6 Jul
2004
6 Jul
'04
4:08 p.m.
Alastair Couper wrote:
The technology is interesting, to be sure. But what
does it say about
the state of artistry these days ? 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.
This is kinda what I was hinting at earlier... this kind of stuff tends
to sound over-produced and manufactured, IMHO. I think the life and
breath of music gets taken away by trying to make it too perfect sounding.
But as for using a drum machine, some of us have no choice. I don't
have the money to buy a full kit, let alone have the equipment to record
one, let alone have the time to take lessons to play at a skill level
high enough for the music I want to play. :-)
But I would never use a drum machine live. I'd hire a real drummer for
that. :-)
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