From Jeremy Dickens Sent Tue, Jul 21st 1998, 09:20
From Jeremy Dickens Sent Tue, Jul 21st 1998, 09:20
>After all this to-ing and fro-ing over autechre gear list, secrecy, etc,
>a thought occurred to me:
>
>As software technology for music production progresses, it is already possible
>to make music entirely in the computer, and there are several programs that
>do a decent job of emulating actual instruments.
>
>Are we reaching the point where it really doesn't matter what gear you use,
>or how you 'play' your music to achieve your results?
>
<DE-LURK>
A couple of points to mention here... Yes, there is a new wave of
music software coming around that enables you to create tracks completely
in the digital domain of your computer...In fact, certain IDM-type artists
use almost nothing but their computer these days. However, most of the
software synths and the like that are available require serious computing
power to really get results out of, and therefore are mostly of limited
usefulness. On the other hand, you have programs like CSound, Max, Kyma
and the like that have such steep learning curves (learning fairly distinct
programming languages in order to use them) that it is (on at least one
level) like learning to play a very complex instrument. Therefore, the
computer is biased towards a 'production' rather than a 'performance'
paradigm, a role for which desktop computers are quite suited (ask Autechre
or Coil...Both of whom use computers as digital signal processors of almost
godlike proportions)
>What does it mean to change from the world pre-1990, where musicians spent
>a lot of time developing muscle-based skills in order to play music, to a
>world
>where nearly any musical effect can be achieved without playing skill?
>And I'm not talking talent here -- I'm talking what used to be called 'chops'
>-- your mastery of the real time mechanics of a particular instrument.
>
I'd like to offer a slightly different viewpoint here... It might not seem
like much, but being able to tweak, edit, mutate, etc. electronic music in
real time/in a live environment is fairly analogous to having such mastery.
I can play a number of instruments, and I find doing the above tweaking to
my electronic tracks during live performance to be just as (if not more)
challenging than playing any "legitimate" instrument.
Part of it is the number of factors (i.e.,. being intimately familiar with
not just one instrument, but a number of small, specialized computers with
tiny screens, buttons and knobs), but I also think that (in an IDM context)
one must have the DJ's ear for listening to your live arrangement/knob
twiddling...Which brings us to the next point:
>If this is the case, it makes for a situation where the musician's skill
>ends up residing more in selection, discrimination, sequencing, and layering,
>all happening outside real-time. In other words, the skills of an old
>fashioned composer, with more immediate audio feedback.
Given the sterile environment of "writing" or (possibly) "recording", this
might be what you're left with, which means you have the next generation of
arrangers on your hands...Arranging is a musical skill/talent that isn't to
be sneezed at... Look at jazz, for example. Then again, if you're doing
your selection, discrimination, etc. in real time, what do you have there?
>In this situation, there develops a virtuosity that lives outside the real
>time virtuosity of traditional musicians. What are we giving up? Is there
>any inherent advantage of 'humanness' to live playing in real time that is
>unachievable via computer-mediated musicianship?
>
I suppose I could sum up by saying that I disagree that this virtuosity
lives outside of 'real-time', and I don't think I'm the only one working in
such a way that it doesn't. Has anyone here seen not breathing play live?
Dave & co. aren't playing from DAT or some such, but are instead
arranging/fading/twiddling sequenced tracks... From what I've heard, Ae
live does the same thing, with perhaps even a bit more complexity. The Orb
practically take their studio on stage with them and remix for the crowd in
realtime.
RDJ does the same thing out of his powerbook.
>A side note on 'is it the shoes/synth?' debate -- the venerable Roland
>TB303's asking price seems to be dropping precipitously, from average
>asking prices in US Dollars of $1200+ last year, down to the sub-$900
>range.
Heh. 303 going out of style, or does ReBirth have something to do with
this? All I know is that none of my 303 samples really sound anything like
a 303, and I did that on purpose. :)
xxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx :: Jeremy Dickens :: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxxxxxx.xxx
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