Part 3:
It's up to you, me, and them...
More complex for no reason? I find music
production in the PC much simpler, and satisfying.
unless you have a ridiculous home studio, you are limited by the
number of channels in your mixer, the number of EFX units and synths
you have, etc. in the computer, theyre all just a click away. you can
easily have 200 tracks, with ridiculous amounts of EFX on each
channel. and the music still wont be AT ALL better than what the
chicago house cats made on a 4 track cassette multitrack, much less
12.5 times better.
This is an assumption, and I find it insulting.
Like grandparents that talk about "Things aren't what they used to
be" and they romanticize their memories of the past into visions of
green pastures... when it was nothing like that at all. They reached
a point in time where their sense of possibility was shut off and
nothing that came about in the world after that was ever good enough....
so if you count simple as "not having to think"
then you are right. and i dont think that not thinking is a good
thing! becoming one with your setup so that you no longer have to
think is one thing (and its something i think every musician is aiming
It's about being less distracted by extraneous things that I would
rather not have to deal with, all with the goal in mind of being able
to progress and experiment more rapidly. Do I want to get behind the
gear and swap patch cords around forever on a simple idea... I could
do they same experiment in a minute or two, decided that its a good
idea or if it sucks, and move on from there. I'm doing the exact
same thing inside the computer as I would be in meatspace.
for). but just clicking away until something sounds different isnt
anything.
You just summed up my personal musical aims that I tried to express
to you as "clicking away until something sounds different"
Again, do you really think that is what I'm trying to do as an artist?
Insulting.
To set up my old studio I had to first plug in a
network of AC/DC supply, then hook up a network
of patch cables to my mixer, then hook up a
network of midi cables to my sequencer.
man, plugging stuff in is SOOOOOO tough!
It isn't at all, but it is time consuming. Time is precious.
I could
spend hours and hours trying to get rid of line
noise, unsuccessfully resetting up my synths to
sound just like they did the week before so I can
finish a track I was working on before I was
inspired to work on another idea, etc... etc...
you gotta learn to work faster. and learn how to set your stuff up. i
set my personal stuff up once, and other than things breaking, its not
a problem to swap things in and out.
You don't understand. Synths, especially analog, have a way of
slowly shifting their sound over time. The parameters don't always
come back the same way when you recall a sound. Also, limitless
combinations of knob twists and twiddles on the mixer that get set up
just perfectly while you're working on a song are lost when you work
on another idea... if I decide I want to change something around in
a previous song I have to play with that mixer to get it back to
where I already had it a long time ago-- Why should I have to do that
twice? three times? etc.... I already did the work.
With software, I decide I want to tweak something, or extend a mix,
etc... I load up the arrangement and the mixer and synths are exactly
the way I left them-- the way I set them up in the original moment of
inspiration. That is how I capture my *feeling*... I want to keep as
close to the original moment as possible.
and if youre truly going to compare, you have to point out the issues
with soundcard drivers and plugins not working properly and all the
other computer related (not even music related, computer technology
related!) problems that pop up in every music production forum on the
web.
I have 1 PC, 1 USB external soundcard, 1 Midi Interface, and 1
keyboard input controller hooked up right now.
I've never needed to use a forum for technical advice.
All of the same tools now exist in the
computer. There are synthesizers, samplers,
mixers, and sequencers at my fingertips. It is
the same thing I have been doing for years but
much more stable
more stable? your hardware synths been crashing on you?
I've had a lot of hardware synths crash/break on me.... knobs pop off
all the time, the operators and filters lose their pitch or can't
recall my saved sounds properly.
I know, tell me how knobs popping off aren't a big deal, tell me how
the hardware being completely unusable is 'adding to the
authenticity'' of my sound. Please tell me.
and intertwined for much better
mix quality. I've spent at least $15,000 over
the years on gear and never came close to a mix
quality that I have in the PC... I would need to
rent an outside studio to do that.... and who
wants to leave their house at 3am to explore
music in someone else's studio?... or spend the money if they don't have to?
