Ayn Marx at 6:10 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Einaudi is popular, and some people hate popular things by default. I like a couple of Einaudi's pieces for the sweeping emotional phrasing and melodies. Is it complex and thought provoking? Is all of it amazing? No, it's not. But at the end of the day, most people want to be around art that makes them feel good (or feel something), while not many people want a replica of Duchamps "Fountain" in their living room, regardless of how profound a statement it made at the time. As a classically trained pianist myself, I understand the line between high art and popular music can be a challenging one to walk if you're interested in enough people actually connecting with your music without feeling like a hack. Einaudi gets this, and clearly does it well.
I listened to some of David Bruce's work, what little I could find on his YouTube channel, and it's certainly very high brow classical, with lots of complexity and creative dissonance. But it lacks a basic emotional resonance that Einaudi seems to be able to capture. His orchestral piece sounds very generic Hollywood movie soundtrack. His Einaudi inspired piece is fairly flat and too evenly paced. His choral pieces are frankly awful but to be fair the children can't sing very well so perhaps it would be better with professionals.
So I'm going to go with his early statement that the reason he does not like Einaudi is based largely in envy (and classism, if we want to discuss why popular things are seen as bad).
posted by ananci at 6:18 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
I listened to some of David Bruce's work, what little I could find on his YouTube channel, and it's certainly very high brow classical, with lots of complexity and creative dissonance. But it lacks a basic emotional resonance that Einaudi seems to be able to capture. His orchestral piece sounds very generic Hollywood movie soundtrack. His Einaudi inspired piece is fairly flat and too evenly paced. His choral pieces are frankly awful but to be fair the children can't sing very well so perhaps it would be better with professionals.
So I'm going to go with his early statement that the reason he does not like Einaudi is based largely in envy (and classism, if we want to discuss why popular things are seen as bad).
posted by ananci at 6:18 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
I strongly recomend his music try the album"islands"
This is my first post i joined minutes ago
posted by Dara at 6:29 AM on November 8, 2023 [13 favorites]
This is my first post i joined minutes ago
posted by Dara at 6:29 AM on November 8, 2023 [13 favorites]
Bland and pointless generic noodling. Actually reminds me of my own A minor keyboard improv, which I also don't like.
posted by ovvl at 6:45 AM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by ovvl at 6:45 AM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
"Good" -- well, I can't tell you that, but like the middlebrow of old, I know what I like. And what I like is going to sleep in a reasonable time on a weeknight. Einaudi helped me with that a lot, especially a few years ago during and after the 2016 election. I've stopped listening because I got to where his music didn't soothe me so much just because of repetition, but I still appreciate it in the background.
Brian Eno's ambient albums are a classier sleep music selection, although some of them are too grim to help you sleep, at least if you don't want bleak existential nightmares. Strangely, I also found that Herman Beeftink -- a composer I'd known only for having the silliest name in the credits of a particular MST3K episode -- does some good sleep music.
I like piano music that reminds me of a rainy Saturday afternoon that I may or may not actually have ever had but nonetheless remember strongly. It's not a pleasure I can defend on any particular grounds, but I feel it, and Einaudi delivers on it.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:55 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
Brian Eno's ambient albums are a classier sleep music selection, although some of them are too grim to help you sleep, at least if you don't want bleak existential nightmares. Strangely, I also found that Herman Beeftink -- a composer I'd known only for having the silliest name in the credits of a particular MST3K episode -- does some good sleep music.
I like piano music that reminds me of a rainy Saturday afternoon that I may or may not actually have ever had but nonetheless remember strongly. It's not a pleasure I can defend on any particular grounds, but I feel it, and Einaudi delivers on it.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:55 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
there is no "there" there.
It's a feature, not a bug. Sometimes people like stream-of-consciousness listening experiences, to not really think about what they're hearing beyond the present moment, so don't desire larger perceptible structures like clear processes and/or form that satisfy a meta-cognitive sense of a musical work.
The whole style that Einaudi is part of is a kind of post-minimalist/New Age amalgam that emerged in the late 80s/early 90s, mostly as a child of ambient music, led by composers like Michael Nyman. Lots of it out there, especially from mid-90s to late-00s.
