Hi Alastair, --- Alastair Couper <kalepa@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > The technology is interesting, to be sure. But what > does it say about the > state of artistry these days ? The current state of artistry compared to the 1940's and 1950's jazz scene is probably fritening for any player that was part of the bebop jazz era. I, like you, definitely subscribe to the school of music that demands mastering an instrument. It can't be any other way for me but that's my values. In my professional reality, people pay me to make them sound great and I do my best. Numerous drummers have said, "Make me sound like Jon Bonham." Of course I could respond by saying, "sit down at my kit and let me hear you sound like him and when you do, I'll make you sound like him." Because the truth is, you either do or don't. Many of us need to play an instrument for 10 years before we begin to sound similar to anyone for whom we aspire. Until I achieve that degree of compentency, audio engineers can fix my slop. Why shouldn't they? I don't want to pay good money for a studio product that makes for a painful listening experience. And I don't want to wait 10 years before I can record or perform my songs. Most of us would never perform if we had to pass a test to recieve and carry a musician license that proves we're on a level with David Crosby, James Brown or whomever Tipper Gore and her church lady planning, tea toddler friends decide we should sound like. None of us needs any type of license to love making the music of their choice. Frank Zappa stood up for the right of free speech which includes our god given rights to autotune, pitch shift and quantize. hehe Or was Frank a hypocrite? Should I forever refrain from expressing my stupidity? Alastair, honestly, I share your exact sympathies. Which is why I practice L, R, L,L, R, L, R,R and a handful of the other 25 drum rudiments every day--I want to be a better singer and song writer. Don't ask! ron I recently read an > interview with David > Crosby, decrying the rise of autotune plugins and > the like. He spent his > energies on learning to sing on pitch. These days > performers don't need to > sing at all, they just mouth tracks that were > autotuned in the studio. And > another interview has James Brown saying: don't use > a drum machine, learn > to play the drums. The best music comes from the > mastery of an instrument > or vocal skill, not from editing. > > I have watched as I try various tools to bang my > playing into shape, and > am finally deciding that this is the wrong way to > go. Spitiual death is > around the corner. Live music is best. Music is > meant to be PLAYED after > all, not worked. Or worked over. > > A minority opinion from a nobody. Given the state of > the "industry" > though, it's going to be like Photoshop for audio, > where there is no > physical point of reference anymore, and anything > can be morphed into > anything. > > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
