Genre story · Experimental
Free Noise
Unscripted performance making abrasive sound and the interaction between players its central material.
Free Noise is not one historically settled genre. It describes the intersection of free improvisation and noise-making techniques, with roots in experimental jazz, performance art and underground electronic music. A saxophone, electric guitar or homemade sound source can produce sustained friction while another player responds without a written sequence of chords. Some pieces are very loud; others rely on pauses and small changes in texture. Groups such as Borbetomagus, alongside wider free-improvisation networks, show why the focus should be on the method of making music rather than the mere absence of melody.
Listening comparisons
- 1983BorbetomagusBarbed Wire Maggots
- 1981AMMThe CryptRecorded 1968, released 1981.
- 1996MerzbowPulse Demon1996, noise reference.