As a musician, I used to spend a lot of time thinking about what music is objectively good and what's not, and what makes it so; and then I evolved to more contextual perspective, that music is typically good or interesting within its contexts, and that not all music can be critically engaged with in the same ways; but then I started to discern the many, many different ways that people listen to music, and seek different kinds of experiences from their musical listening, and think that needs to be considered in any critical conversation about specific musical work.
So now I don't worry so much if any specific music is good or bad (and don't think that's a meaningful question, actually); when evaluating or analyzing or rehearsing or listening with my students, we now tend to ask if the music at hand is effective, or well-crafted in some way, or other more contextual, specific kinds of descriptors that--among other qualities--indicate whether we're considering the musical work itself (craft of composition) or its ability to successfully affect listeners; sometimes those are much the same, but surprisingly often those are separate questions with different criteria for answering them. (Of course, the best music does it all, is expertly crafted and also expressively effective. Typically within its idiom, but the very very best stuff transcends even that.)
Bruce's video, for me, starts with a false dilemma that skews his analysis of Einaudi's work: that Einaudi is a "classical composer." 'Classical' is a term without much meaning any longer, I'm not sure what a "classical" composer does that any plain old composer (i.e., a person who creates music) doesn't do; it's a distinction without a difference, and the appendage of the term 'classical' to 'composer' introduces some problematic intellectual and class biases in the framing of his evaluation. And also, most composers today work in mixed media for a variety of contexts, they are not just producing fully notated concert works, they're making video game music and sound design and electroacoustic music and are producers and etc. etc. Einaudi's music indicates that he is not a composer in the formal, structural sense that Bruce's framing implies, so Bruce is sort of reading with the wrong glasses here. (My own sense, with only a little listening to Einaudi's music over the years, is that he's halfway between composer and improvisor in terms of creative process, and I'd evaluate his work a little bit in terms of its content but much more so in terms of how his fans listen to it, because they certainly get a lot out of it so it's very effective to them. I would be interested to understand through some analysis how he consistently achieves that effectiveness, simply because it works.)
posted by LooseFilter at 7:03 AM on November 8, 2023 [11 favorites]
It's a feature, not a bug. Sometimes people like stream-of-consciousness listening experiences, to not really think about what they're hearing beyond the present moment, so don't desire larger perceptible structures like clear processes and/or form that satisfy a meta-cognitive sense of a musical work.
The whole style that Einaudi is part of is a kind of post-minimalist/New Age amalgam that emerged in the late 80s/early 90s, mostly as a child of ambient music, led by composers like Michael Nyman. Lots of it out there, especially from mid-90s to late-00s.
As a musician, I used to spend a lot of time thinking about what music is objectively good and what's not, and what makes it so; and then I evolved to more contextual perspective, that music is typically good or interesting within its contexts, and that not all music can be critically engaged with in the same ways; but then I started to discern the many, many different ways that people listen to music, and seek different kinds of experiences from their musical listening, and think that needs to be considered in any critical conversation about specific musical work.
So now I don't worry so much if any specific music is good or bad (and don't think that's a meaningful question, actually); when evaluating or analyzing or rehearsing or listening with my students, we now tend to ask if the music at hand is effective, or well-crafted in some way, or other more contextual, specific kinds of descriptors that--among other qualities--indicate whether we're considering the musical work itself (craft of composition) or its ability to successfully affect listeners; sometimes those are much the same, but surprisingly often those are separate questions with different criteria for answering them. (Of course, the best music does it all, is expertly crafted and also expressively effective. Typically within its idiom, but the very very best stuff transcends even that.)
Bruce's video, for me, starts with a false dilemma that skews his analysis of Einaudi's work: that Einaudi is a "classical composer." 'Classical' is a term without much meaning any longer, I'm not sure what a "classical" composer does that any plain old composer (i.e., a person who creates music) doesn't do; it's a distinction without a difference, and the appendage of the term 'classical' to 'composer' introduces some problematic intellectual and class biases in the framing of his evaluation. And also, most composers today work in mixed media for a variety of contexts, they are not just producing fully notated concert works, they're making video game music and sound design and electroacoustic music and are producers and etc. etc. Einaudi's music indicates that he is not a composer in the formal, structural sense that Bruce's framing implies, so Bruce is sort of reading with the wrong glasses here. (My own sense, with only a little listening to Einaudi's music over the years, is that he's halfway between composer and improvisor in terms of creative process, and I'd evaluate his work a little bit in terms of its content but much more so in terms of how his fans listen to it, because they certainly get a lot out of it so it's very effective to them. I would be interested to understand through some analysis how he consistently achieves that effectiveness, simply because it works.)