WHY CARE WHAT YOUR "MIX QUALITY" IS LIKE? do you really think your
tracks are better than larry heard's "can you feel it"? i dont think
he was very worried about "mix quality" at the time. if youre worrying
about things like this,
I've lived through larry heard's set up. I've been doing this 20
years-- are you hearing me? I've had the barebones junk of a studio
with-- actually let me take you back further....
My first keyboard was a Korg Poly 800, brand new out of the box. It
was the only keyboard I had, and I couldn't do much with it alone, as
far as working on finished tracks... or could I? I also had a dual
tape deck. So I put 2 and 2 together and came up with a solution. I
would play a base track of notes live into the tape deck and record
them on cassette, then I would put that recording into deck A with a
blank tape in deck B. I would play tape A while playing a new part
live on the keyboard and mixing them together in the deck and
recording the 2 in deck B as one. I would then switch *that* tape
back into deck A and add a third part over it live with my keyboard
and record it into deck B. I did this over and over... I did not
know how the song was going to end up, only that I could add
something new on every take. I would synth drums and kicks on the
poly 800 and record them as well. The songs were very important to
me, as they are now, and the mix sounded horrible, yet strangely
mysterious because some of these songs had 35-40 regenerations... so
the first parts I laid down would sound very far away. ---Detroit
Techno didn't even exist yet.
Over the years I've worked up slowly from that. So please don't
flash Larry Heard in my face and how he's "keeping it real". Dave
Chapelle where are you?
So, if you can imagine, when I was sitting there in my bedroom at my
parent's house working with a set-up I am quite sure most people
would not have utilized to the extent that I had... I was hoping for
the ability to work with a much nicer set up, and also to eventually
be able to make professional sounding versions of my songs. That was
my dream, and it has been ever since. I love good music, I hope some
others think that I make good music, and I want it to sound
professional when it leaves my studio.
You see... I produce the music, I design all of my label artwork,
I've designed and programmed all of my websites, and I don't want to
have someone else master my releases either. I want full and total
control over every aspect of my release... just because I can.
Do you think Larry Heard doesn't wish that his track's mix quality
was as good as it can be?
I told you before, I am not a gear-head, I just want to make my
music. You remind me of a gear head. You seem obsessed with the use
of gear instead of actually discussing the music.
youre not worried about the feeling. youre
worried about nonsense that has nothing to do with the music. it has
to do with some hi-fi nerd circle jerk.
Funny. I think the exact same thing about you. You are worried
about something that has nothing to do with the music. The gear upon
which it was created.
I told you before. I am not a gear head, I only want to make
music. I've spent years listening to people debate the perfect
synth, drum machine, whatever and I never really cared outside of
what I had at my disposal, and the same is true now inside my
computer. I just want to make music, and the computer has even more
possibilities.
You're assuming everyone that makes music should keep it "raw". That
is your taste. I look at more like a director. I want to make it perfect.
I like music that sounds raw. I also like music that sounds
perfect. Honestly, I pretty much enjoy the best music of any given
genre. They all have 90% garbage, or knock-offs, but then there is
the real quality music.
Keep your mind open.
It's so simple isn't it?
1) Software production has raised the bar
significantly. It is easier for a skilled artist
to make a more well-produced track.
again, who cares how well produced something is? its totally
irrelevent. the only thing that matters if it a song hits emotional
chords. never in my life has production value hit an emotional chord
with me.
You don't care.
You only want music to hit an emotional chord.
Not everyone wants what you want.
Sometimes the perfect song for me has no chorus, verse, etc... it is
just the perfect 'space' to exist in. That strikes an emotional
chord with me that is much different than what you are talking
about. We all have our own goals.
Personally I see myself evolving further and further away from the
music you are championing... as are many others. Others are evolving
closer to it, as it seems you are as well.
That is your prerogative, and I don't care what you do or don't like.
