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 Sharing Great Software 
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Post Re: Sharing Great Software
When I was a young man, I had an electric and acoustic guitar, a couple of amps, and a few pedals.

Today, in my home studio I have the same plus 3 computers, 3 amp/fx modelers, an elaborate midi keyboard controller, Linnstrument, digital grand piano, 12 string grand stick, Warr TGSS, mandolin, banjo, and dozens of software based synths. I'm currently learning to play a 5 string electric cello. Most importantly, today, I'm 10x the musician I was as a young man.

Technology opens up new worlds for musicians to explore and find inspiration in.

My 2 cents,
Karma


Mon Sep 25, 2017 6:52 pm
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Post Re: Sharing Great Software
BSharp wrote:
RK - "Where do I want to stop? I'd say just before the technology does away with the human element and the skill and/or talent needed to create music."

EC - The greatest technology we have is DNA and I'd venture to say that its greatest manifestation, at least on this planet, is human intelligence. I believe we'll always have artistic mastery over our technology no matter how fast it accelerates, that is, up to the point where we wipe out our DNA.

Technology has an inexorable life of its own and will always overturn established art and vested interests, including those who practice on their existing instruments (sorry to say). Maybe it's best to ride the crest of the moment and perform with what you have before the next big wave hits.

In whatever way the music becomes transformed by new instruments and machines, I believe there'll always be artists who rise to the occasion and find a way to express themselves and inspire their audiences, challenging each other and surfing the wave with ever broader gestures.

RK - "(Electric guitar and bass) expanded on it and gave us more possibilities, without 'cheating'."

EC - It's human nature to feel cheated if someone comes up with an easier way of accomplishing the same, and even more - a process of automation. Some guitarists might think of two-handed string tapping as "cheating" while others jump on the technique and readily add it to their tool set.


This thread is rapidly approaching awesomeness! So many good thoughts and ideas. I particularly liked the point above that Emmett made that I bolded:

Quote:
Technology has an inexorable life of its own and will always overturn established art and vested interests, including those who practice on their existing instruments (sorry to say). Maybe it's best to ride the crest of the moment and perform with what you have before the next big wave hits.

In whatever way the music becomes transformed by new instruments and machines, I believe there'll always be artists who rise to the occasion and find a way to express themselves and inspire their audiences, challenging each other and surfing the wave with ever broader gestures.



10 times "Yes!" on this! And also to the idea that some of us feel cheated when someone comes along and can do with tech something that took us decades to master. It does suck when that happens, as any studio musician on a niche instrument can tell you, now that they've been replaced by a sampler. The trend for a long time has been away from using "real" musicians, except for only the really big budget stuff like movie soundtracks, and just ask the Simpsons music director of 4000 episodes, Alf Clausen, that just got canned because he prefers full live orchestras, how that is working out for him.

http://tvline.com/2017/08/30/the-simpso ... -composer/

"More power to the people" inevitably means that just any schlub can now make music. Which takes away the specialness and maybe even the "eliteness" of those who went to music school, dedicated their lives to mastery of their instrument(s), and/or who make a living playing or even teaching an instrument. (Of which I am a guilty member of this "elite" group of educated musicians!)

Someone takes a sampler and in 2 minutes, whips out some beats and a "melody" (in that it's a sampled flute line from an obscure disco album), and then raps over it, and then boom, there's a hit. Does it devalue the classically trained musician?

Well, that's certainly apples and oranges. But let's not deny the mastery and craft that a good rapper like Eminem has, that comes from years and hundreds of hours practicing rhymes and writing bad lyrics that slowly got better. Let's not deny the mastery of someone who samples millesoconds of singing at a time, splices it up, and using Melodyne to move the notes around to the taste of the composer, creating entirely new melodies and lines that no earthly human can imitate or produce in the first place.

Dance music is rife with that vocal effect, where you slice and dice and rearrange the notes and the rhythms into completely new ways.

I'd like to think that I can create works that don't require an entire string section to sit down and play for me while I record them. Instead, I use sampled Kontakt banks triggered by MID controllers all the time. Am I putting a string section out of work? Well, there's still string music. Perhaps you should look into using an electric cello and some MIDI stuff, but ask the Pentatonics if cello skills and vocals lessons will pay off in a pop context.

