Re: Warez (was Sharks Lungs in Haggis)

[noah <fishmong@braincramp.org>]

On Sat, 9 Sep 2000, Peter Shindler wrote:
> Whoa, wait a second...  some good music has been made with all of the 
>stuff
> that you just listed, as well as a lot of crap.  And I'm sure that some 
>of
> the people who are using a new Roland synth or one of the programs you
> mentioned are "pushing them to their absolute limits and making them do
> things outside their original specifications," as you say.  I'm sure 
>most of
> them are doing pretty cheezy stuff without much merit, but it seems like
> you're needlessly slamming on a lot of people there.

I won't argue that some excellent music has come out of SP-808s, MC-505s
and their ilk. Hell, if I had the cash I wouldn't turn down a good deal on
one. I'm not arguing against the systems, I'm arguing against the growing
trend of synth manufacturers catering to people who don't know or care how
to get beyond the presets.

This is all purely selfish. I'm just annoyed that every new piece of gear
that comes out is geared toward dance music, either sample-based or
virtual analog, and sacrifices depth for ease of use to a staggering
degree. Sure, there's Kyma, Csound, Max, all of these things are
wonderful, but they don't have the userbase and support that major synth
companies bring to the table. The kind of gear I lust after is stuff like
the Kawai K5000.

> Or try this, your second paragraph slightly rephrased:
> I have a hard time respecting the "rock musicians" with their electric
> guitars, distortion pedals with instant Jimi Hendrix settings built in,
> spending a couple hundred bucks more so they can wow the crowds with the
> newest amp that sounds like nothing else until everyone else can afford 
>it.
> Fuck That. Coming up with a I-IV-V chord progression, playing it as a 
>bunch
> of power chords, whipping up some distortion, and topping it off with a
> blues-based solo is not good music.

That's almost just as valid as my original paragraph. The difference here
is that guitars don't come with presets and cookie-cutter dance loops.
Also, rock music has an extensive history, with a lot of material to draw
on. Who ever heard of a techno cover band?

> Sound ok?  It's not what you got, it's what ya do with it.

Precisely my point. :)

-><-

> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "noah" <fishmong@braincramp.org>
> To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
> Sent: Friday, September 08, 2000 4:22 PM
> Subject: Re: Warez (was Sharks Lungs in Haggis)
> 
> > I make music with what I can obtain within my means. I would have a 
>hard
> > time respecting myself as a musician if I believed that I needed tons 
>of
> > expensive software to create art. When I was a kid, I made instruments 
>out
> > of rubber bands and buckets and bits of electronic toys. I then got a 
>386,
> > discovered the demo scene, and started tracking samples in Scream 
>Tracker,
> > all of which I found on the 'net in the public domain or sampled 
>through
> > my horrid mono 8-bit original sound blaster. At least sixty percent of 
>all
> > my musical effort, for as long as I can remember, has been doing my
> > damnedest to push the equipment I have to the absolute limit and 
>making it
> > do things outside the original specifications.
> >
> > I have a hard time respecting the "electronic musicians" of the Techno 
>Era
> > with their phrase samplers, time-warping sequencers with instant aphex
> > twin buttons built in, spending a couple hundred bucks more so they can
> > wow the crowds with the newest roland beat-mangler that sounds like
> > nothing else until everyone else can afford it. Fuck That. Ripping a
> > drumloop off a sample CD, running it through ReCycle, whipping up a
> > nonsensical 303 bassline in ReBirth and topping it off with VST or 
>Digital
> > Performer sequence tricks is not good music.
> >
> > Wow, I'm bitter. Pardon me. I've just come back from a very bad rave, 
>and
> > I had one too many drinks. My point is, if you can't afford the 
>software,
> > innovate. Use Buzz, Csound, and Impulse Tracker. Go to paia.com and 
>learn
> > to solder. Be creative and work around your limitations instead of
> > stealing software and hiking prices for the rest of us.
> >
> > </cynical snob>
> >
> > -><-
> >
> >
>