'appropriation'

VUW and a number of production companies in New Zealand that are jealous of my successful incorporation of non-Western ideas into The Perfumed Garden would claim that there are cultural sensitivities that I haven't addressed in the opera, but they're essentially wrong. I'm the writer that's done various readings into the sociology of the Muslim world and sought out somebody that was culturally competent to develop the opera with us. Golriz brought that vibe, even though she's been talking about me rather than to me. - To start with, I'm going to point out their hypocritical view of using computers as part of writing music (ie all AI is evil, machine process is ok). That's a load of shit, and they would only say that because I told them that 'AI' helped me to write it. Nobody moaned about Chloefilm, where I used electroacoustic techniques to create those bowed guitar sounds. That's retrograde applied strictly, to be blunt. Mathematicians and other scientists routinely use a calculator or a computer to assist them with modelling, like climate scientists. Spectralism literally requires computers to do the Fourier transforms that underlie the theory of those pretentious wankers who don't 'do' rhythm or melody. Pushing the retrograde or inversion button or changing the collection of notes that form the scale in Sibelius are all identical techniques. Lilburn spent most of his later life writing electroacoustic pieces. When was the last time that any of you consciously used the rudiments of composition? Using mechanical tools to speed up the process isn't cheating, and the very accusation that it was speaks volumes about your desire being to trip me up as if this is a thesis and you're entitled to debate me. Only if you were to write me an email, not just because I wrote a better piece than you. Pan's Preludes didn't use those tools, and Sondheim literally wrote out hundreds of variations of motifs to do the same thing. - Dr. Fisher, Dr. Lisik and Dr. Norris aren't from a Muslim-majority country, and nobody from those backgrounds has complained that I'm 'stealing' their music. If anything those folks, and Indian people, are already enduring fans of my work. Golriz is the one who had to say whether it was 'stealing' or not. She hasn't bitched, and I think she rather enjoyed hearing music that sounded like her. VUW is being rude, and the Red Scare wankers are simply jealous. Your illegal spying isn't welcome. I'm not expanding everything out because the album is a demo album, and you shouldn't have been so quick to assume that I wasn't using a shitload of compositional training to accomplish the simplicity of my sound. That's what they found out from 'encouraging' me to return to the alma mater after writing a hit so that they can feel part of it. Contrary to their belief, I compose music, rather than merely writing down my improvisations and never altering them. That's what they thought, despite sitting in composition classrooms with me and knowing I was a prize winner as a composer. Guitarists are never taken seriously, so they've had to plump for Berlioz as an analogy because there hasn't been a major opera composer that used guitar a sketching instrument other than him, as they were unaware that Sor and Giuliani wrote opera as well. - The discussion/meltdown over Zohra's subterranean song neatly articulates their misunderstanding of my music: they think that Broadway is showy and razzmatazz, so I needed to add 'more' instruments to make it better. That's the show people and the uni alike, both of whom were wrong, as this is probably closer to a chamber opera than grand opera. I completely disagreed about the demo with all those instruments: it sounded clunky and shitty, plus it wasn't a polished orchestration. That's what happens when you try to 'demo' it with a full band. The xylophone, tam-tam and bass drum was ultimately more evocative. A real orchestration is another matter, and I'm not doing those until the keys are set, and the band for a production is set. If it's my name on the score, I'd like all the notes to be mine as well, though that isn't necessarily practical. Even in that context, though, I'd want to work with an arranger that has practical experience in opera or musicals. Given that, and given that this show is a commercial venture, you have managed to breach my privacy and demonstrate that VUW is more interested in the prestige of treating me like a wage slave grad student that has the magical ability to communicate to people in language that doesn't make me seem like a twat, rather than a composer that has a formidable reputation. Salina has to apologise over trying to override my idiom. An idiom that I specifically constructed for this particular show. I didn't ask anyone to rewrite the notes, and it's deeply insulting that they tried to do so. It's called collaboration, not stalking the weirdo. If you'd found me paying gigs as a teacher, as a performer, or as a filmmaker, perhaps you'd have a say in the work that I create or the process by which I create it. As you didn't, you're not allowed to step on my toes. That's reserved for Dave and Golriz.