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It’s not that I’m getting old. The music we get these days really does suck. Before I go on I need to make clear of the subject matter at hand. First of all, when I say ‘overproduction’ I don’t mean there’s too much music being created; There should never be a limit to the quantity of creative arts being produced ever. What I’m actually connoting is the excessiveness in terms of audio engineering (as in during postproduction) being implicated in recording music nowadays. Secondly, what I mean to say earlier is: music today really suck compared to last time.
To realize the growing overemphasis in postproduction you just need to turn on the radio. The airwaves are inundated with tacky tunes by Lady Gaga, Akon, Rihanna and Beyonce. Hey, I don’t expect anyone to agree with this - different strokes for different folks right?
Gone are the days music recordings were bona fide testimonies for genuine talent; The time when musical geniuses like Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Leadbelly would walk into a makeshift studio (more like an empty barn) and play the blues while, simultaneously, have a vinyl recording of the performance cut right there and then. These days it would take months, even years (it took 13 years to produce Guns n’ Roses, or rather, Axl Rose’s Chinese Democracy) of production before an album is released and postproduction takes up a bulk, if not most, of this time. It’s clear that advancements in audio engineering have made those in the music industry compromise on raw musical capacity of artists as such that almost anyone with less than exceptional musical talent can put out a decent record. So basically, these days, with the help of proficient producers, almost anyone can drop a decent track.
It‘s also disheartening to grasp the fact that people have become more appreciative of the image, fashion, brands, dance style and music videos their favourite artistes are associated with rather than the subject matter and real emotions that’s captured by an artiste through his or her music. People have become shallow and superficial in their partiality to music as an art form that even lip synching is becoming widely accepted. Even singer/musician/songwriter John Mayer has defended Britney Spears after hundreds of Aussie concertgoers angrily left her concert when they realized that Britney was not really singing. What the hell? I don’t know about the rest but if I wanted to pay money to see a girl shake her booty, I’d go to a strip club.
In the meantime, I’m still waiting for that elusive artist to have enough guts (and soul) to come up with a impromptu piece of recording. There’s nothing like spirit of impulse when one i s performing music. Until that happens many of us will be left uninspired. After all, that’s what a good piece of music is supposed to do - inspire the listener. The type of timeless epics I’m referring to would be those by the likes of 'Little Wings' (both the original by Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn’s cover version), 'Wish You Were Here' (Pink Floyd), 'Andainya Aku Pergi Dulu' (Alleycats) as well as those from Nina Simone, Robert Johnson and Led Zeppelin just to name a few. Oh yeah, I forgot to add in 'Baby Got Back' by Sir Mix-a-Lot. Just playing… Related News
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