OT rant from hell (was: AirFX)

[rich <rich@nuvision.com>]

>  >besides it's true--you can't make music with '70s synths and 
>RDS-8000s--at
>  >least that's my excuse  ;)


Thanks for your input, guys.  I hope you don't mind me opening up 
this can of worms...My initial reaction to the magazine i was reading 
was similar to my general reaction to society as a whole.  It 
definitely affects my viewpoint of life and making music as well.  If 
it seems a viable subject for discussion, i would like to hear your 
input!

It's not just the advertisements of newest and grooviest toys that 
bother me.  You can use '70's synths to make music...for sure (or 
bang on pots and pans, for that matter).  Alot of the new toys are 
'modeled' and mimic instruments now deemed as 'classic'.  It's this 
RELENTLESS pushing of technology like it's some sort of savior that's 
getting to me.  I've GOT to get that new software update!  Oh, gosh, 
let's not just model classic amps, let's model classic mics, classic 
effects, classic everything.  You don't need 8-tracks, you need 48 or 
more, as many as your computer can handle, only you need MORE drive 
space now...MORE ram...MORE Mhz.  EVERYONE CAN MAKE MUSIC!  Turntable 
sales are higher than guitar sales.  Bet that will put a few music 
teachers out of business.  Music that you steal through technology is 
valued more than inspiration.  And i'm supposed to be thankful that i 
have ANOTHER reason to stare at a CRT monitor, and be linked into 
this WEB that's now pushing as much 'product' as 'information'.  Do 
you have more 'time' on your hands, now that you have all of these 
time-saving goodies surrounding you?  Do you really?

I am sure i just jumbled up a whole mess full of ideas on that last 
paragraph.  My attitude is shaped by the fact that I am a resident of 
southern california, where we are being constantly bombarded by 
images and concepts of what you should look like, what kind of music 
you should listen to or play, what car to drive, what house to have, 
etc. ad nauseum.  Where every fricking square inch of land and every 
last natural resource is being marked off for sale and consumption. 
So, apologies again for the rant, but thanks for letting me get it 
off my chest (once again).  I think it's important.  Why are we 
rushing forward at such a pace?  Why do i walk into a record store or 
a music store (or any 'store' for that matter) and become completely 
overwhelmed and somewhat depressed?  The sheer saturation makes the 
air thick...Did you know that they are building a new Mars Music in 
Santa Ana here in Orange County?  Did you know that they JUST BUILT a 
Mars Music 10 minutes up the road?  A brand new store that they 
chocked full of inexperienced, inept salespeople?  Did you know that 
there are two fully stocked Guitar Centers and a Sam Ash within a 20 
minute radius of the location of this proposed new store?  How many 
fucking Squire Stratocasters do we need to sell?

Call me bitter and twisted, and some of you in more remote places may 
think i'm in heaven.  But I think it's frightening and assinine, and 
it's not just music...it's everything.  more stores, more cell 
phones, more computers, more population, more movies, more sports, 
more hyper-sports, more adrenaline, more SUV's, more, more, more.

so, the question is:  how do you reconcile being a technology junkie 
that's having this nagging feeling in your gut that something is VERY 
wrong?

rich