Holy Crap!!!

[hummingbird]

Where's the koolaid? I'm one of those people who thinks the goal should be to practice like mad and sing/play it right, and only use the tools occasionally to tweak a couple of spots in an otherwise stellar track. I once recorded a vocal in an LA studio for a friend... I was extremely surprised when the producer expressed his surprise that I actually sang the whole song on key. He said sometimes he has to go through a whole track and the singer will be miles away from the notes. I was shocked that those singers would consider themselves professional and be pitching themselves as artists. That's not to say that all singers are like that, I'm just pointing out that there are merits to both points of view... a tool is a tool... but a tool can also mean someone who isn't doing their job meets a higher standard. I believe at some point the blinders would come off (usually in live performance) and the 'non-professional' would be revealed. I hope that that is true.

[aimusic]

Hummingbird, you are an excellent diplomat!! I agree, that's why I say the tool is brilliant on a professional level. And that's a brilliant example of what I mean by musicians not trying hard enough (meaning they can sing off in the studio and get away with it)Hummingbird I take my hat off to you for being a hard working musician... that shows professionalism!P.s. everyone, Hummingbird is the kind of professional musician I'm trying to talk about - meaning she gets the job done without much help.

[53mph]

Quote:I'm saying that it won't become an art like it is now... You won't have legendary musicians because a lot of them will feel that they don't NEED to rehearse 8 hours a day to be the best when they could just settle for being ok and then tweak stuff in the studio!!!As long as there are men on this earth there will be virtuoso musicians (no offense to ladies here). Men just have this obsession with mastering things, conquering moutains and generally pushing big boulders up steep hills for no real reason than the feeling of reaching the top (and then watching the boulder fall down the other side). Technology helps in the studio tweaking but that won't change the mindset of men.

[aimusic]

of course there will definately always be people striving to do great things, but I just think the numbers will drop. It's like a car - it can take us to places we could never go to before but in essence it has made us lazy.

[crs7string]

Quote:Everytime a groundbreaking studio tool appears some people complain that ill will ruin music.They did when multitrack recording made overdubs possible. They did when drummachines showed up. They did when midi sequencing became a reality. They said the same when sampling, harddisk recording and digital editing, and autotune were first introduced.New tools make new production techniques possible. They can save time. They can save you from having to redo the most emotionally charged take because of one or two slight pitch issues. They can also forster sterile, boring and antiseptic music. It depends on who is using them. mattoThey also said this when guitar players started using electronic tuners.Personally I like playing in tune and that my guitar tech can do a better job of a set up job.Chuck

[anne]

Wow. I'm stunned. I know what I'm asking for next Christmas!

[gitarrero]

Quote:of course there will definately always be people striving to do great things, but I just think the numbers will drop. It's like a car - it can take us to places we could never go to before but in essence it has made us lazy.I don't think that technical tools will make all music great (or bad).think about that: currently there is a tool or sample-library for almost any purpose under the sun (including software that composes/create music), and all is affordable. you can set up a studio for maybe $ 6'000 and be able to do recordings that end up in network shows - provided you have the know how (musical, technical, etc).yet lots of music I hear is far below great, even if all those technical tools exist - simply because of the lack of know how imho.it's true that every kid with a computer can do a digital recording & burn it on cd - and I think that's good. this just means that there's no technical or financial "barrier". however: talent, skills, know-how & passion aren't things that can be bought, and that makes the diffrence. so I think no technical tool or invention will change that - the bar of the technical quality of recordings will increase (or better: already have increased - who has any hiss on his recording anymore since the digital revolution?).but again, I think that's good and to the benefit of all.cheers,martin

[arkjack]

there is also the distinction between an 'instrument' and a production tool. We had a thread a while back about 'what is a producer?'. I thought is was someone who took beats and samples in cubase or some DAW and created a piece without actually playing instruments, or mixing in live instruments and midi with the samples. DJs do a lot of producing, slicing up sounds, samples, and tracks to create new 'music'. This advancement provides a pretty powerful tool to people who create in genres that rely on technology like rap and hip hop, spoken word, and techno. I'm sure over time I'll delve into these styles and try and 'master' some techniques. Afterall, in music knowledge is cumulative and expands creativity. ArkJack

[Mark Kaufman]

Having the ability to tweak each and every aspect of a recording...One thing I've noticed with advancing technology in "creative" realms: just because the capability is there, it does not necessarily follow that better music will be created. It always comes down to the imagination and judgment of the artist.A guy like Andreh would put this puppy through its paces and make wonderful recordings. On the other hand, a recording by "that weird kid with the goatee at Guitar Center" probably won't be any more appealing with this technology. Think about this digital age we are in, with unlimited tracks...man, I used to dream of it...not having to cram ten tracks onto a 4-track...Wow! ...but is music in general much better than ever before? Not really. It still comes down to who is making the music. Long live the artists.

[Casey H]

Wow, I'm surprised that this thread became so contravesial... In all areas of the things we do (not just music), there is always the fear that new technology will destroy everything good. The reality is, as our toolsets get better, we have more time to focus on other things because the mundane is left behind.I've been a software engineer for a very long time. I remember when people though going from assembly language to a high level language (such as C, Pascal, etc.) would be the death of good software because it took all that low level control out of the programmer's hands. Now, a compiler, was making these decisions! But, the step-up in toolset, meant better software, developed faster. And we wouldn't be sitting here on our PC's if everyone still wrote software in assembly language.And, back to music, any tool can be used to make amateurs or less talented folks sound better. But, as been said, in the hands of the right people, it will free up time to do even more creative things. Even today, you can make garbage with the state of the art tools you have or a masterpiece with a 4-track cassette recorder. Casey