2) There is one huge liability to the development
of making music entirely within the PC, and that
is Bit Torrent. Anyone with an internet
connection can download software to their heart's
content and call themselves a producer. No
longer are aspiring electronic musicians bound to
spending thousands upon thousands of dollars to
get their studio up and running.
they never were before, either. at least when the music was about a
feeling and not about "professional sound quality". when this music
was invented, heads were rocking crappy synths and drum machines that
no one wanted. they were insanely limited, but they used them because
they could afford them. and those limitations FORCED them to squeeze
out emotionally captivating recordings. the more money came into the
process, the more it became about buying more, newer equipment, and
the music paid the price.
And we accepted the crappy synths because it was the best we had at
the time. Now we know we can make it better-- we've heard it. There
is no going back. Resistance to change is resistance to the
inevitable. The world will be passing you by soon enough, and you
can stay bitter for the rest of your life if you choose to.
You speak of
the quality of music not increasing in direct
proportion to the complexity of the equipment,
and you are correct, but there are more factors
involved that you haven't considered and I
believe your skepticism to be
misguided. Further, this does not discount the
accomplishments of truly gifted artists... and
for them the quality of music is progressing rapidly.
what factors am i not considering? all i see is people spending time
and energy on tracks where all theyre worried about is the mixdown or
the 24 bit effects or whatever. they should be spending time making
stuff that sounds GOOD. not "Well produced". GOOD.
Exactly... I'm not worried about 24 bit effects, or anything else, I
can now focus more on GOOD! Get it!?
"All Larry Heard is concerned about is his drum machine, new fangled
'sythematizers'', and his other gizmos... Why doesn't he just make
house music with a real drummer, bassist, and hell... a flute."
The parallels are right in your face.
There is simply more trash for you to weed
through, as there has been for every other form
of music as the instruments and tools they used
became more readily available... and now
distribution is also at the hands of anyone with
an internet connection. You can download the
same amount of trash from any other genre popular
today. Electronic music is no different.
i dont agree. this year ive definitely bought more new non-techno and
house records than i have in those genres. this is music that i love,
and its being polluted more and more with crap to the point where the
good is almost impossible to find. and i care about finding music alot
more than the average person.
You're right, good music is being swallowed by crap... because of
never before seen access to public distribution.... This has no
bearing on whether or not I can make good or bad music using my
computer. This does not make a computer evil.
there are many complex
issues at work here, but the end result is all the same: techno and
house music suck right now. really hard.
Maybe it's also because people are no longer making 'techno' and
'house' music as you know it or remember it--or want to keep it. The
world is changing.
I label myself in any of those genre's anymore either. I just make
music. Again, many others are exactly the same way.
As far as music is concerned there have always
been hacks, and as time goes by many of them
become more easily recognized. If they are using
a pre-fab beat programs full of presets, then
people are going to ask why they sound like so
many other artists out there and get bored or dismiss them entirely.
we've already seen the rise and fall of one music based on a software
gimmick: glitch stuff. akufen today doesnt seem like quite the genius
he was 6 years ago, does he? it's going to happen to more genres
tomorrow. my guess is "minimal" will go next. though i guess by then,
some people might find new subgenres to leech off of.....
I've always been resistant to gimmicks... my entire life... and that
includes the $hitloads of tracks that were coming out even during the
birth of this music. This trash has always been there. I was
weeding through it then too. Today is no different. The best way to
make timeless music is to avoid gimmicky 'hooks' at all cost--but
people have been doing that far longer than computers have been on the scene.
I remember when I opened for Autechre back... hell... too long ago
now... anyway, as we were talking they said whenever they get a new
piece of gear they won't put anything out using it for at least 6
months to a year, so that they get past whatever gimmicky sound the
board might throw at them initially. Once they get past the urge to
use those sounds, they are then free to explore what the keyboard can
do for them.
The computer and these different types of software are just
tools. Tools you can use to make a gimmick, or tools you can use to
explore what they can truly do for you with integrity.
---and I'm gone....
