high signal to noise ratio
Jason Kottke interviews Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker, author of The Rest is Noise, and author of a TypePad blog by the same name.
When you have a repertory that goes from Hildegard von Bingen’s medieval chant to Vivaldi’s bustling Baroque concertos to Wagner’s five-hour music dramas to John Cage’s chance-produced electronic noise to Steve Reich’s West African-influenced “Drumming,” you’re not talking about a single sound.