Is history repeating itself?

[Genius Gone Insane]

Is history repeating itself? It’s 2011 and we are sitting here criticizing musicians for using autotune, overusing protools, not knowing how to play their instruments, etc.

I’m wondering, did musicians of the past have the same feelings toward the record player and radio? Were they upset that it took away the importance of the live show?

Most important, and this is really fucking important, especially if you consider other pieces of history that have withstood time and made it to current day commen knowledge : if the answer is “no, when the radio was invented, no one complained about it. Every musician embraced the radio with open arms” then I have to ask, is that our answer because when historians looked for that answer they turned to the famous musicians of that era, and naturally they looked at the musicians who had the first records.

The reason this is really fucking important is because in 50 years, everyone may be autotuning and gridding everything always. All music. And they may look back at us and not even be able to listen to our music because it is so out of tune and ungridded.

This is really abstract. I am just asking that one person gets what I’m saying. I’m no wordsmith so apologies if I confused you. However, I’m sure it is a real issue.

 

[CubanDude]

I'm only gonna dive into your last question. IMO it will be this way, cause it always has been like this. Listen to some old (i mean 30years+) records.. They sound okay, but you're just used to the more modern production and mostly you'll think that they lack something. Another example: Cars. I remember how i always thought "Okay, this new car is totally state-of-the-art, it looks so modern, it will never look old or outdated"... well, 10yrs later I do think those cars look outdated...

And btw: I don't wanna say that this stuff from the past is bad or sth, some of those became classics and remain timeless somehow.. I'm just talking bout the majority of things

 

[TheWinterSnow]

There is such thing as being out of tune and such thing as being too "in-tune" if that makes sense. There is something is live music called the human element, where nothing is perfect. If you want completely in tune and no human element listen to electronic music (house, dubstep etc). The big reason why everything has to be so perfect today in mainstream music is because the movie industry/TV and consumer market have brainwashed the people to believe that we have to literally be the essence of perfection which is highly unrealistic.

going by your theory, things would get so tight and perfect that guitarists would be permanently replaced by VSTi's because it would need to be more perfect than any human could play. If history does repeat itself and this became a reality, it would only last for a few years as we are about due for the next wave of a classical antiquity and autotune and music perfection would with certainty be obsolete for a few hundred years in the mainstream.

History is repeating itself and it works with an ebb and flow, only changing slightly for the cultural, social and technological changes, and I think we are on par with the many times it has changed before. The fascination with technology and binary perfection will die down, its a new thing so we are abusing the fuck out of it, once it does down or falls into equilibrium, then the next few fad in our culture and music will take place.

 

[xFkx]

you never know, todays super-edited sound might be just a trend fading and you'll have more white stripe'ish band in the next 10 years.

Besides, music transcends such irrelevant things, sound doesn't. But that's the problem, to many bands/artists make sounds, but they don't make music.

hippie stuff

 

[drew_drummer]

Fuck man. You're not listening to enough music if you think everything is auto-tuned to death. Stop being a radio-nonce and go explore!!

 

[SentencedToBurn]

one of the biggest bands right now is the black keys, and they are anything but polished.

 

[Harry Hughes]

Fuck man. You're not listening to enough music if you think everything is auto-tuned to death. Stop being a radio-nonce and go explore!!

This, so much this.
Stop being a lazy listener and actually make the effort to dig deep and find music that isn't just put in front of you.
There's a lot of music out there that isn't auto tuned shit and edited to shit.

 

[AeternusEternus]

Even if everything ends up quantized and autotuned and perfect, there'll be those who do it up traditionally. You'll never be able to breed/condition tact and soul out of true musicians. Some people are just highly skilled and don't want or need the perfection bullshit.

 

[ahjteam]

going by your theory, things would get so tight and perfect that guitarists would be permanently replaced by VSTi's because it would need to be more perfect than any human could play.

...or just do it like they have done it since 1970s (if not even earlier) with the advent of music videos: playback and lipsynching (and backing tracks for partial performance).

 

[professorlamp]

You're looking too much at the commercial and pop side. People are branching out into different things all the time, there will be always be people who deviate from the conventions of music

 

[John_C]

Fuck man. You're not listening to enough music if you think everything is auto-tuned to death. Stop being a radio-nonce and go explore!!

+a gazzilion