Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Computer Generated Music
Continuing that thread, widespread use of the computer could lead to misguidance concerning music. How could this happen? Whereas the computer has become a great vessel for the 'downloading' and storage of music, it doesn't necessarily open the same doors for music production. It takes no great skill to consume music. On the contrary to produce great music, it takes years of study and practice. In no way can the PC suddenly substitute for years of public and private music education. The Suzuki and Kodaly methods of teaching should be as valid today as ever. The problem is, music education and the arts in general have always taken a backseat to other areas, especially sports. In this ever changing world we must ask ourselves if the areas being emphasized really are preparing our youth for careers in America. If music once took a backseat to the three R's, was that movement successful in preparing kids for life today? I'm not sure it was. What kinds of jobs are being offered in America that necessitate knowledge of the quadratic equation? How many jobs demand the ability to diagram sentences or solve a geometry proof? These areas are supposed to teach you to think. Do you merely memorize a process? Critical thinking, it has been proven, is taught by teaching just that, not an offshoot. Media is saying the ability to multitask is becoming more crucial to success in America. Is that because the pace of life has increased so dramatically no one can keep a thought? ADD it seems has destroyed our ability to create and maintain a mood or a feeling for an extended time, and multitasking has become the solution. "If I can't maintain focus on one topic for more than a few seconds, then I'll bounce around. It is more fun that way." This destroys art, because art used to allow us to focus and conceptualize our thoughts. If you can't step back from this frenetic pace and reflect, analyze, and draw conclusions, then there will be NO wisdom. Every vocation has a lineage, a history that needs to be studied to understand how it will evolve. Likewise singers on American Idol will never really be artists, because by nature they are just folks. Folk music is music for the folks by the folks. Artistry comes from years of study, reflection, and practice. It is a long and pain staking process, and as a result of it people might like to pay attention to what you have to offer. Without that you are just shooting from the hip, and most anyone can do that. It takes someone like Mutt Lange or George Martin to recognize talent and help that process along. Does Simon and company possess that ability? I don't know, and I am not really interested. No teenage singer from suburban America has any product I am interested in, except for maybe a hot body. The problem with the PC in music production has become, many have forgotten musical "feel" is not metronomic. Human beings never have thought or expressed themselves like computers or machines. When we first heard the Casio drum accompaniments on Lowry organs back in the day, we all thought they sounded cheesy and square. Why did that suddenly change in the last year? How did all these square rhythmic accompaniments make their way onto MTV, VH-1, BET, CMT, and FM radio? It seems as if someone deliberately tried to create a style of music with NO real human feelings. After continued study I have happened upon some popular music that reflects this formula. There are examples in lots of music where there is no real "feel" in the rhythm tracks. All of the feeling comes from the vocal. Whether it is because the rhythm tracks are generated by computer, or whether a producer consciously wanted the accompaniment to be weak or almost feminine, I don't know. After studying jazz music for years and trying to figure out why Jeff Lorber played with better feeling than me, I am not willing to give up mine up. If pop music and glam/country require you water down your true expression for consumption by the masses (as Motown did), then count me out. Afro/Cuban, Jazz, Soul, R&B, Reggae, and Orchestra music are my choices. Expecting a musician to dumb down long sought after expression should be a sin. The better examples of "pop" music I found use this formula somewhat, but unlike "cruise ship music" and this new computer-generated music, place time where the human being expects it. It is not "laid back" and "pushed forward" to such an extent it becomes insipid and almost fails to exist. If music were meant to be a whore of Capitalism like sex in the United States, it is time for a revolution.