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Kim Flint wrote: > > Yet more proof that guitarists are the most arrogant people on earth.... Bad day at the office, Kim? > Could we please broaden our minds a little bit and stop trying to prove >that > one approach to music is oh so much more special than another? There's no > need to be threatened by someone who's a bit different from you. Learn >from > the differences, you might grow a little bit. 'Kay, my mind's open... Show me any example of a DJ's work that can make me feel like, say, Ry Cooder's solo on "Lipstick Sunset" or Amos Garrett's on "Midnight at the Oasis"-- please! For that matter, point out the killer bassoon solo... > (and next time you want to make gross generalities about some group or > another, recall that you live in texas and there's no shortage of good > redneck jokes! :-) ) Seems to me there's a profound difference between generalizing about instruments and generalizing about people. Motley was talking about instruments. And there's scarcely a paucity of Californian jokes here in Texas... (I'd put a smiley here, but that's not the way I feel right now.) > At 07:12 PM 8/11/97 -0500, Mikell D. Nelson wrote: > >Ian///Shakespace wrote: > >> A DJ's abilities as a DJ are just as inate as a guitarist's abilities >as a > >> guitarist... you're born with a certain amount of talent that you hone > >> through practice. ... I really don't see a difference between a >guitarist > practicing his > >> craft and a DJ practicing his. ... a DJ is grafting, adding elements >and > >> removing, much the same way as a guitarists picking or strumming may >add or > >> take away notes from a riff. > > > > Creativity can be brought to almost any human endeaver, but that > >doesn't make two activities equal in a more important sense. A jock can > >pick the sample, playback rate, & what context he drops the sample into. > >But a guitarist can do equivalent things AND choose tone, phrasing, & > >attack; he can bend notes, add vibrato, & play harmonics. The number of > >options available for expression affects the power and expressiveness of > >the instrument or method. A 7 note thumb piano is not as capable of > >expressing human emotion as a tenor saxophone. > > Another way to say this is that if you don't play guitar but want to > >play like Alan Holdsworth, then you had better get started; it'll be a > >10 or 20 year journey if it's even attainable for you. However, becoming > >a great DJ might take a few months to a year and a half; again, if you > >have it in you. So... is there a difference in the activities because > >one is more difficult. Certainly. If you master a more powerful, > >expressive medium you can create more emotional, evocative music. > > Another angle is that the DJ chooses a piece of music (sound), *that > >someone else created*, to add to his mix. The guitarist makes the same > >choice but uses his own pallet, his own voice. > > > > On another, somewhat related, note I have always thought that some > >instruments are more expressive than others, and wondered why. Why are > >there more sax, guitar, trumpet or violin solos than other instruments? > >The best answer I've come up with so far seems to be the point I was > >making above about the options. The number of ways an instruments can > >shape a note is directly related to it's expressive power. There is a > >reason sax is more popular than French horn; or guitar more popular than > >banjo. I believe great players can touch us more deeply with these > >instruments. > > > >Look out... incoming... > > > >Motley > > > > > > > ________________________________________________________ > Kim Flint 408-752-9284 > Mpact System Engineering kflint@chromatic.com > Chromatic Research http://www.chromatic.com -- John Pollock mailto:johnpollock@delphi.com http://people.delphi.com/johnpollock (Troubador Tech)