I bought my son a Rubik's cube yesterday for $1.50 and as usual my mind is blown again. I don't know why I find such deep meanings in trival things in life, but it's just the way I am.
A) I was 6/7 when the Rubik's cube came out in 1980, my son turned 7 in January.
B) I was never able to get more than one color solved. Once I did solve two colors and felt really proud.
C) I remember the mystery of how do these guys solve this thing in seconds. Those who are around my age probably remember all the hype and competitions.
D) Hype and what it takes to make a phenomenon (Poker, Tickle Me Elmo, Cabbage Patch Kids, etc.)
E) How the Internet destroys most mystery - I can put words in a search engine and learn how it's done. It wasn't like that before.
Samples and records are very much like the Rubik's cube. It was a mystery that took me a long time to figure out on my own. The Internet is a wonderful tool. It's a shame that it destroy's personal discovery. I feel personal discovery is what expands civilization as each person's journey adds to our collective journey. Now I understand why my teacher did not want me to read Cliffnotes. It's great to find out what someone else feels about something, but it's better to discover something that NO ONE has discovered before. If I actually used my personal experiences as a filter to add to the class discussion of East of Eden or Macbeth, who knows what I would have been able to contribute to someone else's life. Who knows what I would have stumbled acrossed along the way.
Young producers, think of this when you are putting "Dilla samples" in Google, or reading these long lists of who used what and downloading the mp3's. It's a great idea, and there is no limit to the human mind. There are so many records in the record store and I think of Kirb & Chris who I met in SF in December. I love the way they are using records that no one else touches. That's what you should take from this. It's fine to get your CTI & Kudu collection in order, but it's all in how you discover it. It is very hard for me not to prejudge the work of an individual that asks "What did ____ sample for X, Y or Z" on a message board. No, it's not going to always be as popular as following what else is going on, but maybe people will come back later and recognize (e.g. Art For Sale).
Yes it's much easier to use technology to create music, but many of the musicians I speak with now are better with technology than they are with the music itself. To me, that means unless technology advances, that individual's music will not. Well of course technology will always advance, but music is music and technology is technology. I don't feel they should parallel.
I'm sure one can make Bluegrass music on a computer, but would it still be Bluegrass? How come Bob Dylan HAS NOT said, "Hey man, you don't need an acoustic guitar anymore. carrying it around started getting on my nerves...I've got all I need right here in my laptop!" How come Phase 2 IS NOT saying..."You don't need to rack paint or get your hands all dirty anymore. We've got these airbrush machines and that's what we do our burners with now!" I remember when drummers used to get so mad at drum machines and we in Hiphop used to have the attitude of "Get with the times or too bad." Now I hear DJ's bitching and complaining about how vinyl is fading out and new technology is ruining the art. Well, Hiphop doesn't have the attitude of "Get with the times...", business does. Now DJ's know how those drummers felt. BIG UP to Brian Cross and his photography! I'm such a fan of how you keep it real with your pics and how you still use your eye and skill to get good shots. Big UP's to all food companies who don't use technology to make make more money even though it costs more. Big up to all those thugs who can still whoop somebody's ass to be feared as opposed to shooting someone from a distance. Don't you assholes know that anyone can kill someone with a gun? A lot of these musicians are the same with their little studios, I want to see what happens when you and I sit behind a 9 foot grand piano, a real trap set or a bass guitar live on stage. Exactly.
DON'T YOU SEE WHAT'S GOING ON? Why are you acting so damn blind to how everything is lining up right now? I'm thinking this is the reason you keep going to the record store every Tuesday to replace that bullshit you bought the previous Tuesday.
So many engineers are out of work because today's musician has to be able to record themselves to some degree and music suffers as a result. You wonder why we don't have anything close to Earth Wind & Fire anymore? You wonder why the female presence in Rap is what it is now huh? How many females do you know that make beats and have their own studio set up? Exactly... Georgia at Stonesthrow & I think I've seen Jean Grae with some shit too. I'm sure there are many more, but not on the scale as the male. The struggling female in Hiphop is requiring them to spend her money to look good as opposed to buying gear.
Musically it's harder to go where no one has gone before because the technology is streamlining opinions & options.
"Crack Music" is exactly what it is. Any inexpensive way to make music for maximum profit.
Obviously I'm not anti-Internet, technology. Nor is anything I'm saying a knock against any person, any record company. It's just something to think about in the world we live in. I just am making myself aware of what it's doing and how I must remain myself in the midst of it.
"The more you know is the more you know that you don't know shit." I'm just thinking out loud, not preaching or even sure if my opinion is fully fact based.
Have a wonderful day. I've got to handle a few things.