From Et Pharmacistic Paradoxia Sent Thu, Mar 26th 1998, 05:35
From Et Pharmacistic Paradoxia Sent Thu, Mar 26th 1998, 05:35
On Wed, 25 Mar 1998, Random Junk wrote:
> siliconvortex wrote this:
> > this kind of gear wasn't really the focus of what i was saying - i was sort
> > of talking about high-quality gear, as in low noise, high bandwidth blah
> > blah, not so much about new tools, which are a more valid way of spending
> > your cash, but still, not something you HAVE to have..
>
> you don't HAVE to have anything. i don't think you can draw a
This is really true, imo, as I've seen some amazing programming and eq'ing
around the crappiest gear that sounds great in the end and doesn't have
noise that mastering couldn't fix anyway. It is all in the programming,
like what soundmaking potential a peice of gear is designed to do is
really only 10% of the music-making issue compared to the potential for
programming it in an interesting way (90% of the potential of the gear)
Programming & Composition is really the thing that is neglected, whereas
it should be 90% of what a electronic musician is doing. Most people I
know are gear-shopping half of the time, basically procrastinating the
time that they should spend staring at the little LCD's and pushing
buttons.
> i respect tom's ability to a degree but his bad engineering really
> detracts from the experience, for me.
I agree, like that first Spymania is a frustrating listen about midway
thru, but I keep listenning as the *programming* is just undeniably
mental (my ears just have to suffer a little!)
> > with more expensive, and more complex equipment, you can obviously achieve a
> > wider variety of sonic delights and other such things. but is this all that
> > is important about music?
>
> nobody said it was.
I think it was implied that too many people spend too much time aquiring
gear and not enough time programming it and that nobody challenges this
common state of mind. For instance, how many people are really up to
exploiting all of the functionality of Logic or Max; have they really done
all that they can do with 1988's Cubase or Notator (ten year old programs)
and is their composition so refined that they "need" those esoteric
functions by the end of next week? Do I sound like I have a Puritan work
ethic? |-/ (A: tough shit! |-l )
> > no it's not. this is much too expansive a subject to write about off the
> > cuff as i am doing here, but i would say that looking at technology as the
> > way to solve your problems, in this case, musical, is simply side stepping
This is the crux of the argument, imo, buying into technology without
pushing what boxes they've already got. It is like people buying bigger
and better computers: have they even utilized 1/10th of the potential of
their setups? Aren't they side-stepping the issue of developing their
compositional skills and personal efficiency and discipline?
> > the issue. if you can't 'do it' on a simple setup, what is there to say
> > that by simply piling up the gear, piling up the options, piling up the
> > sounds, is going to make your music worthwhile? nothing!
> violin. i refute that. what i want to "say", musically, can't be
> expressed with one drum machine and one synth. does that make it more
> or less valid? i don't think so.
checking out a lot of gear can be great for finding out what tools work
best for you, but I think the original post was criticizing people that
jsut buy gear and then sit on their hands.
> right but surely you admit that it's possible that 48 tracks of
> expensive gear can sound good if used by talented individuals.
I admit this is possible, though rare. For instance, 808 State, who had a
very layered sound on Ex:cel, used a pretty elaborate studio setup, but I
think people like this work their way up (Massey started in '80), having
learned how to exploit more minimal tools in the past.
BTW: I don't mean to offend either Jon or siliconvortex, but I have a lot
of experiences of meeting programmers w/ & w/o equipment to spot a
definite pattern (based on what I subjectively think is good music).
Recently hanging out with OST reminded me of what a couple of $150 Alesis
units had, given creative brain behind them, and a bottle of Glenlivet
scotch (cheers, Geoff!) Very humbling experience, actually...
Solenoid
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