posted by LooseFilter at 7:03 AM on November 8, 2023 [11 favorites]
Just raising my hand... never heard of Einaudi either. USA person. Somehow, this makes me really interested in this post.
posted by SoberHighland at 7:43 AM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by SoberHighland at 7:43 AM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
I've never heard of Einaudi before, but for what it's worth I hate, hate, hate sonic wallpaper. It demands my attention, like all music does, but rewards me with absolutely nothing. All it achieves is adding to the everpresent cacophony that already exists in all public spaces and making it harder to hear whatever it is I'm actually trying to listen to, e.g., the person talking to me. Maybe it's the autism speaking, but I have absolutely no idea how you people function with all of this noise all the time.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:23 AM on November 8, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:23 AM on November 8, 2023 [6 favorites]
Maybe it's the autism speaking, but I have absolutely no idea how you people function with all of this noise all the time.
Just speaking for myself, it's because this part:
It demands my attention, like all music does
simply is not the case for me. Unless the music is terrifically loud and even then, I can usually shuffle it back out of my immediate attention--I just need to do so rather more consciously.
I am familiar with Einaudi because that video he did of Elegy for the Arctic some years back drifted into my sosh meeds, and even though I wanted to find that derpy and cloying I actually did end up a bit moved by it. Having dipped into his stuff here and there it's ... I mean, it is what it is. To me it feels like George Winston but without any humor? (I don't know any music theory or anything, this is just vibes.) Certainly hard to actively hate. But like also I have unabashedly terrible taste, so grain of salt.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:30 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Just speaking for myself, it's because this part:
It demands my attention, like all music does
simply is not the case for me. Unless the music is terrifically loud and even then, I can usually shuffle it back out of my immediate attention--I just need to do so rather more consciously.
I am familiar with Einaudi because that video he did of Elegy for the Arctic some years back drifted into my sosh meeds, and even though I wanted to find that derpy and cloying I actually did end up a bit moved by it. Having dipped into his stuff here and there it's ... I mean, it is what it is. To me it feels like George Winston but without any humor? (I don't know any music theory or anything, this is just vibes.) Certainly hard to actively hate. But like also I have unabashedly terrible taste, so grain of salt.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:30 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
A couple of years ago, one of my students did a podcast episode assignment about music intended to not be listened to, and it was really interesting. (He started with the creation of Muzak in 1934 and proceeded from there, through background music, incidental music, underscoring, ambient music, and so on.)
posted by LooseFilter at 8:46 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by LooseFilter at 8:46 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
"Furniture music" (Satie, 1917)
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 8:54 AM on November 8, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by polytope subirb enby-of-piano-dice at 8:54 AM on November 8, 2023 [6 favorites]
I'm a classical pianist who likes complex, fast, and loud music. After watching this video I bought a book of Einaudi's pieces because I'm looking for easy listening music I can play at hospitals. I'd call this "functional music". We'll see if my body rejects this when I sit down to read the sheet music...
posted by fishhouses at 9:04 AM on November 8, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by fishhouses at 9:04 AM on November 8, 2023 [6 favorites]
This is an interesting discussion, thanks for the post, rongorongo.
I really need music when I work, because between my tinnitus and my never-stopping brain, I need something to stop my thoughts from wandering. However I cannot deal with singing (it seems to occupy a different part of my brain), so I listen to a lot of Ambient music - some of which are Spotify playlists.
So I'm a little surprised I've never heard of Einaudi before. On first listen, his stuff falls into the category of "it's fine" for me. It's compositionally and harmonically quite simple (not necessarily a bad thing) and a little obvious to my ears.
As for David Bruce, I really like his videos, and as someone said earlier, his own compositions are really interesting if you are into the sort of complex, dissonent, more modern classical composition he does. I'm off to watch the video as soon as I get a break to see what he has to say about it.
posted by sauril at 9:14 AM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
I really need music when I work, because between my tinnitus and my never-stopping brain, I need something to stop my thoughts from wandering. However I cannot deal with singing (it seems to occupy a different part of my brain), so I listen to a lot of Ambient music - some of which are Spotify playlists.
