Has technology destroyed music?

[shortstory]

Originally Posted by FullCount

No, people are the problem; and this is why:

Technology, or tools, or guns, etc, don't have the ability to make decisions; only people do.

You can say: "Well, the quality of the tools has degraded". No, they haven't. Just more
crappy tools were made to accommodate people, who, 40 years ago, wouldn't have been able to afford to make music in the first place. A moog today is probably just as out of reach as a moog yesterday, probably even less so.

It comes down to people and work-ethic. What you hear on the radio is audible McDonalds for people who don't want to chop onions, stir the pot, or do the dishes later.

At the same time, there's nothing wrong with it. McDonald's allows someone to go out and buy a burger for $1 when they might not able to afford the ingredients to make a burger in the first place. In the same way, cheap gear allows people to make music when, back in the day, they couldn't afford to do it.

McDonalds.. and M[c]-Audio(coined that!), are the very definition of democracy, just not the definition of good quality.

It's your choice what you want to make and listen to. It's not technology, it's people.

__________________________

Bingo

[cixelsyd]

Music is human expression. Only humans can ruin it. One way that we lessen the power of music is as musicians we rely more on technology for expression and then something gets lost, or seems too.

[2manyrocks]

Originally Posted by mastermix

Pitched to Perfection: Pop Star’s Silent Partner

[l]

You don't have to read far in the link to get to this--

"Only later, after the singer is gone, does __________stitch the best pieces together, Frankenstein-like, into the song you hear."

I edited out the gentleman's name from the quote because we could probably fit anyone's name in the blank except we call it comps and takes instead of "Frankenstein parts." No disrepect is intended towards anyone. It's just that Frankenstein quote crystalizes some of the problem being discussed in this thread.

Listening to some piano material from the tape recording days over the weekend impressed on me again just how good the pianist was and had to be to make that recording.

[joeq]

Originally Posted by 2manyrocks

Listening to some piano material from the tape recording days over the weekend impressed on me again just how good the pianist was and had to be to make that recording.

Your comps only sound like Frankenstein if the individual parts seem to come from 'different people'. With great musicians, great comps can be seamless and musical. If you are comping to put together the best parts instead of the 'least bad' parts, your comp can even be great.

[2manyrocks]

Going on memory here (which isn't what it used to be), but wasn't part of the problem in the original Frankenstein genre was that the good doctor was supplied with diseased body parts?

I don't think connotation was at all intended in the story posted in the link, nor do I mean to be critical towards anybody.

I'm just struggling with my own thoughts that some of the older stuff had a real vibe, but was technically challenged. The newer stuff may be technically better, but seems to lack the vibe? Could be me, the listener at fault.

[ksandvik]

McDonalds is actually a good example of where mass-production hides the general public from realizing what good food is all about. Same with music.

[rdstreets]

Funny how someone starts a thread that resonates with a topic that's been on your mind for days. I couldn't figure out why so many of my most recent attempts at a good song were not panning out. Then I realized how over the past few years I got both lazy and impatient, so would basically write the song as I produced it in my DAW. Sometimes this works out. I'd wager more often it does not.

I've made the choice to take a step back and stick to a pen, pad and guitar/piano. Write the thing out by hand first. Get excited about it in it's basic form. Practice performing it (not while you're recording it). Then start cutting tracks.

The tech we have at our fingertips is awesome. If anyone told me I'd have the tools I have now back in the 80s I would never have believed it.