> Speaking of music, check this out
>
>
> http://www.ted.com/talks/david_merrill_demos_siftables_the_smart_blocks.html
>
I found them to be an amusing musical toy, but are we really ready to
redefine music as simply being random note patterns generated by a machine?
Do we ever want to? What about melody and harmony? What about theme and
variation? What about the beauty of a live performance by trained musicians?
I write music as an avocation, and ever since I got my first computer 23
years ago, have been able to put the music in my head down in notes in one
music program or another. The early programs, which could only handle four
voices at a time, forced me to rework some of my pieces into four-part
harmony, but that too was a useful exercise. Over the years, as I got better
programs, I was able to do better and more complex music with them, and hear
it played back with MIDI simulated instruments.
But nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to being able to hear my music
played by real people. For months I was able to hear the music I was working
on for our wedding played back by the simulated string quartet on my Mac SE.
But now, when I want to hear that music, I play back the MP3 I made from the
videotape of the live quartet that played that day. Similarly, I had written
a woodwind quintet that I was able to hear day after day with simulated
instruments. But the day I heard our student orchestra play it live was
something that almost made me have to go out an buy Depends.
Even in music - especially in music - you still need to learn the basics.
Technology will not replace creativity, and creativity needs to learn the
tools that will help it to be expressed. Things like YouTube and podcasting
will get your music exposed to a wider audience than before, but you still
have to know the basics.
--
keg
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Keith E Gatling
mailto:keith@gatling.us
http://www.gatling.us/keith
The fact that I'm open-minded doesn't mean that I have to agree with you.
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