Lowercase is an extreme form of ambient minimalism in which very quiet sounds are amplified to extreme levels.
01 · What it is
Living Tradition
Documented cultural tradition on record; family classification awaits an editor.
02 · Where & name
United States of America
Placed on record in United States of America.
03 · How it is doing
□□□□ (Not yet assessed)
Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
04 · Proof & reuse
2 cited sources
Every claim links to a public record below. Free to quote, teach, and share under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chapter Takeaways
DefinitionSteve Roden stated this about the lowercase tendencies which he began to develop in his later works: “It bears a certain sense of quiet and humility; it doesn't demand attention, it must be discovered...
Common Questions Answered on Record
What is lowercase in plain words?
Lowercase is an extreme form of ambient minimalism in which very quiet sounds are amplified to extreme levels.
Where is lowercase practised or documented?
Sources on this page place lowercase in United States of America.
The tradition & historical record
1 min read · 2 sources
Lowercase is an extreme form of ambient minimalism in which very quiet sounds are amplified to extreme levels. Minimal artist Steve Roden popularized the movement with an album entitled Forms of Paper, in which he made recordings of himself handling paper in various ways. These recordings were commissioned by the Hollywood branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. 1
Definition
Steve Roden stated this about the lowercase tendencies which he began to develop in his later works: “It bears a certain sense of quiet and humility; it doesn't demand attention, it must be discovered... It’s the opposite of capital letters—loud things which draw attention to themselves.” 1
The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Lowercase (music)”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. 1
lowercase is form of ambient minimalist music where very quiet, usually unheard, sounds are amplified to extreme levels, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 2
The source record links this tradition to 5 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. 2