[LAU] The democratization on music might not always be a good thing...

[David Santamauro]

Hi Drew,

On Thu, 4 Nov 2010 10:12:57 -0400
drew Roberts <zotz at 100jamz.com> wrote:

> On Wednesday 03 November 2010 19:28:29 Leigh Dyer wrote:

> > I don't think there's any point worrying about music production
> > getting "too easy" or "too accessible" -- the ship probably sailed
> > on that when Tascam released the Portastudio, or when Dave Smith
> > and friends created MIDI. People have been making trite music with
> > the best equipment money can by for years, and others have been
> > making interesting music with toys and junk for just as long. If
> > this helps people express musical ideas that they'd been unable to
> > express beforehand, then that's fantastic.
> 
> To me, one of the problems comes down to the split between musical 
> appreciation and creation and the technical abilities needed to
> perform what is imagined / conceived.
> 
> Imagine if a novelist or poet had to practice for years to gain
> mastery over the pencil or keyboard in the same way a musician has to
> practice to gain mastery over their instrument.

I see that analogy as very fitting but the conclusion as simply wrong. A
novelist or poet does, indeed, spend years (a lifetime even) gaining a
mastery of not only the "pencil", but also the words and sentence
structure. My 8-year old daughter will attest to the difficulty
involved and the years it takes to master moving her writing instrument
to produce the correct glyph--not to mention putting all those glyphs
together to form words, sentences and ultimately a coherent story that
expresses her intent.

> 
> Tech that makes it easier to produce what is conceived are no more
> dangerous to good music than is to move to a pencil from a stone
> chisel and hammer.

This is agree with wholeheartedly.

David