Re: LOOPING PHILOSOPHY (condensed)

[John Pollock <johnpollock@delphi.com>]

Kim Flint wrote:
> 
> Yet more proof that guitarists are the most arrogant people on earth....

Bad day at the office, Kim?

> Could we please broaden our minds a little bit and stop trying to prove 
>that
> one approach to music is oh so much more special than another? There's no
> need to be threatened by someone who's a bit different from you. Learn 
>from
> the differences, you might grow a little bit.

'Kay, my mind's open... Show me any example of a DJ's work that can make
me feel like, say, Ry Cooder's solo on "Lipstick Sunset" or Amos
Garrett's on "Midnight at the Oasis"-- please!

For that matter, point out the killer bassoon solo...

> (and next time you want to make gross generalities about some group or
> another, recall that you live in texas and there's no shortage of good
> redneck jokes! :-) )

Seems to me there's a profound difference between generalizing about
instruments and generalizing about people.  Motley was talking about
instruments.

And there's scarcely a paucity of Californian jokes here in Texas...
(I'd put a smiley here, but that's not the way I feel right now.)
 
> At 07:12 PM 8/11/97 -0500, Mikell D. Nelson wrote:
> >Ian///Shakespace wrote:
> >> A DJ's abilities as a DJ are just as inate as a guitarist's abilities 
>as a
> >> guitarist... you're born with a certain amount of talent that you hone
> >> through practice. ... I really don't see a difference between a 
>guitarist
> practicing his
> >> craft and a DJ practicing his. ... a DJ is grafting, adding elements 
>and
> >> removing, much the same way as a guitarists picking or strumming may 
>add or
> >> take away notes from a riff.
> >
> >  Creativity can be brought to almost any human endeaver, but that
> >doesn't make two activities equal in a more important sense. A jock can
> >pick the sample, playback rate, & what context he drops the sample into.
> >But a guitarist can do equivalent things AND choose tone, phrasing, &
> >attack; he can bend notes, add vibrato, & play harmonics. The number of
> >options available for expression affects the power and expressiveness of
> >the instrument or method. A 7 note thumb piano is not as capable of
> >expressing human emotion as a tenor saxophone.
> >  Another way to say this is that if you don't play guitar but want to
> >play like Alan Holdsworth, then you had better get started; it'll be a
> >10 or 20 year journey if it's even attainable for you. However, becoming
> >a great DJ might take a few months to a year and a half; again, if you
> >have it in you. So... is there a difference in the activities because
> >one is more difficult. Certainly. If you master a more powerful,
> >expressive medium you can create more emotional, evocative music.
> >  Another angle is that the DJ chooses a piece of music (sound), *that
> >someone else created*, to add to his mix. The guitarist makes the same
> >choice but uses his own pallet, his own voice.
> >
> >  On another, somewhat related, note I have always thought that some
> >instruments are more expressive than others, and wondered why. Why are
> >there more sax, guitar, trumpet or violin solos than other instruments?
> >The best answer I've come up with so far seems to be the point I was
> >making above about the options. The number of ways an instruments can
> >shape a note is directly related to it's expressive power. There is a
> >reason sax is more popular than French horn; or guitar more popular than
> >banjo. I believe great players can touch us more deeply with these
> >instruments.
> >
> >Look out... incoming...
> >
> >Motley
> >
> >
> >
> ________________________________________________________
> Kim Flint                      408-752-9284
> Mpact System Engineering       kflint@chromatic.com
> Chromatic Research             http://www.chromatic.com

-- 
John Pollock
mailto:johnpollock@delphi.com
http://people.delphi.com/johnpollock (Troubador Tech)