I think kids today are producing great music today

[colorado]

I think kids today are producing great music today. It is just that it is a big break from "geezer" music.

They use computers, mixers, "electronic turntables" etc. an mix in "traditional electronic instruments" only as needed. Guitars have no special position.

My son can with incredible nuance explain the differences of why you would want to use Reason vs Ableton (software). Don't even get him started on synth plug-ins or what produces the most massive "wub wub" bass. His arguments have all the subtlety of why you want to use a strat vs a Les Paul.

And if you listen to enough of this stuff you start to hear that one guy IS really good vs kids who really aren't very good musicians.

Personnally when I watch these guys in concert I don't get it. Some mix live which seems to involve quite a bit of skill.

But others just push a button on their computer and vaguely wave their hand in the air for 2 hours.

Surprisingly, my son is OK with that.

And they fill stadiums (usually some sort of "festival"). With lots of cute girls. Not that that ever motivated teenage boys.

I would say the main connection between rock and new electronic music is that they are both very repetative and somewhat boring and guys have figured out a way to convince girls that if they play this stuff that the girls should sleep with them.

I say more power to them.

[Arbiter]

The kids are alright. Seriously. They're not doing it the old way, thank God, they've found their own sounds, their own instruments, and their own voice.

Lotta folks my age say "oh, that crap is just noise". Which is word for word what my parents said to me. They're doing it right.

[thorton077]

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but I just don't see the point in electronic music and the difference in all the "artists". But, to each their own.

[blowtorch]

arbiter yep, as long as they're pissing old geezers off, they're doing it right

[greggorypeccary]

I get the party aspect of it, and mixing that stuff live definitely takes skills. But I couldn't imagine just sitting around listening to it, seems like something would be missing.

[ludashoeless]

i'm a kid and i hate it

[ianasdfg]

I love the potential of the DIY / Software thing. Have listened to a few underground radio shows recently where new bands were doing a lot of really cool stuff with sampling and synthesis. What seems to be missing often is well thought out creative structured composition.

I guess the likes of Nirvana and Oasis were the last generation of bands who were listening to the Beatles.

[ScottieHotrod]

Anything that makes music is an instrument, it's just that ours are made of wood.

People who get all elitist about out it have clearly never been to an illegal warehouse rave off their faces on MDMA - that's when you want Drum and Bass and Dubstep. I don't sit at home listening to it.

Art shouldn't be judged on the way it's created or it's technical merit, just the emotional response it creates.

[chabby]

I think the new stuff is pathetic, but who cares what I think?
It has nothing to do with being a geezer, it's just what sounds good versus soul-less.
WHat kind of skill do they need? Programming skill?
Is the computer actually a musical instrument? Not in my mind, but it is a shortcut to producing viable sounds that vaguely resemble music. The more you can make it sound like real people, the better it is.......and you are.

How pathetic is that?
It's like doing a Picasso by numbers.

[ScottieHotrod]

It's not all souless!!!

Chances are you've only come across the bland crap of radio.

There's a lot of very atmospheric, deep and interesting electronic music out there.

To say you don't like it because of what you hear in the charts is kind of like saying you don't like guitar music because of the Monkeys.

[Arbiter]

Originally Posted by ScottieHotrod

Anything that makes music is an instrument, it's just that ours are made of wood.

People who get all elitist about out it have clearly never been to an illegal warehouse rave off their faces on MDMA - that's when you want Drum and Bass and Dubstep. I don't sit at home listening to it.

Art shouldn't be judged on the way it's created or it's technical merit, just the emotional response it creates.

Hell yes. The warehouse rave is every bit as much a concert experience as anything else I've ever seen, heard, or played, and frankly quite a bit more fun if you get my drift and you, ScottieHotrod, get my drift, of that I'm pretty sure.

[AirBagTester]

Originally Posted by ScottieHotrod

Art shouldn't be judged on the way it's created or it's technical merit, just the emotional response it creates.

Emotion is definitely important, but there are lots of things that provoke emotions that are not typically considered art in their usual context, i.e. sunsets, babies, death, car trouble etc. ad infinitum. So I don't think we can judge art or attribute artistic value just on that one thing alone.

But if it's anything I've learned over the past 20 years it's that it's hard to start a sentence like "Art [something]" and not have it sound over exclusive or over inclusive.

Anyway that was kind of a tangent I guess... your main point I definitely identify with. Sorry if that sounded too argumentative.

[colorado]

Chabby said: "I think the new stuff is pathetic, but who cares what I think?
It has nothing to do with being a geezer, it's just what sounds good versus soul-less. WHat kind of skill do they need? Programming skill?"