So I'm a little surprised I've never heard of Einaudi before. On first listen, his stuff falls into the category of "it's fine" for me. It's compositionally and harmonically quite simple (not necessarily a bad thing) and a little obvious to my ears.
As for David Bruce, I really like his videos, and as someone said earlier, his own compositions are really interesting if you are into the sort of complex, dissonent, more modern classical composition he does. I'm off to watch the video as soon as I get a break to see what he has to say about it.
posted by sauril at 9:14 AM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
Another vote here for stuff I can "listen to, but not listen to" I like Autechre, but not when I just need something that sets a mood but demands nothing else from me. My daughter absolutely loves lofi girl on youtube for something she can listen to when she's drawing for the same reason.
posted by Dr. Twist at 9:47 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Dr. Twist at 9:47 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Einaudi is what I put on to read or sometimes to fall asleep
posted by Jacqueline at 10:56 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Jacqueline at 10:56 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Mittens, that sound is the sound of death, pointless and perfect and ceaseless. Einaudi is drone music released by Windham Hill. I tire of that piano, superfluous though solo. Gawd, it's so fucking boring.
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 11:24 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 11:24 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
Dr. Twist, excellent tangent. May I suggest:
Autechre Piano Songs Only
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 11:29 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Autechre Piano Songs Only
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 11:29 AM on November 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Not sure I'd listen to this much, but transcriptions of some of Einaudi's songs for guitar would make nice etudes for beginning students.
I think I have some students who would enjoy and learn something from those. So thanks, rongorongo!
posted by straight at 12:19 PM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
I think I have some students who would enjoy and learn something from those. So thanks, rongorongo!
posted by straight at 12:19 PM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
Angele Dubeau & La Pieta's Ludovico Einaudi Portrait album is my go to on airplanes, when studying or just to chill out. It's like drifting along on a river of sound. If I just need to drown out the sonic world around me, this does the trick perfectly!
posted by platinum at 12:46 PM on November 8, 2023
posted by platinum at 12:46 PM on November 8, 2023
Autechre Piano Songs Only
wait a minute...
posted by mittens at 12:48 PM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
wait a minute...
posted by mittens at 12:48 PM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
I love Einaudi! The substance of his music is a little hit-and-miss, but I love his song cycles, where he takes a basic theme and expands on it, finding different ways to articulate the same core emotion. I Giorni is a fave.
He's not a "serious" composer, no. He's more like George Winston, who always described himself as a "folk pianist," which I loved. But music is more than just an intellectual exercise or an artistic conversation: it's allowed to "just" evoke simple feeling. And Einaudi does that beautifully.
I'll also share a hot tip with you: his Primavera is one of the best possible backing tracks to do Dramatic Readings to. Did you or your friend receive a shitty work email or a melodramatic text from an ex or an incel? Put on Primavera, time it so the worst part of the message hits just as the song climaxes, and you can instantly replace twisted-up bad feelings with deep cathartic laughter and relief. It's up there with the Darwin's Creek theme for this trick.
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 12:52 PM on November 8, 2023 [5 favorites]
He's not a "serious" composer, no. He's more like George Winston, who always described himself as a "folk pianist," which I loved. But music is more than just an intellectual exercise or an artistic conversation: it's allowed to "just" evoke simple feeling. And Einaudi does that beautifully.
I'll also share a hot tip with you: his Primavera is one of the best possible backing tracks to do Dramatic Readings to. Did you or your friend receive a shitty work email or a melodramatic text from an ex or an incel? Put on Primavera, time it so the worst part of the message hits just as the song climaxes, and you can instantly replace twisted-up bad feelings with deep cathartic laughter and relief. It's up there with the Darwin's Creek theme for this trick.
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 12:52 PM on November 8, 2023 [5 favorites]
Reminds me of River Flows in You by Yiruma (이루마) which some of my guitar students wanted to learn a few years back.
posted by straight at 1:00 PM on November 8, 2023
posted by straight at 1:00 PM on November 8, 2023
Bruce's composition in "the style" *is* pointless noodling. Ugh. I listened to it and instantly got annoyed. So then I wondered - *is* Einaudi's work that trivial?
