Another Timbre
The Anonymous Zone
Welcome to The Anonymous Zone
For an explanation of how The Zone works, see below on the right. Straight below are the 6 anonymous pieces currently streamed in The Zone. The pieces have been given temporary titles containing the date on which the identities of the musicians will be revealed. Click on the title/date to listen.
On the Archive Page you can find the first 16 pieces which appeared on The Zone. The identities of the musicians behind those pieces are now revealed, and you can see who they are and find out more about their music. Go to the Archive Page here
We recommend that you listen to music in The Anonymous Zone either on good quality headphones or through a good audio system rather than on laptop speakers.
The pieces were all mastered separately and at different levels, so you may want to adjust the volume from piece to piece for optimum playback.
02/06/13#P duration: 11:21
02/06/13#Q duration: 13:41
02/06/13#R duration: 11:09
02/06/13#S duration: 11:18
The Anonymous Zone is a place where music can be listened to and appreciated for what it really is, not because of who made it. Improvisation and contemporary classical music are as riddled with star systems as any other form of music, and inevitably, in spite of our best intentions, our reaction to a piece of music is partly determined by our knowledge of who is playing or has composed it. So we give more time and attention to pieces by our favourite musicians, and – conversely – we’re inclined to quickly pass over music by people we either don’t know or assume we don’t much like.
The Anonymous Zone challenges these preconceptions by presenting music without telling you who it’s by. The pieces in The Zone are streamed here for a period of six months. After that the identities of the musicians behind the pieces are revealed, so that – if you liked a particular piece – you can then check out other music by them. After being on The Zone, the pieces will go into a growing archive which you can find here
Some of the musicians represented here are well-known ‘stars’, but there are others who you’ve probably never heard of. We think that all of the music in The Zone is well worth a listen, though you might disagree in some – or in many – cases; that’s for you to decide.
The first batch of pieces that were streamed on The Zone were moved onto the Archive Page in January 2013, after six months of anonymity. But more pieces are added to The Zone as time goes on so that there are always some anonymous pieces on this page.
The Anonymous Zone isn’t a game for you to guess who’s playing the music (though you’re welcome to do this if you like); none of the musicians has changed the character of their music in any way, or pretended to be someone else. The Zone is simply a space where you can listen to their music without prejudice and appreciate it for its own worth.
Reviews and Comments
There is a separate page for comments here which also has
reviews and articles by critics. You may prefer to listen to the
pieces before reading other people’s responses. Once you’ve
listened, you’re welcome to let us know what you think by
emailing info@anothertimbre.com