Should we ditch VST/AAX instruments altogether?

[egbert101]

I think the OP is swapping one kind of madness (going back to old style recording production) for another kind of madness, which is contemporary recording production. Both are absurd, because music isn't really about recording and preserving the absolutely best possible quality, it's just about humans interacting and playing music and singing in a ritual.

However, music has become this absurd attention to recording the best possible quality and we just have to live with it for now. If you care about music, then go ahead and just play and sing and don't bother with all this absurdity. I find software and computers fascinating but I'm from that generation which embraced it, and I think today it's completely inhuman and degenerate and I wish there were better alternatives.

[_leras]

Lets admit it: modern music is mostly rubbish.
The vast majority of the greatest hits in popular music were created way before the invention of digital instruments.

Alternatively, let's admit it: modern music is in many ways the best it's ever been.

Constantly evolving, globe wide music accessible by all, better produced, most virtuoso musicians ever, better learning tools than ever.

And of course in answer to your main question:

NO

Never take away any instruments from anyone.

[Lbdunequest]

I create rubish modern music, with the old tools it would be hardly if even possible to create the sounds i create with Serum, Hive, Dune, phase plant, trackspacer, soothe 2, shaperbox, various advanced distortion units ect.

Actually that "rubish" modern music, electronic sounds 20 yaers ago is what exactly got me interested in to making music and pursuing in to making a career to become international artist. Piano or guitar or simple moog lead didnt made me feel like the way more advanced electronic sounds in a complex composition of patterns, melodies, kicks and basses do.

[kraster]

I really hate the whole "modern music is rubbish" meme.

There is plenty of amazing music being made. All of the time.

It might not be as accessible as it was before because "chart" or popular music has been in a stranglehold of corporate interests for a long time.

But the good music is still there.

As for the rest of it it also assumes that "good" music has to fulfill some very narrow criteria in order to qualify as being good.

To counter the entire argument we have never lived in a time where the ability to make music that sounds the way you want it is so accessible. Focusing on niggly issues really missed the big picture.

People can record entire productions on their phones, FFS!

The whole post just smacks of gatekeeping.

[Lbdunequest]

I really hate the whole "modern music is rubbish" meme.

There is plenty of amazing music being made. All of the time.

It might not be as accessible as it was before because "chart" or popular music has been in a stranglehold of corporate interests for a long time.

But the good music is still there.

As for the rest of it it also assumes that "good" music has to fulfill some very narrow criteria in order to qualify as being good.

To counter the entire argument we have never lived in a time where the ability to make music that sounds the way you want it is so accessible. Focusing on niggly issues really missed the big picture.

People can record entire productions on their phones, FFS!

The whole post just smacks of gatekeeping.

I think that modern electronic "rubish" music is really better for my ears then what i used to listen except maybe for The Prodigy, those old tracks still kicks ass.

[chk071]

Read the topic title, read the first two paragraphs, decided it wasn't worth to read on. What a nonsense. Seriously.

If there's not a shortage on something, then it's on silly and crazy ideas and thinking these days.

I wish you the best of luck for your new "movement" though. Maybe you find some poor souls that you can include in your "US", when you say that "WE" should ditch virtual instruments.

[liquidsound]

Perhaps the OP has some huge latency problems: Can’t ketchup with the present music world.
Father Bach would love to have a music notation program and so Salieri!

[chk071]

I rather read it like he thinks that computer music is too "quantized", and robotized, which makes it not human enough. Well, there are plenty of workarounds for that, and, especially, I also think it vastly depends on the kind of music you're creating. I just think it's nonsense to suggest to give up all the advantages you have with virtual instruments, to fix something which you can easily fix yourself when working with virtual instruments.

Actually, in fact, a big part of working with virtual stuff is making it sound more "human" IMO. It's what most people do in sound design. Not just with virtual stuff, also with analog synthesizers.

[chk071]

Also, I don't agree with the general assessment "Modern music is rubbish". But, it surely mixes well with the other nonsense in the original post.

