Quote:
I make my own backing tracks. More often than not, every part in our backing tracks was played into the computer in real time, like a studio musician. There are some parts I use BiaB for what I call the 'mule parts' - the comp parts that are time consuming to play in - that is (a) if the part is appropriate and (2) more than likely, I played that part live into BiaB in the first place.

In other words, I respectfully think it's you who doesn't understand

Along with the backing tracks I make I sing and play sax, wind synth, flute, and guitar. At home I also play bass, drums and keyboards. On stage with me Leilani sings, plays guitar and synth.

And to tell the truth, I'd rather play with a band, but the cheap club owners around here just don't pay enough for me to make my mortgage payments in a big band - that went belly-up in the 1980s.

And drummers are people who like to hang out with musicians - JUST JOKING. I played classical music, and every one of those drummers could (1) read drum music note-for note and (2) also played mallet percussion like marimba, celeste, etc.

My first instrument was drums in school band and yes, they teach you how to read drum music and also teach music theory.

For further comparisons.

The engineer in a recording studio makes music from clips the musicians recorded. So is the engineer a musician?

Is the person doing the mixing a musician?

So does the person who sets up a rhythm on a drum machine and raps over the top. Is that rapper a musician?

The person who downloads a web page template and fills in his/her information. Is that person a computer programmer?

The nurse who assists in the surgical theater, is he/she a doctor?

We have labels to define things. Ask 100 people on the street who are not in our business this, "What is a musician?", and not one of them is likely to say DJ. And it's best we keep it that way. That's the essence of communication.

I'm not dissing DJs by any stretch of the imagination. A good DJ is a very talented person who can do many things I cannot do. But he/she is not a musician any more than my neighbor's mutt is a wolf.

Calling DJs musicians just waters the language down.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.


Well said in many ways. A few questions for you my good sir.

1-Is a person who composes and plays a keyboard with piano samples instead of an actual piano, a musician? (Bear in mind, this person did not record the piano samples on their own). Why or why not?

2-Is a "DJ" who goes into a recording studio and creates his own samples, meaning he actually records various sounds and manipulates them to what he needs for his song, THEN plays those sounds via his keyboard a musician? Why or why not?

Chad (Hope that makes it easier)

TEMPO TANTRUM: What a lead singer has when they can't stay in time.