Nothing Has Meaning

Speaking of tools.

Just perusing a piece in emusician on cd sweetening by some dude who gets paid by the major labels to tighten up performances. Great junk.

Amazing tools, that allow you to pretty much meticulously completely re-perform a performance in a sense. Now, yes, crappy singers with star quality can be made stars after all.

Not really down on the notion but if you spend any time recording at all it only takes a small amount of studio sweetening, necessary usually, to realize that if you had just learned your instrument and performed worth a damn in the first place there wouldn’t be half as much work fixing the junk. The other angle on that of course is to say you did it on purpose a la Nirvana.

Still, these tools allow the art of recording, and mixing and producing a CD to reach new artificials heights, furthering the road braved and paved by the Beatles.

The rest of the issue really focuses on software and hardware tools of the trade. You begin to realize that this industry is more and more focused on the studio side and less and less on the skill and performance side. Of course, that is what an emusician does, still, the lack of organic people is pretty clear. I sure don’t miss it though.

What comes through today more than ever is the complete lack of skill in the modern pop musician at performing an instrument. You don’t see the virtuosos as readily, though, yeah they are out there, mostly not in pop. More and more, mediocrity is not only acceptable but popular. Then take out the creativity and what you have are some really well produced and doctored recordings.

I came to the realization not too long ago that the only ones pushing the envelope were the rappers. I don’t know why I would say this having really only listened to Brotha Lynch Hung’s Season of Da Siccness but this was honest art. Now, I guess they too got sucked into the glossy commercial machine that is so much fun to punish and purchase. Girl sings, dude raps, repeat. But the Brotha, he was honest back then.

So back to the tools of the trade. I suppose I just wonder what happened to music for the sake of music, the bard earning his dinner and giving the folks hope and diversion. Music was free, you didn’t charge per se and you sure as hell didn’t expect to be paid forever if you happened to make a recording.

Another topic, the advent of recording, the piano roll and the droll end of open music.

There is no substitute for flat out virtuosity.

Shut up and play yer guitar.

Well. OK. This is a pretty common theme, and we all know and love the hook.

You don’t have to have a hook of course, but they sure are a fun goal to be reached as the lyrics progress.

The journey to the hook, or refrain, is where creativity can really be a blast.

Using lyrics and context the most enjoyable twist is bringing the meaning back to the refrain in the new context of the line.

Ultimately the song itself works the circle and completes a cycle ending where it started.

Musically the same thing happens.

Rock and Roll.

I am not.

But I’m a decent mimic. And I have a pretty decent ear. I also don’t really dig emulation which gives one the vain attitude of only really being into doing one’s own thing.

Yeah.

One’s own thing.

The way of knowing things.

My favorite line from The Last Wave starring Gulpilil.

Dreams are a shadow, of something real.

So my buddy, Adam Clark, gets a hold of me cause he’s taken up guitar and can’t figure a chord from a tune he wanted to play. After I mocked him sufficiently for even wanting to play someone else’s tune I took a listen, and couldn’t tell him the chord.

Like I say, a musical genius I am not.

Jack of all trades, Master of Known.

Sometimes I reflect on the concept of ignorance is bliss as applied to the creative process.

Ignorance of how its done or how it should be and so on can open the door for very creative and unusual compositions. Think Paul McCartney not wanting to learn to read music to stay pure.

Dumb. Actually.

The reality of the situation is that a tool is just a tool and creativity is a mindset and way of being, the way of knowing things, the way of arranging things, the way of expressing things.

The tools used, such as knowledge of music theory, knowledge of song structure, a hammer, make no difference to the truly creative mind.

Create, by any means necessary.

Rhythm is part of the addiction and desire for repetition.

This is known as meter or timing. Drummers used to have to be good at it, to lay down a foundation the rest of us could follow. Ended up doing it myself most times.

The human heart beat is the cliche metaphor to explain the need to drum.

When a drummer lags, the world is put on hold, but like the locomotive with momentum eventually you cross that bar.