I tried to send this yesterday, but it never
showed. Then again about an hour ago. Nothing.
"Once is chance... Twice is coincedence...
Three times means war, Mr. Bond..."
>I ain't got nothing against technology. I think you're missing the point.
>Technology can make for better creativity or it can hamper it, it's not an
>either/or argument. Do you really want to watch some dude just press a few
>buttons on a computer, a pre-planned set, there could be no spontaneity, by
>default. It would be as boring as hell. Any fool could use the new system as
>it would be a relative cinch. I am sure the turntablism will change but in a
>way that the DJ is still DJing, not the computer programme.
True, but I think you are mistaken. Is the
master photographer who releases the shutter on
his/her camera to take a picture not an artist?
Painters of the day argued they weren't, but the
world has since thought different. What about
digital artists that use the keyboard and mouse on
their computer to tap into their minds and create
imagery that before could never be realized. Are
they not artists? Strangely, early on it was the
photographers who said they weren't-- "How can this
be art? The machine does all the work." --repeating
the very same criticisms that were used to slag
their own medium when it was first introduced.
Hypocrisy... What about electronic producers
overseeing an ensemble of gear full of 'buttons'
with a 'computer program' in the center of it all?
99% of the music discussed on this list was created
using these technologies. It is just another tool,
making part of the process easier, so the artist
can expand their vision even further than before.
Just like all of them, there will be a lot of shiza
artists (DJs) barely making a tangible piece of work
(set) out of their gear, but a tasteful audience can
discern a good artist from just a craftsman. Can we
not tell the difference between a vacation snapshot,
and the work of Robert Mapplethorpe? It will be the
same with DJing. Developing a tool to make production
easier means that the standards of quality for that
medium have to be raised as well, and don't expect
to hear the same DJ sets you've always heard. Expect
more. Every tool or technology has its own individual
quirks that, over time, the users get creative with,
and give a whole new credibility to that same
technology. When digital imagery first came out it
was all pixelated and choppy looking. (Ewwww...)
Everyone tried hard and fast to advance resolutions
and quality to make the imagery look as 'real' as
possible, and they achieved it-- but it's funny that
now everyone is hungry for the old low-res graphics,
and half the typefaces you see on Mtv lately are
pixelated--qualities unique to that medium alone
that have grown to be accepted. It's just evolution.
New tools are developed, and new skills evolve to
master those tools. Slowly they are assimilated...
Of course, there are some that would argue that the
DJ is nothing but a relay between the producers--the
people that actually wrote all of the music the DJs
play--and the audience... while the turntable is doing
all the work! Can you say 'live set'?
very big ;)
Dale