Times change. Industries change. Technology changes. How we make a living changes. How we make music changes. What we think of as music changes. The only constant is change. Adapt or die: same for dinosaurs and same for musicians.

Which segues nicely to Karma's post:
Karma wrote:
When I was a young man, I had an electric and acoustic guitar, a couple of amps, and a few pedals.

Today, in my home studio I have the same plus 3 computers, 3 amp/fx modelers, an elaborate midi keyboard controller, Linnstrument, digital grand piano, 12 string grand stick, Warr TGSS, mandolin, banjo, and dozens of software based synths. I'm currently learning to play a 5 string electric cello. Most importantly, today, I'm 10x the musician I was as a young man.

Technology opens up new worlds for musicians to explore and find inspiration in.

My 2 cents,
Karma


Karma rocks! And I agree with you! I'm also 10X the musician I was when I was a young man--a young man going to music school to study Digital Sound Synthesis and Composition for Electronic Instruments. This was always on the horizon even in the 80s, as the first samplers and drum machines appeared.

Awesome thread, Stickists! :ugeek: (Until computers start replacing us in bitching about other computers putting THEM out of work!)

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Tue Sep 26, 2017 5:30 am
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Post Re: Sharing Great Software
MIDI guitar is something I'll be buying but want to know as well how others like it

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Tue Sep 26, 2017 8:34 am
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Post Re: Sharing Great Software
I can just imagine how analog studio engineers felt when replaced by a DAW.

https://www.reaper.fm/
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Tue Sep 26, 2017 11:50 am
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Post Re: Sharing Great Software
Jzzb8ovn wrote:
MIDI guitar is something I'll be buying but want to know as well how others like it


I wanna know how I can quit my job and play music all day...

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Tue Sep 26, 2017 3:39 pm
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Post Re: Sharing Great Software
kevin-c wrote:
I wanna know how I can quit my job and play music all day...

I haven't checked my tickets yet, but it could happen? 8-)
http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/the-lucky-60m-lotto-max-ticket-was-purchased-in-alberta

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Tue Sep 26, 2017 4:07 pm
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Post Re: Sharing Great Software
WerkSpace wrote:
kevin-c wrote:
I wanna know how I can quit my job and play music all day...

I haven't checked my tickets yet, but it could happen? 8-)
http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/the-lucky-60m-lotto-max-ticket-was-purchased-in-alberta



You just have to slave always for a few decades, get in a habit of socking away half your pay check, and then you get to take a year or two off and play in rock and roll bands!

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Post Re: Sharing Great Software
I been slaving since 1985......still waiting for rewards to kick in...

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Tue Sep 26, 2017 6:39 pm
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Post Re: Sharing Great Software
Jzzb8ovn wrote:
MIDI guitar is something I'll be buying but want to know as well how others like it

*Edit*

I bought it.

The guitar plugin seems to work well with Stick. Mine is tuned to DBM, so after adjusting the tuning to "Drop D," the lowest I can go on my lowest melody string is the 3rd fret (4th if you don't have an X fret), just as advertised. Pretty good! I do get some accidental string overtones and bass string crosstalk on this side, but it's minimal. The fact that the guitar plugin won't track any of the super low bass notes probably helps. I can't comment much on the integrated instruments included with the plugin, I've only tried it with u-he soft synths thus far.

The bass plugin can track all the way down to a E♭1, which also puts the low fret limit to the 3rd on my Stick for the bass side. So the theme here with my tuning is that the 3rd fret is the stopping point for everything (convenient). The bass plugin seems to have a big problem with picking up overtones from the bass strings, even when I'm just sitting idle and not playing anything. My Stick doesn't have the extra dampeners installed, which is why I'm guessing this is a problem. I decided to order an XL Gruv Gear fretwrap to put at the nut end to see if that helps at all to remedy this.

This is my first experiment with MIDI on the Stick, so I really have no idea what I'm doing. I'd welcome any info from those who are more experienced with this sort of thing, but I'll keep slogging my way into this. I have a feeling this could be a fun setup if adjusted correctly. Additionally, I hope Jam Origin figures out a Polyphonic version of the bass plugin in the future.

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Sun Oct 01, 2017 2:20 am
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Post Re: Sharing Great Software
I've just upgraded my Melodyne Studio to Version 4.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol0OZ3xzsjs

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