idlemode wrote:@upreal
maybe that is a good aspect to it. ya can sit down and make tune. whatever comes out. don't have to worry about genre, normal structures, and formulas....ending up with something hopefully different and new....perhaps?
Yes. This is how it works. Genres define how you sound. Even so-called 'open' genres force a specific audio aesthetic onto you. Artists often feel they have sound a certain way to get heard or appreciated when working in a set genre or scene. This is a shame as it makes everything sound the same. 111 allows you to make anything you like, as long as you use 111 bpm as the tempo. Having a basic requirement puts a constraint on the artist, which at first might seem somewhat harsh and confining, but those who have made tracks have found it extremely liberating. There is something remarkable about this tempo as it can feel both fast or slow. A lot of different beats can live here. Sometimes you just have to try something to 'get it.'
We already have some wildly different music and its really exciting to hear it all come together in one place. We consider ourselves post-genre. A lot of us are slightly older and have seen a lot of musical genres come and go over the years. 111 is a good place for people who can appreciate a lot of different styles. The more we grow, the larger the talent pool and the larger the variety.
111 bpm is the only rule which is in constant use, but our method is taken further by the issuing of occasional artistic constraints. These are challenging works that offer an additional 2 rules to be taken into account by the artists. These rules can be anything (as long as it doesn't negate the first rule). A good example is the 'mother' constraint. It gives a second rule as a thematic element, i.e Mother, and a third rule stating no drums or percussion. It is then up to the artists who want to get involved with this to write an expressive track following these constraints. Once enough pieces of music are written in a constraint, we will release all the tracks as part of a themed compilation that could be put together as a continuous mix, or not.
So far, its been an extremely good and mind opening experience.
