MakeShift


The world has just changed.  If I had to guess, there is more music being made today, then ever before.  With the ease of technology, especially in home recording, music is being recorded every where.  If you go into a Guitar Center, there are as many people in the Recording/ Mic/ Monitors section as there are playing guitars....maybe more.

People are n't buying real piano's these days, they buy electric pianos and synthasizers, they have more flexability and are lighter.  Check out the youngsters playing guitar amps, they spend all of their time on the Line 6 amps and digital effects.  Us old guys and our tube amps have become a minority.

I kind of agree with Danny here, in that if I was a young guy and I wanted to make it in the music biz these days, I would use what ever tools I had a my disposal.  I would also need to keep one shoe on being current and one shoe on being innovative.  But see, it does n't really matter to me these days whether or not I am "current" in what I do.  I do what I like and if others like it, well great.  It's a bit like the old blues players that learned their craft and spent their lives religiously doing the music that they loved.  A lot of people never liked it or even really got it.  They grew old and were never famous; then suddenly, out of the blue (no pun intended), they are noticed for their craft.  It may have never happened for some of them; but the point was that they were doing what they loved to do.

I fully believe that most of the music buying public is pretty aware of who can play, who can sing, and what tools are being used to enhance the skills of those that can't do either.  I just don't think they care.  They vote with their money....same as it always has been.  Heck, some record mogul once told the Beatles that guitar playing bands were on their way out.  Did n't seem to stop them from doing what they loved and changing the industry.

Well said Mike. Especially the amps thing. People today don't have the time or the patience to grab a tube amp and tweak it until it sounds like God himself touched the amp. Everything is about time being of the essence. I got news for you...I'm starting to feel the same way. Though I love tube amps, I have found that I always have to try and run several things into that tube amp with lots of trial and error to get it where I want it. I love the tube voicing part of it, but some of the other elements in getting a good sound from a tube amp can be annoying. I do of course have a few great tube amps that I can plug right into and get good sound...but they took years to find for me or...years of waiting for them to be created.
 
Why screw with a mic when you can get a good enough DI sound or a cab impulse? Some people don't have the time nor do they have the desire. Why sing a vocal line all through the song when you can sing the chorus once and copy and paste it? Why use a real amp when you can run a DI and have several choices to use with that DI track? I'm not saying these methods are for everyone, but they can be helpful in certain situations.
 
Not only that but people have much shorter attention spans today. If they can track something quick that sounds good, why bother going any crazier? If you get a record deal, they will only re-record you anyway. LOL! At the end of the day, we as musicians and producers/engineers will always hear things differently and there will be things that matter only to us that the normal people that are not into this as much will just totally never enjoy as we do. They could care less how great we play guitar, what cool arps we used, legato, how much money went into our tones, what studio gear we have or even how great the end result is.
 
If they like it, they like it no matter what it sounds like, ya know? That's actually a good thing really if you push all of the personal bias to the side. Anyone can make music and possibly be accepted. Even if you are a muso, your challenge is to create something that can be enjoyed by someone that may not be a technical music major if you want to see huge success from it. The idea now with music is to establish yourself as doing what you like. If people like it, cool...if they don't and YOU like it, that's all that matters really. :) On that note...sheesh, I need to get some work done. LOL!
 
-Danny

Makeshift makes a good point that music purists tend to overlook; most musicians used what was available to them. It sucks in some ways that acoustic piano sales are down, but the ability to play "piano' is more available than ever. Would one rather live in a world where only those with the financial means to buy and maintain a piano have the opportunity to play or a world where more have the opportunity even if it's not quite the same? Debatable for sure. On the bright side, i have come across very impressive kids who manage to embrace new technology yet have appreciation for things long before their time.

Especially the amps thing. People today don't have the time or the patience to grab a tube amp and tweak it until it sounds like God himself touched the amp. Everything is about time being of the essence. I got news for you...I'm starting to feel the same way.