I just listened to a few clips - I go to Einaudi's music precisely because it has more complexity and creativity than noodling. Seriously - I just spent a serious amount of time looking for "make my living space not silent" music, and sifted through a *lot* of boring repetitive stuff. Einaudi was a breath of fresh air.
Yes the themes are simple in the way things are simple after you spend a non-trivial amount of time refining them, figuring out space and proportion (and rhythm), and then the end result is as simple as the shape of a leaf - but it represents the right leaf shape that works in the way a leafish approximation wouldn't.
If younger me had tried to draw a "leaf" all of them would have been ovals with one pointy end - almost all green, some brown. But someone who puts some work in to really think about leaves will notice that sometimes the edge is serrated, sometimes the veins are opposite and sometimes alternate -- there's complexity there. You can choose to look at it or just let the leaves blend into the trees into the landscape.
posted by amtho at 1:11 PM on November 8, 2023 [5 favorites]
I just listened to a few clips - I go to Einaudi's music precisely because it has more complexity and creativity than noodling. Seriously - I just spent a serious amount of time looking for "make my living space not silent" music, and sifted through a *lot* of boring repetitive stuff. Einaudi was a breath of fresh air.
Yes the themes are simple in the way things are simple after you spend a non-trivial amount of time refining them, figuring out space and proportion (and rhythm), and then the end result is as simple as the shape of a leaf - but it represents the right leaf shape that works in the way a leafish approximation wouldn't.
If younger me had tried to draw a "leaf" all of them would have been ovals with one pointy end - almost all green, some brown. But someone who puts some work in to really think about leaves will notice that sometimes the edge is serrated, sometimes the veins are opposite and sometimes alternate -- there's complexity there. You can choose to look at it or just let the leaves blend into the trees into the landscape.
posted by amtho at 1:11 PM on November 8, 2023 [5 favorites]
I'm also in the Einaudi-as-ambient-sound category. While I typically prefer silence in my living space, I find slow solo piano to be very calming when my anxiety kicks up, and Einaudi has a ton of that. It's perfect for me to fall asleep to.
posted by Preserver at 1:54 PM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Preserver at 1:54 PM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
Darwin's Creek
I assume this was meant to read Dawson's Creek but maybe I'm just out of the loop.
posted by axiom at 3:10 PM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
I assume this was meant to read Dawson's Creek but maybe I'm just out of the loop.
posted by axiom at 3:10 PM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
Yeah, Darwin's Creek was a very different show. Sure, they started with a 3-teen ensemble, but by the end only one survived. The cast was filled out with that person's numerous progeny.
posted by amtho at 5:43 PM on November 8, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by amtho at 5:43 PM on November 8, 2023 [5 favorites]
Brian Eno's "Music for Airports" is one of my all-time favorite albums. It's not always what I want to listen to, but nothing is, really.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:57 PM on November 8, 2023
posted by SoberHighland at 5:57 PM on November 8, 2023
Einaudi's music fits a very specific niche. It's remote, comforting, and 3rd person, which is why it's good for contemplating your shopping list or watching a glacier calve in response to global warming. It **scales**. It's the sound track that you want for private despair. It's the instrumental version of Elliot Smith. I'm not sure why this is so confusing....
posted by metametamind at 6:50 PM on November 8, 2023
posted by metametamind at 6:50 PM on November 8, 2023
Count me among those who have not heard of Einaudi before. From the little I tried listening to his music so far, I'm usually intrigued for a few minutes and then lose interest. I do like Walk, probably would like other pieces as well, and think I would enjoy them more as pure background. For something kind of similar, I find Kevin MacLeod very relaxing.
posted by blue shadows at 11:27 PM on November 8, 2023
posted by blue shadows at 11:27 PM on November 8, 2023
> I tire of that piano, superfluous though solo.
he's done at least one album, divenire, with actual orchestra. i couldn't take his solo piano either, but that one is okay for me.
posted by Clowder of bats at 2:25 AM on November 9, 2023
he's done at least one album, divenire, with actual orchestra. i couldn't take his solo piano either, but that one is okay for me.
posted by Clowder of bats at 2:25 AM on November 9, 2023
My wife and I choose Einaudi's Due Tramonti (two sunsets) as entry music for our wedding. The composer recounts that this was written after seeing a spectacular Tuscan sunset while traveling with his dad - and then realising they could drive to the top of a nearby hill to see it a second time. Bruce points out a couple of things which are relevant about the composers work that are relevant here:
1. It serves as good background music - to be heard more than listened to perhaps - useful if you have a carefully thought out film needing a sound track, or an aisle to be walked down.
