The Line Between A and B - The Diigo Meta page

• 23 Jul 12
  

  Todd Suomela

  "A’s were reserved for new music broad enough in its appeal to cross boundaries. I was occasionally called on the carpet, gently, for grade inflation, for being too liberal with my A’s, because I couldn’t stomach giving a superb recording of a Cage chance piece, or a wonderful Niblock drone piece, a B just because its potential audience seemed limited. I fudged."

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  • Grades are silly, and I hope no one was ever fooled (or insulted) by the Consumers Guide categories, but it is interesting to imagine grading pieces not mostly on quality, but on a multidimensional spectrum of opposites with no value judgments attached to either side:

     
     
    • smooth vs. crunchy
     
    • original vs. traditional
     
    • simple vs. complex
     
    • meditative vs. exciting
     
    • carefully crafted vs. messy

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