[linux-audio-dev] Tuning

[Jan Depner]

On Sun, 2005-01-30 at 06:53, james at dis-dot-dat.net wrote:
> On Sat, 29 Jan, 2005 at 10:36AM -0600, Jan Depner spake thus:
> > On Sat, 2005-01-29 at 08:41, james at dis-dot-dat.net wrote:
> > > On Fri, 28 Jan, 2005 at 05:09PM -0600, Jan Depner spake thus:
> > > >     Next up... a plugin that plays your instrument for you.  Why deal
> > > > with the tedious hassle of having to tune your instrument or actually
> > > > learn how to play it?  Can't sing... not a problem!  I can see Micro$oft
> > > > coming out with something like that ;-)
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > >     Sorry, but this goes against the grain for me.  If I'm going to suck
> > > > live I'd damn well better suck digitally so I'll know better than to
> > > > play live ;-)
> > > 
> > > I think you're suffering more from lack of imagination than musical
> > > ability.  How would you "tune" plain speech?  i did this with the
> > > OB-Tune and the effect was impressive.  Or the sound of a formula one
> > > car, removing the doppler efefct to create a very interesting bass?
> > > 
> >     Good point.  I don't normally think about using things other than
> > instruments for music.  I can see where that could be very handy.  I
> > guess I'm just old school where music is concerned (probably because I'm
> > old ;-)
> 
> Well since I've only recently clocked up a quarter of a century, most
> people still seem old to me.  Although they're getting younger.  And
> the bloody kids, making a racket, and this was all fields...
> 
> But good for you for playing instruments.  I'd love to be more
> proficient, but although I understand the music, I have poor motor
> control - not like a disease, just an inherited trait.  I can play the
> guitar and the piano, but only slowly.  Too fast and my fingers can't
> decide where to go.
> 
> That's why I love making music with modern equipment - trackers and
> sequencers are the two things that I couldn't live without.
> 
> Anyway, sorry for the rant.  I agree that singers that can't sing and
> instrumentalists who can't instrument (verb abuse) should be singing
> and instrumentalising.
>  

    Actually, one of the reasons that I really enjoy this list is that I
get my eyes opened occasionally.  This is a good thing (TM)  ;-)

    Don't worry about speed with an instrument - it's way overrated. 
Less is definitely more in that department.  I didn't start playing
guitar until I was 20 which I thought was very late.  After 30 years I
think I'm finally beginning to get the hang of it ;-)  I wish I
understood trackers, sequencers, MIDI, soft synths...  I was thinking
the other day that the next big musical genius may well not be able to
play any instrument - that the music may just be in his/her head. 
Without those kind of tools we would miss out on that.  When I was
really young I was a flute playing jazz snob (if it didn't have a
million key changes I wasn't impressed).  Now I like the Ramones :-) 
For a while I felt the same way about making music without being able to
play an instrument.  So, sorry for my immediate, knee jerk reaction to
pitch correctors.

Jan