You do need programing skill.

I'm not sure I understand, you have electronic music equipment.

I think the thing is we were in the transition when people went from acoustic to electronic music. The electronic music of our time was still heavily influenced by the preceding acoustic musicians. The acoustic musicians thought that our electronic music was a bunch of souless noise.

This generation grew up on electronic music. They don't feel any need to pay homage to the acoustic musicians of old OR the "soulful" electronic noise we produced (once removed from he original acousic "soulfulness").

They are probably the first generation to be truly free of the sentimentality associated with acoustic music. I remeber back in the day when we were the counter culture and ripping everything apart. We thought we were doing "tearing down the ways" but I think we had heard too much acoustic tethered music growing up to pull it off.

Kids nowadays are doing a better job of it.

BTW my son thinks electric guitar "tone" is boring and can't understand why you would use it when synths make much more interesting sounds.

He would look at it the same way as someone saying you have to make rock with a harpsichord, tuba and basoon. Interesting rare flavors but show me a "rock" band with that lineup.

[sax4blues]

I don't know that kids today are making electronic music. I am surrounded by teen and young adult musicians and all of them are playing traditional instruments. There are some people who make electronic music, and there are some people who make other music.

Also if it has hit large audiences and arenas they are probably not kids in the sense of teen or college age. The audience may be kids, but my guess is the average age of artists with national presence will be north of 25 years old.

[Arbiter]

Originally Posted by chabby

I think the new stuff is pathetic, but who cares what I think?
It has nothing to do with being a geezer, it's just what sounds good versus soul-less.
WHat kind of skill do they need? Programming skill?
Is the computer actually a musical instrument? Not in my mind, but it is a shortcut to producing viable sounds that vaguely resemble music. The more you can make it sound like real people, the better it is.......and you are.

How pathetic is that?
It's like doing a Picasso by numbers.

I have heard literally every word of this from the classical conservatory players I used to work with...regarding electric guitar. They literally could not understand how it could even be considered a musical instrument, except for one student, who recruited me for their annual recital. I played "Smoke On The Water" on classical with a pick, he played the vocal line on jaw harp. He was the trained guitarist, by the way, I'm just a bass-playing hack. I thought it was a cool arrangement; we worked hard on it, believe it or not. The outrage was unreal. We laugh still about that recital, sometimes.

Anything can be an instrument. Hell, on my old workbench at SCGC, I found that you can use a Porter-Cable sander as a bass instrument. Put the sander in contact with the bench. Gotta know when to flick the switch on and off. Keep the RPM down and deep bass results. Used it on a recording.

To each their own, but man, I love watching the kids figure out new ways of getting stuff done and doing it. Saw an interview with the Autotune guys a while back. They designed it to fix minor pitch problems on vocal and guitar tracks. They never dreamed it would get used the way it gets used these days. That's cool. That's rock and roll right there.

[mal paso]

Music seems more interesting now than it did 10 years ago, that's fer sure.






Just my opinion of course.

[ScottieHotrod]

I hope I haven't started a debate on the true nature of art, that would be painful. And yeah, if you've been to any parties like the kind of parties I've been to then you know what a religious experience it can be ;)

I think context is important. In the cold, grey wasteland of 1950s Britain, a stratocaster must have been something really special. The likes of Hendrix jumped on the potential of the electric guitar. It was unlike any other instrument before in it's expressiveness and power.

But fast foward to now and our lives are fast, shiny and high tech. Electronic music reflects this perfectly! The boundaries of expression are only as limited as your imagination.

It doesn't all have to be party music either just listen to any of Radiohead electronic stuff. Bleak but expertly crafted songs about alienation and the cold, soulness nature of modern life. Well, I'm sure they could articulate what I'm trying to say much better, but I hope you get the point.

[colorado]

ScottieHotRod very nicely said: "In the cold, grey wasteland of 1950s Britain, a stratocaster must have been something really special. The likes of Hendrix jumped on the potential of the electric guitar. It was unlike any other instrument before in it's expressiveness and power."

Exactly. Electric guitars were the synths of their day. "Look at all the cool sounds I can make. Betcha never heard that before. Try doing that on your acoustic guitar."

Kids today have better noise makers and MAY be impressed with the skill it takes to play guitar (like I am with classical piano) but have no interest and instead learn computer skills and modern electronic music skills.

[dburns]

Jeremey Ellis on Maschine.

[ScottieHotrod]

Great video, you could argue that requires just as much dexterity as a traditional instrument. He's got a whole band at his fingertips. the possibilities are infinite.