2. Its minimalism means it is terribly hard to play. We were able to rope in a couple of talented family members to do so. I suspect Einaudi makes more from selling sheet music of his work than most other living composers.
I admire Bruce's commitment to trying to better understand music which does not appeal to him - especially by trying to re-create it. I do think that sometimes composers can fail to understand the listening environment and state of mind of their audiences. If you conduct an orchestra in a concert hall then maybe you picture your audience of sitting there paying close attention - or of sitting at home listening to a recording while not doing anything else. But there are audiences who want music as a soundtrack, music as medicine, music as learning material, music for going on a mental journey or even music to prevent their conversation being overheard.
posted by rongorongo at 5:14 AM on November 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
1. It serves as good background music - to be heard more than listened to perhaps - useful if you have a carefully thought out film needing a sound track, or an aisle to be walked down.
2. Its minimalism means it is terribly hard to play. We were able to rope in a couple of talented family members to do so. I suspect Einaudi makes more from selling sheet music of his work than most other living composers.
I admire Bruce's commitment to trying to better understand music which does not appeal to him - especially by trying to re-create it. I do think that sometimes composers can fail to understand the listening environment and state of mind of their audiences. If you conduct an orchestra in a concert hall then maybe you picture your audience of sitting there paying close attention - or of sitting at home listening to a recording while not doing anything else. But there are audiences who want music as a soundtrack, music as medicine, music as learning material, music for going on a mental journey or even music to prevent their conversation being overheard.
posted by rongorongo at 5:14 AM on November 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
I admire Bruce's commitment to trying to better understand music which does not appeal to him - especially by trying to re-create it. I do think that sometimes composers can fail to understand the listening environment and state of mind of their audiences. If you conduct an orchestra in a concert hall then maybe you picture your audience of sitting there paying close attention - or of sitting at home listening to a recording while not doing anything else.
I think this is really it: I have listened to Einaudi a lot over the years after discovering his work on Rdio but it’s what I listen to while writing software. I also have more demanding classical music that I listen to when listening is all I'm doing but for me these are distinctly separate niches.
posted by adamsc at 5:52 AM on November 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
"discovering his work on Rdio"
(Damn, I miss Rdio...)
Glad to have stumbled on this post. Also never heard of Einaudi before. There's a big space in my life for music that satisfies my need for pleasant sounds without drawing me in completely. When I write or when I read, for example, I can't listen to "great" music. That's an activity that requires too much brain to concentrate on.
Skimming some of his music, I think Einaudi might fit the bill. My other go-tos here include a lot of generic Synthwave music, Buckethead, and Yacht Rock stations...
posted by jzb at 11:35 AM on November 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
(Damn, I miss Rdio...)
Glad to have stumbled on this post. Also never heard of Einaudi before. There's a big space in my life for music that satisfies my need for pleasant sounds without drawing me in completely. When I write or when I read, for example, I can't listen to "great" music. That's an activity that requires too much brain to concentrate on.
Skimming some of his music, I think Einaudi might fit the bill. My other go-tos here include a lot of generic Synthwave music, Buckethead, and Yacht Rock stations...
posted by jzb at 11:35 AM on November 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
I just wanted to come back to this thread a minute to thank rongorongo for posting this. I've been listening to Einaudi for a week or so and I'm really hooked. The music plays in my head sometimes while I'm just out here being alive. It really has found a place in my listening, when I want something calmer than my usual techno or hyperpop, but not depressing-and-bleak calm. I'm really happy that I happened to see this post.
posted by mittens at 6:11 PM on November 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mittens at 6:11 PM on November 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
The music plays in my head sometimes while I'm just out here being alive.
Max Richter - whose works may also appeal to you if you like Eidaudi - spoke in his TinyDesk concert of "composing music as a space to think in". I like that notion.
posted by rongorongo at 6:09 AM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Max Richter - whose works may also appeal to you if you like Eidaudi - spoke in his TinyDesk concert of "composing music as a space to think in". I like that notion.
posted by rongorongo at 6:09 AM on November 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
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