[liquidsound]

I swear I didn't feel so free in a long time.

And that includes the Freedom to choose regardless of quantity.
It’s mental.
You are attempting a Zen Zone, but ultimately, with that, you will realize that there is no separation.

[Stokely]

I don't really care what "we" does. Whatever makes you happy.

I spent years with just a keyboard, no other outboard gear and only limited ways of recording (4-track). Later when I worked for a bit in a studio I had a room full of midi hardware that had to be set up with patch changes/sysex/multitimbral modes and all the cabling both midi and audio. Bringing up a past session took time and could be a real hassle.

This was all prior to DAWs existing, just before Pro Tools became a thing.

I'm personally not going back. Not even for a hybrid part-hardware system. Having what I have inside the computer is just amazing compared to what I used to have! If I want to bring up last week's session, I say File > open and done. Don't get me wrong, I love hardware keyboards, guitars/amps etc (and still use keyboards live) but the convenience of software is just too much for me to ever give it up. And the quality is there, comparable at the least to hardware I've used when it comes to synths, better when it comes to rhodes/organs/pianos, and FAR better when it comes to things like orchestras or choirs.

[BBFG#]

"Rubbish" can have value.
Music in the times we're currently in, modern or otherwise, suffer more from just being boring. Derivative, repetitive, overdone past its saturation point and just filled with some electronic trick already pushed to the limits of annoyance.

But I feel something's got to break through and evolve at some point. So maybe the tools have more value than just the cheap products they're currently churning out.

"Minimalism" is a state of mind and process regardless of the quantity we're surrounded with.
If we might use whatever we can, however we can, until it's no longer usable, it might take us to somewhere we've never been before.
JMCO

[T-CM11]

Should we ditch VST/AAX instruments altogether?

Sure, if that's what you want to do.
Also, you (plural) should have that Multiple Personality Disorder checked out.

[stoopicus]

I really hate the whole "modern music is rubbish" meme.

*Totally*. It is literally better now than at any point in the history of mankind.
And that's entirely because of the availability of cheap and high quality tools for making music.

It might not be as accessible as it was before because "chart" or popular music has been in a stranglehold of corporate interests for a long time.

100%. In many ways it's even easier there now; previously, the studios were the gatekeepers. Now it's just your search skills and desire to seek new things.

To counter the entire argument we have never lived in a time where the ability to make music that sounds the way you want it is so accessible. Focusing on niggly issues really missed the big picture.

I make this point all the time! Agreed 1000%. And agree that this reeks of gatekeeping.

Stuff like this is why I can't stand Rick Beato.

[Bippo]

Lets admit it: modern music is mostly rubbish.
The vast majority of the greatest hits in popular music were created way before the invention of digital instruments.

Alternatively, let's admit it: modern music is in many ways the best it's ever been.

Constantly evolving, globe wide music accessible by all, better produced, most virtuoso musicians ever, better learning tools than ever.

And of course in answer to your main question:

NO

Never take away any instruments from anyone.

ROFLOLMAO.
You disagreed with me but essentially you agree.
Does "Constantly evolving, globe wide music accessible by all, better produced, most virtuoso musicians ever, better learning tools than ever" means better, more inspiring music?

What exactly came out in the 2010's (or in 2020's) that is so good in your standards, that surpass albums such as Dark Side Of The Moon/The Wall or even Thriller/Purple Rain?

Where are all the new Guns N Roses of today?
Where is the new Led Zeppelin and Beatles?
Where is the new Stevie Wonder?

The 2010s is probably one of the most uninspired decades in the history of popular music.
Try to name 10 artists or albums that were groundbreaking in any way shape or form, then compare it to 60's through 90's music and be honest with yourself, what will and what will not stand the test of time.

I never said that modern music is not better produced, nor did I intended to "take away" your instruments

Lol what an absurd level of toxicity and bitterness in the comments section...don't be afraid, the music police won't knock at your door and take away your vsts.
Chill.