I love electronic TOOLS that aid in the creative process. What worries me is that new "composers" are cuting & pasting clips and samples that others have created and calling it "new". It may be lika a "Collage" or a "Quilt" but it's more of a smorgasbord than a gormet meal.
Even kids in instrumental music classes today don't practice as much as they should because they have too many "lazy" ways out. When I studied clarinet and saxophone the only way to imrove was to spend HOURS & HOURS on technique and tone. There are no shortcuts for "REAL LIVE" music.
An electric organ will not "PLAY" itself, and an electric guitar sounds like crap in the hands of a "TALENTLESS" player. "Beatmaking" is NOT MUSIC MAKING!
Beats are for dancing, excercizing, general partying etc...... Music is from the soul - NOT the HARD DRIVE ! Argue all you want about change and modern advances - the simple facts are these: Today's generation of players cannot hold a candle to the instrumentalists of even 20 years ago. Go back another 20 and you'll see the "Legends" that inspired most of the techniqe you hear copied today. If it's not shown on MTV, today's kids don't know what it is. If all you hear are samples and synths through speakers, then you have NO IDEA of the beauty of a solo violin with a live orchestra, or the way the natural reverb in a tiled bathroom makes an alto sax sound like angels singing, or the simple joy of listening to the opening "A" played by the oboe at the start of the symhony, and the "musical conversation" that follows as the players fine tune their instuments using .......... THEIR EARS ! What a concept! What a strange and wonderful tool, our ears are! Forgive my ranting, I know I do it alot, but I think what I really want is a discussion site that talks about "creation" and not copying. We trade styles, and swap samples so we can play "canned" midi files of songs that use to be so much fun to play. So what if the arpeggiater can play faster and more presise than we can. So what if the percussion parts require 32 hands. So what if we play at all??
No one needs to hear the band anymore right? We can all be Brittney's, and Brandy's! No one knows where the music BEHIND the Backstreet Boys comes from! The kids are just looking at the "Boys" who are following the dance steps that the same 10 teachers give everybody else, and they all call it music. Well, I'm a singer too and I feel cheated when the band isn't a feature of the show. I need to see creation, NOT automation. I want SOUL, not smoke. Let's try to find ways to get the young people interrested in the creation of music with their hearts and their hands again. My daughter takes dance lessons, listens to hip-hop but she and I play the clarinet together! We all need to remember the simpler joys of the arts. Not too many notes, not too many colors, not too loud, not too fast ... not too much of anything ..... just enough. Enough to transform you into a new person, or transport you to a new place. Music can save your life, man! Let's save the MUSIC! The real Music, made BY people, for People to listen to. It has to SAY something or it's a waste of breath. and now as far as typing goes, I'm OUT of breath too! Thanx for reading this, it has to be said .....(alot!)