...sick and tired of the mediocrity of the current age?! Music, movies, books, painting...it seems like everything has degenerated into forgettable mundane averageness. Since when is dancing and rhyming speech evidence of musicianship? Loops?? Remixes(for those who can't create their way out of a paper bag...so much easier to have someone else actually create the music and then just edit it to be a genius)?? I've actually thought about creating an organization for those who write their own material...those who are able to read and write music...sing or play an instrument...the real musicians who have taken a backseat to the posers(DJs, remixers, loop manipulators, etc.). I realize this post will be polarizing but I have a feeling I'm not the only one who feels that way here :)
 
Bill

Honestly Bill,
 
No I don't think you are the only one  
Somedays I have a dificult time trying to understand what passes for music ... 
 
What are you gonna do about it ? do you honestly think talking about online it is gonna make any real difference ?
 
As far as I'm concerned I came to grips with these type of issues a long time ago .
 
I'm not here to fight the whole world or the music and entertainment business .
Letting other musicians do their own thing is a very tough thing to learn  …it takes practice .
 
Since I'm primarily a guitar player…..
I already know there ain't gonna be no bust of my head sitting up there on the mantelpiece right next to Mozart  
 
Kenny

Am I the only one...

 
No.
 
There are plenty of old people here.

Cookie Jarvis
...sick and tired of the mediocrity of the current age?! Music, movies, books, painting...it seems like everything has degenerated into forgettable mundane averageness.

Here's the good news - it hasn't. If you like, I can point you towards great movies, books, music and art, all from the current age.
 

You're not alone but I'm not with you.
 
I think it's cool that people have so many musical "toys" to play with. That helps keep them from being out loose on the streets.
Digital games, computers and all these "toys" may have come to be in just the nick of time. Much like cages for dangerous animals.
 
Besides...I know where I stand as a musician and that's all that really matters to me.
I've always known that there are people that aren't musically inclined but just enjoy being around musicians or play with "toys" and I know there are some of those types in the forums...they never bothered me because it all comes down to what one does after the count-in or the record button is pushed and they "hide" and stay out of the way when offers to perform are presented.
 
Players know players and recognize those that aren't.
 
As far as what the public buys or thinks about music...I don't think I could care any less about what the public thinks.
 
As for the other arts....I think about them like James. Easier to find very good workings now than ever before, now that we can surf...and ya don't have to be a surfer to know that there are lots of stuff in the ocean that is best avoided.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I sort of see where you are coming from with some of what you say, particularly movies - nothing ever inspires me to want to go to the cinema any more and it seems at times like every other film is a re-make, but that said, I only glance at the mainstream stuff and have never bothered to delve deeper.
 
Musically......at what point does it become "cheating" ?  That's the question. Put written music in front of me and I couldn't just play it there and then on sight, but does that mean I can't "write" my own tune just based on playing what sounds right ? Clearly I can, so is this not music ? Should I not have the right to a certain degree of pride in a song that I created and if someone wanted to pay money for a copy of it, should I refuse because I'm not a proper musician ?
 
Is a guitar player cheating the minute he adds a bit of reverb or a delay to his playing ? What he's actually playing doesn't really sound like that does it ?   Creative or cheating ?
 

 

 
Every single thing we do with all the various tools at our disposal to improve the sound of a mix could be construed as cheating if you wanted to see it that way.
 
I dislike a lot of what gets presented as music these days, but not necessarily because of how it came to be, or the methods used, but because I don't find it appealing or inspring or the fact that person presented as being the "artist" probably played very little part in the creation of it.
 
The way I see it is that mainstream pop/rock/whatever music is all "cheating" to some extent until someone starts releasing just pure recordings without a single effect or any kind of treatment anywhere at all in, so it doesn't really matter to me what tools they used, just whether it is good or not, but then that is totally subjective anyway.
 
 
 
 
 
 

I've invented a set of headphones which are not noise-cancelling, but T-Pain effect-cancelling (patent pending).
$200. Accepting pre-orders now.

kennywtelejazz
do you honestly think talking about online it is gonna make any real difference ?

^^ this ^^
 
Ever since Jimmy (rimshot) posted about his dis-taste/like I've been giving this some thought and I've concluded that what myolpal says is true; it's what makes it a horse race.
 
Like Kenny, I just do what I do and listen to what I listen to. Complain nevermore is my motto.

Next up?
 
Rants on:
 
Opera
Country Music
German Ooompah Bands
etc.

I would say the worst thing to happen to music was money - lots of it! When you have the kinda money floating around at the big record labels, it is going to make people even greedier, and that begins to influence the product. People look for ways that they can make even more money, often at the expense of the product they are selling. For example, in popular music there is a software program that analyses new music. This software compares the new music to existing top selling songs. Don't get a high enough score and the music doesn't get recorded or played. The result is that all music tends to sound the same, as everyone is trying to match the software algorithm. Further it reinforces itself. To get recorded I make it sound like the algorithm. If it sells, it reinforces the algorithm. Its an endless cycle
 
Now combine that with radio. To save money they began using automation. Automation means that I don't need DJs anymore - money saved there goes to profit. All I need is one DJ whose voice can be sent across country. I can also make sure that only the songs I want promoted are actually played. I no longer have to worry about some DJ in some town introducing new music that might knock my star's record off track. That guarantees I'll make money. Now I control what gets recorded, and when it gets played. The result is not only do the recordings sound similar, they are played over and over again.
 
The part of the equation they forgot was that when you hear the same thing over and over again, it gets boring. Why listen to this one singer when that singer over there sounds the same. The labels feel that since they are the only game in town, you have to buy their albums, except since I am bored with your singer I don't buy anything. And since everything tends to sound alike, I can let it fall into the background and the music begins to lack value. If it lacks value, why pay for it.
 
I believe we have lost a lot in the music industry due to greed and technology. Its not that the technology itself is bad, its the way it is used. It is the technology and the control it offers that has stopped new and different acts, new and different styles of music from appearing. Think back to the 50s and 60s (for those of you my age ). Technology allowed new sounds (like rock) to be spread far and wide. It allowed old favorites (like folk music) to have a new place in our homes. It allowed music to be used for entertainment and to make political statements. Because of technology, music had value. If the technology used today was available back then, we would still be listening to Glenn Miller clones (as any music that didn't match the algorithm of Glenn and his orchestra wouldn't be recorded), and with automated playlists and no local DJs, Buddy Holly and Johnny Cash would have never had a record played.
 
As far as the comment "do you honestly think talking about online it is gonna make any real difference ?" let me ask you this - do you think staying silent will? We should be talking about it. Online, at concerts, anywhere we can. Because staying silent will ensure that it doesn't change.
 
Climbing down off of soapbox now