Follower or Leader?

[debra1rlo]

If you lot want to look down on certain types of music and musicians please dont leave out the guitar based ones, they are getting away with murder...

i thought it was the rappers getting away with murder?

Let's not forget crazy old whacked-out producers either.

[vurt]

im a bit sick of this "those with disdain for pop" brush we keep getting tarred with.
yes i may adore and create noise type sounds (mistakenly called by idiots "experimental") i do in fact listen to and enjoy lots of other musics, as do many of my peers.
in the past ive been given the "oh you only do it because its easy" chat by people and i have fel the need to prove other wise by venturing elsewhere in musical territory, nowadays i realise the problem isnt mine, its the naysayers. because for whatever reason they feel a need to poke their noses into things they have no understanding whatsoever of.

as e. cartman might say "screw you guys, im going home"

[koolkeys]

I think you may be being a little unfair there. I don't get anywhere that the statement he made means you should throw away your integrity. You can have integrity but not total originality. And to be honest, there is very little "original" in music these days, both mainstream and otherwise. Most everything has been done before. Originality isn't the only thing that makes art to be "art". And I think that's what he probably meant by "overrated". As in, it's not the big deal people make it out to be.

that's the problem - i agree, there is very little "original" in music these days. this is why i never listen to the radio except for NPR once in a while. when i read "Originality is overrated. If music is done well, it doesn't matter the source or the similarity" all i think of is all the shit top 40 mainstream pop and r&b that has been done over and over to death. this is why i don't listen to the radio or turn on MTV. i'm sick and tired of the same old bullshit music - predicable and safe. it's just not for me.

maybe i did read too much into those three words, but i'm starting to think that "originality" is now open to interpretation, or at least the people defending it's lack of importance want it to be open to interpretation. you yourself admit "that's what he probably meant by overrated", which tells me you're not 100% sure.

Well, I only have the same words to work with as you, and I obviously can't get inside his head to predict his exact meanings. So that's just how I take it.

But I go back to my main point. You don't have to have originality to have "art". Nor does everyone have to THINK something is art for it to be so. There really aren't any rules. Me personally, I believe art is just anything that has creativity involved(but not necessarily originality, as you can be creative without reinventing the wheel) and was made for the purpose of expression. Maybe an expression to the world, maybe to the inner voice, maybe to God, whatever. Just expression.

Others may have a different measuring stick they use to determine what "art" is, of course. But that's just how I personally think of it. And nowhere does originality enter the equation. Also, it's incredibly hard for me to judge something as art when I don't know how or why something was created. So I can't be TOO picky about even my own criteria. It's just so hard to define.

I do think that mainstream radio pop top 40 music can be art. Who says it can't? Who REALLY can say that it isn't? Maybe it's not art to a specific PERSON, but does that mean it can't be art? Of course not. People assume that record producers just throw some word dice and chord dice and instrument dice and what comes out is a top pop song. But instead, most number 1 hits are selected from a pool of a couple thousand songs chosen from various writers, with a few being held, and one ultimately being chosen. How are we to say that isn't art? I sure won't, even if I think the music is just the same old thing as I've heard before. And I don't think anyone else can definitively say it isn't art either, just in their own mind and by their own criteria.

Brent

[Chuck E. Jesus]

If you lot want to look down on certain types of music and musicians please dont leave out the guitar based ones, they are getting away with murder...

i thought it was the rappers getting away with murder?

Let's not forget crazy old whacked-out producers either.

how could i forget that hairdo?

[giancarlos]

in the past ive been given the "oh you only do it because its easy" chat by people

i've tried a few times to make tracks like yours and your ilke.....i found if quite difficult, with unsatisfactory results too....thats is to say it didnt sound as good/natural as the 'original'

but then i always say, 'if its easy, where's the fun in trying'

[vespers75]

I dont understand how indie and most guitar music gets away without getting criticized for the exact same reasons people criticize ambient, trance and hiphop here.

What about guitar-based ambient then?

[Meffy]

[predictable][/predictable]

(Yes, I know it's a really crummy morph. Make your own, it's easy to do better.)

[whyterabbyt]

What about guitar-based ambient then?

mere frippery...

[vespers75]

What about guitar-based ambient then?

mere frippery...

[Locus M]

I have had it with you all!




THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

..and it sure ain't gonna be any of you....

I'll find you....

Promise!

[Meffy]

Don't get all akilter.

[vespers75]

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

..and it sure ain't gonna be any of you....

I'll find you....

Promise!

[dirty oscillators]

I'm now also able to sit down and analyze and appreciate soundscapes/ambient--something I really couldn't force myself to do years ago.

that's odd, i sit down and listen to music.

[vurt]

[predictable][/predictable]

(Yes, I know it's a really crummy morph. Make your own, it's easy to do better.)

wow
theres a moment where it is just smeagol

[eduardo_b]

blah blah blah

I'm not going to take on any of this because there's no point.

I do stand by my statement that originality is overrated.

blah blah blah

Finally, stop shooting the messenger.

blah blah

And, yes, I do like typing...or at least communicating.

what a great display of 'communication'. here's a tip; saying something then running away when people challenge it isn't being 'the messenger'. its being 'the troll'.

Running away?

Oh, that's right, you're the self-appointed troll spotter...off the mark yet again.