Jazz as function
I recently watched a fascinating youtube video about the history of fonts (or, more accurately, typefaces). I’ve always admired graphic design from afar and I love watching artistic movements through different lenses, and this video was made very digestible to someone like me. There’s this concept in design, as well as in marketing, advertising and I'd imagine architecture to some extent that the best typeface is the one that makes you forget that you are looking at a typeface. The best ad makes you forget that you are being marketed to. There is also this concept of form vs function; the fonts that get the job done vs the typefaces that are beautiful to look at. I immediately began obsessing over how these concepts might apply to music.
The ultimate goal of a typeface is connection and communication. It is most effective when it is at its most clear. I’d like to argue that this quest for the transmission of information is also the goal of music, perhaps only with a more spiritual or intangible focus; the clear communication of an idea from my mind into yours.
Clearly, music and graphic design have different purposes in society and culture. Graphic design is pretty much anywhere we look; logos, branding, government messaging. This art form seems to be ruled by its function, the artistic outlook coming after what its main intention is. Music, however, is perceived by most as being purely artistic. People listen to certain artists because of their signature sound, people go to concerts to indulge in this art form and its beauty. I find people rarely think of music as serving a function other than bringing joy to everyday life, but I'd argue that music can take up the same function space as graphic design in certain instances.
The obvious example is the presence of music in marketing; jingles in commercials or on the radio, or the music present in film and television, or even just the 5 seconds during award shows that let a band shine. In these instances, this art form is reduced down and conscripted to the background. The goal is to advertise, to transition, or to set a mood. Film scores follow the last function as well, serving to add atmosphere to the visual medium.
This is not to say that these instances of music are without artistry; clearly there are beautiful film scores and awards designed to recognize them. But on top of being well-composed music, film scores, at their core, have the aim of communication, similarly to typefaces. A good film score reflects the plot, themes and devices of the film itself. One could listen to the score on its own and still understand the meaning of a film when a score is composed ultra-effectively.
It’s important to realize that being “effective” in art could mean many things. At its core, art’s purpose is to externalize some expression of the artist’s self, a reflection of the person or the society the person inhabits. If it is lost on the audience, or interpreted in wildly different ways, this doesn’t mean that the art is therefore ineffective and bad at its function. The beauty may still exist within it, and those misinterpretations are indeed part of the artistic process.
In this regard, words fail to communicate as often as art may. Language, and especially the translation of languages and notations, are as close to functional arts as one could get. Yet time after time, words and sentences are misconstrued, and my thoughts will never be held in your mind the way it is in mine.
I have learned artistic movements through the lens of music and it is endlessly fascinating to see the philosophical soul of these movements manifested in different arts. It is endlessly inspiring too, to see how art moves from function to beauty in each of their respective histories. The pendulum seems to constantly sway, where one end represents pure function, then ornamentation, then radical minimalism, then swaying towards passionate abundance. Perhaps it might change the way you compose, if you consider the pure function of what you are doing. Perhaps it will change the way you perform, if you focus more on the message you are trying to communicate. Perhaps it could alter the way you digest music, if you focus on the spirit.
(The youtube video mentioned is titled : I promise this story about fonts is interesting by struthless)