Quote:

...I took a lot of flak on here for suggesting that only people who can play traditionally recognized instruments that don’t require electricity deserve to be called “musicians”. (Aka wood and strings, … brass and wind). I was out voted.

Since the musicians on this forum have willingly devalued actual “musicians”, why should we be so surprised that the general public has done the same?

Just some food for thought.



I can't speak for the line about devaluing actual "musicians" for I value musicians (don't need the quotes, either). Perhaps the definition of what constitutes a musician appears to be in jeopardy, a conversation for another day. Do not overlook that fact that Realtracks, Live MIDI tracks and MIDI Supertracks are recorded by real musicians, top notch, who are compensated for the task.

Well, right now I'm thinking how close-minded such a blanket statement seems.

I remember a time when, for example, Bluegrass players would not allow a single amplified instrument onstage with them. Not even a Fenderbass (that's what we used to call the electric bass, regardless of mfr.) was allowed onstage, even if no acoustic bass was within miles of the place.

These close minded performers also seemed to go out of their way to say derogatory things about any amplified stringed instrument. I know BobC surely knows about this situation.

Well, that generation got older, retired, died, whatever, and a younger generation, more apt to accept *change* came along and the result was a big shot in the arm for the Bluegrass genre in general. While there are still limitations there concerning certain amplified instruments (don't show up with a plank guitar and pickups) there have been quite a few interesting developments in the genre simply due to the acceptance of, say, an electric bass player. These same younger generation Bluegrassers also began to unabashedly record covers of Rock, Pop and Commercial Folk Music songs, but still paying tribute to the roots of the bluegrass ethic.

To say that simply because a certain musical instrument player is not a musician simply because their instrument uses or requires electricity in order to be played exhibits a prejudice of the highest order, my man.

You mention horns as being somehow more "legitimate" up there.

Does that include Saxophones?

Well, the Saxophone was invented by Adolph Sax sometime in the late 1800s.

There followed more than one hundred YEARS of prejudiced musicians, music profs, students, aficionados of orchestral classical musics, etc. who spent an inordinate amount of their time talking and writing about how BAD Mr. Sax's invention was and why it was not to be considered a "real" instrument.

Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Cannonball Adderley, Wayne Shorter, Stanley Turrentine, Grover Washington Jr., Dexter Gordon, Benny Carter, Jerry Mulligan, Michael Brecker, Stan Getz, Ornette Coleman, and possibly hundreds if not thousands more great musicians didn't get that memo.

As for electricity and musical instruments, the list of virtuosos who have had to plug something into the AC outlet in order to utilize their instruments is legion.

Again, it is the same issue as I've put forth concerning MIDI.

It ain't the type of musical instrument, the problem you have likely has a lot more to do with hearing people who have not put the time to good use, have not done what it takes to practice properly and have not bothered to go for Strong Performance.

I live amongst a generation that doesn't seem able to look inwards at themselves too much, a generation that typically blames *INANIMATE OBJECTS* for problems found, but never the human being for simply operating that object in a wrong fashion.


--Mac

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