8 ms·

If the author continued their lineage beyond hip-hop, into electronic music (house, drum n' bass, downtempo), I think they would see that "favorite instrumental

If the author continued their lineage beyond hip-hop, into electronic music (house, drum n' bass, downtempo), I think they would see that "favorite instrumentalist" has transformed into "favorite producer".

mtalantikite 3y ago
Yeah, I had a similar thought around "favorite producer" as the language to use these days. I saw RZA speak a few years back and one thing he mentioned was that he just didn't have access to instruments and instrumental teaching when he was a kid like others may have had in earlier generations. He said something to the extent of "I could have been Mozart if I had had that access". What he did have access to was an ASR10, an EPS16+, a bunch of records, and great ears. I've always wondered how much impact lack of funding for music education in schools has had, where a surprising number of people just don't know what instruments are even called anymore.
- bzzzt 3y ago
  You could argue the restrictions caused by not having access to formal music education and classical instruments caused a lot of innovation in the music space. People made music long before any kind of formal music theory was a thing and will make music nonetheless.
  - version_five 3y ago
    Agreed, necessity is the mother of invention and all that. The worlds better off with RZA as himself than as another Mozart.
    - ludston 3y ago
      That's your opinion. I'd really much prefer another Mozart.
      - fknorangesite 3y ago
        We already have one. Now we have something else, too.
  - mtalantikite 3y ago
    Oh for sure, I'm very glad RZA exists and made the music he did. Knowing your flat 9s and 13s isn't going to make you a great player on it's own. Pushing the tools you have available is often where the interesting things live. But I'm still always surprised when people just don't even know what instruments are called [1]. (It's not their fault, of course). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peek_a_Boo_(Lil_Yachty_song)#Lyrics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peek_a_Boo_(Lil_Yachty_song)#L...
jasonladuke0311 3y ago
I do have favorite instrumentalists, but yeah this is pretty accurate. I will listen to whatever people like George Lever, Mike Dean, Nolly, etc. are involved with.
onionisafruit 3y ago
Favorite producer seems equivalent to favorite big band leader.
- skrebbel 3y ago
  "Producer" means at least two things. In electronic music, it's commonly used for the person actually composing and arranging a track. It's used to differentiate from a DJ, who plays other people's music and doesn't "produce" anything. You can install FL Studio on your laptop, mess around a bit, and you're a producer (not a very good one probably, but the word does not imply quality). In most other genres, "producer" is the person in the studio doing the recording, or also commonly, running the team that does the recording and plays the background instruments etc. Eg your big band leader. In film (and gamedev), "producer" is the "product" head honcho, more like a CTO than an individual contributor. That's not dissimilar to producers of large music productions, but very dissimilar to deadmau5 jamming out a tune in his basement studio.
  - skrebbel 3y ago
    More update cause I'm geeking out now: Another way to look at it is Phil Spector needed 4 entire Beatles to churn out hit record after hit record. Today someone in his position (a person in a studio with lots of gear) (or just a laptop even) can arguably make an entire hit record on their own, without anyone singing or playing an instrument. Is that really a different role? In a way it is, because you're no longer managing people. But in many other ways it isn't - it's using gear to make a record.
    - redwall_hp 3y ago
      Instrumentalists and singers are just instruments a producer plays. And now we have DAWs and VOCALOID. Just as the Beatles would be no more than a skiffle band playing bars without George Martin, Stock-Aitken-Waterman is responsible for huge 80s hits from Dead or Alive, Rick Astley, Bananarama, etc..
      - 3y ago

mtalantikite 3y ago

Yeah, I had a similar thought around "favorite producer" as the language to use these days. I saw RZA speak a few years back and one thing he mentioned was that he just didn't have access to instruments and instrumental teaching when he was a kid like others may have had in earlier generations. He said something to the extent of "I could have been Mozart if I had had that access". What he did have access to was an ASR10, an EPS16+, a bunch of records, and great ears. I've always wondered how much impact lack of funding for music education in schools has had, where a surprising number of people just don't know what instruments are even called anymore.

bzzzt 3y ago
You could argue the restrictions caused by not having access to formal music education and classical instruments caused a lot of innovation in the music space. People made music long before any kind of formal music theory was a thing and will make music nonetheless.
- version_five 3y ago
  Agreed, necessity is the mother of invention and all that. The worlds better off with RZA as himself than as another Mozart.
  - ludston 3y ago
    That's your opinion. I'd really much prefer another Mozart.
    - fknorangesite 3y ago
      We already have one. Now we have something else, too.
- mtalantikite 3y ago
  Oh for sure, I'm very glad RZA exists and made the music he did. Knowing your flat 9s and 13s isn't going to make you a great player on it's own. Pushing the tools you have available is often where the interesting things live. But I'm still always surprised when people just don't even know what instruments are called [1]. (It's not their fault, of course). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peek_a_Boo_(Lil_Yachty_song)#Lyrics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peek_a_Boo_(Lil_Yachty_song)#L...

jasonladuke0311 3y ago

I do have favorite instrumentalists, but yeah this is pretty accurate. I will listen to whatever people like George Lever, Mike Dean, Nolly, etc. are involved with.

onionisafruit 3y ago

Favorite producer seems equivalent to favorite big band leader.

skrebbel 3y ago
"Producer" means at least two things. In electronic music, it's commonly used for the person actually composing and arranging a track. It's used to differentiate from a DJ, who plays other people's music and doesn't "produce" anything. You can install FL Studio on your laptop, mess around a bit, and you're a producer (not a very good one probably, but the word does not imply quality). In most other genres, "producer" is the person in the studio doing the recording, or also commonly, running the team that does the recording and plays the background instruments etc. Eg your big band leader. In film (and gamedev), "producer" is the "product" head honcho, more like a CTO than an individual contributor. That's not dissimilar to producers of large music productions, but very dissimilar to deadmau5 jamming out a tune in his basement studio.
- skrebbel 3y ago
  More update cause I'm geeking out now: Another way to look at it is Phil Spector needed 4 entire Beatles to churn out hit record after hit record. Today someone in his position (a person in a studio with lots of gear) (or just a laptop even) can arguably make an entire hit record on their own, without anyone singing or playing an instrument. Is that really a different role? In a way it is, because you're no longer managing people. But in many other ways it isn't - it's using gear to make a record.
  - redwall_hp 3y ago
    Instrumentalists and singers are just instruments a producer plays. And now we have DAWs and VOCALOID. Just as the Beatles would be no more than a skiffle band playing bars without George Martin, Stock-Aitken-Waterman is responsible for huge 80s hits from Dead or Alive, Rick Astley, Bananarama, etc..
    - 3y ago