 
I am right there at this point.  I am tired of dealing with tubes; I only hang on for the tone and feel.  Some of the software is so good now, that in recordings, I can barely tell the difference.  I have heard that the Fractal Axe (spelling?) stuff is so close, that it is uncanny.  As soon as the two worlds cross paths and the differences are too little to be heard and felt, on the live equipment, I am probably done with tubes. 
 
I keep forgetting that you are probably just starting your day, Danny.  Yes, we are probably tempting you away from your work.
 

Some good points here, but if I may speak for Dean, I think he was trying to point out that there is less "music" in the "biz" today than used to be. Much of what we hear is not about the skills of a musician, a singer, or songwriter, but the skills of the producer and engineer. That is not to say there are not some insanely talented artists out there. I think Lana Del Ray has an amazing voice, as does Kimbra.

Two very successful producers of the last decade have come from both sides of the argument. Pharell Williams and Timbaland. Pharell has great talent as a musician and his band was a real band. He produced some sexy and exotic songs by folks like Justin Timberlake (who is both a great singer and great entertainer IMO). Timbaland on the other hand is a producer first. His trade is cut and paste.  He also produced Timberlake, and sold quite a few more records for him than did Pharell.

Who is better? Musically, Pharell is.  But this is entertainment, so he who sells more albums and puts more bums in stadium seats is the better.

foxwolfen, i would not argue with any of what you said, but what dean said was just ranting, hateful drivel that was not even near what you said even in the best of paraphrase universes. he was not metaphorical or abstract in any way. If he had said something along those lines (which has been said many times on this forum to thundering applause), he would have likely received a better response. He made very direct and over the top claims that he could not backup.

Dean has generally been a rational and objective fellow here. The thing of it is, if a person wants to find a way to pick apart an argument, they can. While I agree with most of the counter-arguments made, I feel they were generally nit picking while ignoring the underlaying intent. I do not fault Dean for frustrated replies.

We're just stuck in a rut of sex appeal, singing and marketing to one general audience where people in their 40's on up have nothing they would like showing up on air or being considered "popular". That part, I think is sad because people 40+ would buy music too if they just had something worth spending their money on. :)

It might come as no shock to you Danny, or anyone else, but I've only bought one music CD this year (I don't do downloads or mp3's).

I'll give you a clue about what I bought - it begins and ends with a 'D'

foxwolfen


Dean has generally been a rational and objective fellow here. The thing of it is, if a person wants to find a way to pick apart an argument, they can. While I agree with most of the counter-arguments made, I feel they were generally nit picking while ignoring the underlaying intent. I do not fault Dean for frustrated replies.

That's how I feel as well. I think everyone has had some great points in this thread. Some, more passionate than others to where maybe that passion could have gotten the best of them. I know how that can be though as it happens to me all the time. And we all know how easy it is for words to get mangled into an arguement. Lots of opinions here, but quite a bit of truth as well in all of them.
 
-Danny

Bristol_Jonesey

We're just stuck in a rut of sex appeal, singing and marketing to one general audience where people in their 40's on up have nothing they would like showing up on air or being considered "popular". That part, I think is sad because people 40+ would buy music too if they just had something worth spending their money on. :)

It might come as no shock to you Danny, or anyone else, but I've only bought one music CD this year (I don't do downloads or mp3's).

I'll give you a clue about what I bought - it begins and ends with a 'D'

I'm in the same boat, Jonesey! The last CD I bought was Van Halen with Gary Cherone singing on it. The last digital media album I bought was this year...notnat's album from this forum. Most things I listen to are on Youtube or if a friend shares something with me. The record labels I deal with send me loads of stuff each month as well, so that's a cool fringe benefit to have. Some bands I never even heard of, others are well known. It's a nice mixture of both and I always look forward to when that package comes through in the mail. :)
 
-Danny

Some great points here. The only CD I ended up getting, so far this year was Ego Falls recent one...