Today I am cheerleading for musical traditions: melody, harmony, structure, phrasing etc. concepts that seem to be heading for the cultural La Brea Tar Pits. I suspect that I, along with millions of other sentient beings (household pets included), may go insane if I hear one more horrid drum machine loop masquerading as a bit of television underscore or, lord forbid, a theme. The easy access to supposedly “broadcast-ready” samples and loops has put potentially hazardous material in the hands of those who don’t have high-level clearance, and millions of dollars back in the hands of companies who treat music as an after thought. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be a snob, but dude… STEP AWAY FROM THE PRO TOOLS AND DROP THE MOUSE. A good friend of mine says digital audio production rigs should be licensed as potential weapons of mass destruction…. they are certainly responsible for destroying many brain cells of listeners the world over as well as being behind the Walmartization of much of the music we hear on a daily basis. Another talented guy I know calls it “Music By Numbers”…put the loop here, put the pad here, find the already created bass line and put that there and …Voila ! You have your very own piece of…what’s the word? ….Music? Garbage? Is it relative or is a qualitative barometer appropriate? Well, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is one of my faves so you know where I’m coming from: I believe in the concept of innate quality.
Technology allows a composer like me with a goofy perspective and an extra hour of time to pretend to be a writer, no one will ever mistake me for Dan Brown, I mean Norman Mailer while I’m telling my little tales…conversely, the technologically driven, parasitic spread of crummy music is an altogether different story.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
nice post, you forgot to mention the utterly maddening over use of obnoxiously auto tuned vocals, which allows for any talentless idiots to mutter meaningless nothings to try and create the next “catchy hook.” Less production music related, however just as annoying as listening to the same crappy stylus/apple loops in commercials,etc….
May 19th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Please don’t zero out the discriminating power of the savvy aesthetic. You write as if the audience worth attracting can no longer distinguish genius from refuse.
The marginal cost of quality-indifferent output has fallen precipitously, indeed. The marginal cost of quality itself has not fallen nearly as much. Of course, one’s competitive creations speak more eloquently than ancillary denouncements of technique (outside fields other than criticism itself).
If one finds oneself economically trapped in a race to the bottom, opting out may become optimal.
May 19th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Brilliantly worded as only you can, but I think you’re looking at this from the wrong perspective: savvy Aesthetes are not the problem, nor is the “audience” per se . In fact, you are emblematic of a dream fan; thoughtful and deeply critical, but also as open-minded as they come. All is well in this high-end artistic appreciation land. My mini-rant more concerns Productionville,where there IS big trouble, because thoughtless and cheap garbage is flooding the airwaves due to technological bleed down and quality is being shown the door on a regular basis, degrading an art form that is one of life’s great treasures and harming us (IMHO) as a collective consciousness .