At 1:55 PM -0400 4/3/08, Darcy James Argue wrote:
John,
This is actually an excellent example because it highlights the
generational difference I'm talking about.
Your generation views songs as analogous to theatrical roles, which
we expect can and should be played by many different actors over
time. Theatre is necessarily mutable, and it's generally expected
that many actors can and will play the same role over time.
My generation views songs as analogous to movies, which are released
in a fixed, immutable form.
This actually makes very good sense to me, and reinforces something
I've long observed.
There are (oversimplifying horribly!) two kinds of
entertainers/musicians: those who can play or sing live every night
and and make every performance good and make the audience feel that
every performance is a first, and those who have the infinite
patience to do take after take in the recording studio until they get
it perfect, ONCE! (Or as perfect as possible, given the inevitable
fatigue factor.)
The analogs in theater are the actors who can play 8-a-week and make
every performance good and fresh and new, and those who can work in
front of a camera on take after take until they do it perfectly,
ONCE! (Or the producer runs out of money!)
I'll leave it up to you which are the most and the least talented,
and very often someone who is really dynamite at one is completely
unable to do the other, not because of talent, but of temperament.
And of course there are always those so multi-talented that they CAN
do both equally well.
We have friends in Indianapolis, a husband and wife who are both
cellists, and very good ones. Annie plays in the Symphony and is
very happy doing so. Dennis couldn't imagine playing the same music
over and over, but is the first-call cellist for recording gigs in
the area. Opposites attract?
Yes, it's a generation gap. Just as a "Music Store" used to mean a
shop that sold instruments and accessories and sheet music so you
could make your own music, while today it's likely to mean a shop
where you buy recordings and function as a simple consumer of a
consumer product.
Interesting and enlightening discussion. Much more so than many here. Thanks!
John
--
John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music
Virginia Tech Department of Music
College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
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