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> Polyphonic note editing? Utterly transparent time stretching? Even just the ability to do huge amounts of serious DSP on generic CPUs has completely altered t

by throwaway201103 6y ago

> Polyphonic note editing? Utterly transparent time stretching? Even just the ability to do huge amounts of serious DSP on generic CPUs has completely altered the entire landscape of music production Right, so now what is popular music today? Vocalists who can't sing in tune without help from technology, and musicians who never play more than a few bars at a time in studio because it is all stitched together digitally, and live performances that are just lip-synching to a playback. It's artificial from end to end.

PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago
why care about "popular" music at all? Yesterday on youtube I watched two hour+ live concerts, both made available by the lead artist (Dhafer Youssef). The first was a more jazz inflected performance (not suprising given Mark Guiliana and Chris Jennings as the rhythm section), the second was more "world music" (also not suprising with Zakir Hussain on tabla and Husnu Selendecir on clarinet). Both featured Youssef playing oud and singing in his incredible melismatic style. One was recorded in 2014, one in 2106. The music was utterly incredible. Virtuosic performances of the highest levels, astonishing compositional and improvisational music structures. And amazing sound quality (though sadly one was marred a little by clipping). You don't have to like this particular music. Just stop focusing on "popular music", which has ALWAYS been dominated by dreck of one sort of another. Remember that there is (and often always has been) a huge universe of incredible music out there from cultures around the world, reflecting both tradition and experimentation, skill and inspiration, solo brilliance and music collaboration, virtuosity and taste. Lamenting what the kids are doing with Ableton Live or FL Studio when you can watch Dhafer Youssef play live for 2+ hours with Tigran Hamasayan, Mark Guiliana, Zakir Hussain (or whatever floats your boat) is just wasting your time and your life!

PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago

why care about "popular" music at all? Yesterday on youtube I watched two hour+ live concerts, both made available by the lead artist (Dhafer Youssef). The first was a more jazz inflected performance (not suprising given Mark Guiliana and Chris Jennings as the rhythm section), the second was more "world music" (also not suprising with Zakir Hussain on tabla and Husnu Selendecir on clarinet). Both featured Youssef playing oud and singing in his incredible melismatic style. One was recorded in 2014, one in 2106. The music was utterly incredible. Virtuosic performances of the highest levels, astonishing compositional and improvisational music structures. And amazing sound quality (though sadly one was marred a little by clipping). You don't have to like this particular music. Just stop focusing on "popular music", which has ALWAYS been dominated by dreck of one sort of another. Remember that there is (and often always has been) a huge universe of incredible music out there from cultures around the world, reflecting both tradition and experimentation, skill and inspiration, solo brilliance and music collaboration, virtuosity and taste. Lamenting what the kids are doing with Ableton Live or FL Studio when you can watch Dhafer Youssef play live for 2+ hours with Tigran Hamasayan, Mark Guiliana, Zakir Hussain (or whatever floats your boat) is just wasting your time and your life!