can technicality kill creativity?

[herodotus]

Shatner's Bassoon hit a high c!!!

(Translation:I agree with what he said.)

[Steven West]

Why do I get the feeling Shatners Bassoon is fans of 'Spocks Beard'?

But you gotta love that name!

[Shatner's Bassoon]

Why do I get the feeling Shatners Bassoon is fans of 'Spocks Beard'?

hehe, Shatner's Bassoon is from a british comedy show called Brass Eye. It was a rather brilliant satire of news media, particularly the "hour-long special" type. In one episode they got a bunch of celebrities and politicians to condemn an invented drug, called Cake, which is basically a two foot(!) diameter yellow pill. They got one celebrity to say that cake "affects the part of the brain called Shatner's Bassoon".

But seriously, we ALL have the technology to recreate and go BEYOND our inspirations and mentors now... And I don't think we can? I mean we are doing 'our own things' now. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe it's bad - I'm not sure?

Well, maybe the problem is that everyone is so eager to recreate the sound of analogue technology when they should be thinking about how to stretch the limits of digital technology and its own unique qualities. I would definitely agree that most of the production you hear these days is completely dull and bland. No grit to it. Why do (real) drums always sound the same these days? I can think of albums from the 60s and 70s that had drum sounds of infinitely more character than anything you hear these days, just not as "powerful" (ie overcompressed) maybe?

A perfect example is the album Agents of Fortune by Blue Oyster Cult. When I first heard it, I thought the drum sound was crap; the cymbals sounded really thin and the snare was little more than a short burst of noise. But now I see it as one of the main aspects of the production that really define the overall "sound" of that album; anything "heavier" wouldn't have worked so well and the atmosphere would have suffered.

Another album where the production really impressed me was Time Out of Mind by Bob Dylan. There's just an atmosphere that's constant throughout the whole album; hard to put into words. The arrangement is so subtle throughout and yet there's so much going on... Albums with such distinctive production seem all too rare these days, even with bands I like.

I don't think this is necessarily all to do with digital (it clearly started somewhere near the early 80s) but definitely producers (particularly of "rock"/live instrument bands) should try to get a more interesting overall sound. I don't think anything about digital technology makes this physically impossible, rather people's attitudes.

Dan

[Markleford]

*shrugs* I disagree. [...]

But I'm not disagreeing with your disagreement!

That's why I use the word "can", not an absolute such as "will". Any of these things *can* kill your creativity when take to extremes, but aren't inherently creativity-killers: in fact, all are launching points to self-discovery if approached as such.

The key is not to invest yourself in the totality of solely one facet of music. Moderation in everything. Breadth, rather than depth. No sense in getting all wobbly lopsided...

- m

[Steven West]

I hear you Dan. I still think it's so unusual for us to be 'so ahead, yet so behind' with our music technology. Like you say, all these analogue recreations - and very little new innovations. I of course love the minds of Smart Electronix, and many developers here such as Krakli who try to fuse 'old with new'. So they definately inspire me to be 'creative'. And maybe alot of the 'young 'uns' here think all these MiniMoogs and PPG's are really 'new', and take them that one step further.

It's just so odd to be in a new millenium surrounded by musical references to 25-40 years of our past century still.

[Andywanders]

Incidentally, this guy also gave me a great little nugget of info. Did you know that Orchestra's are not in tune? In fact, they deliberately detune? Basically, one person in the section would hit concert pitch, and everyone else would aim slightly out...

Sorry squire, but either your dad's mate is having you on, or he's talking shit.

While it's true to say that an orchestra is never 100% in tune, it's definitely untrue to to say that they "deliberately detune".

Orchestras sound "rich" and "lush" because no two musicians are the same. They bow/pluck/blow differently, they use different strings/mouthpieces/reeds, the've got different size fingers and they don't all place them in exactly the same spot on the fingerboard for any given note. There are indeed countless variables that contribute to the rich sound of an orchestra.

Deliberately being slightly out-of-tune definitely aint one of them..!

[Steven West]

They all tune to an oboe, and established oboe players are borderline insane due to the constant concentrated air pressure....

Why the conductor just doesn't blow a pitch wheel like they do on a choo-choo train I'll never know?
They don't deserve to be called 'conducters', that's for sure!

[cptgone]

can technicality kill creativity?

of course.

- classical music culminated in 3 Minutes of Silence by John Cage.
- does anyone who isn't a guitar player listen to Vai solo records?
- Frank Zappa wrote some very funny things about the London Philharmonic: a bunch of overpaid drunk lazy sods who were in no condition to render Zappa's compositions.
- ever met someone with a classical music training? most of them can't improvise a single note.

[cptgone]

They all tune to an oboe, and established oboe players are borderline insane due to the constant concentrated air pressure....

Why the conductor just doesn't blow a pitch wheel like they do on a choo-choo train I'll never know?
They don't deserve to be called 'conducters', that's for sure!