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Morality and music creation programs

Andrew Milner

Campfire Attention Holder
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    • Nov 11, 2019
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  • #1
    So I was in the process of letting my mind wander and this question/idea came about.
    Can you morally call yourself a music creator if you are only using a program to produce your music without actually recording it? (for the purpose of this example, let’s consider Guitar Pro the program in cause).
    I mean technically for it to sound good you need to know how to play an instrument or two and you need to be able to realize what a human can or cannot physically play. This idea came to me when I realized some people may not have enough time or money to actually sit and record everything and make sure it has a good quality. However, with the advancement of technology, you can bypass this inconvenience and have your songs sound professional enough.
    I don’t know, maybe I’m looking too much into this. Then again, I do spend a lot of time reading debates on who is stronger after undergoing a hair color change after a variable number of minutes spent screaming so there is that.
    What do you guys and girls think of this?
     

    Noah Berends

    Campfire Attention Holder
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    • Nov 11, 2019
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  • #2
    I’ve gone back and forth with friends about this tons of times. By all technicality and definition, what they’re technically making on their MacBook *is* music, but does their creation garner as much respect as Jimmy Page? SRV? Syn? Papa Gates? Paul Gilbert? Guthrie Govan? Jeff Beck? I would argue not. While both the MacBook Warrior and Jimmy Page are making music, one has put in countless more hours in authentically perfecting their skill in order to make the best music they can. The MacBook Warrior has simply experimented with placing the samples. Yes, I think they can call themselves a musician, but I don’t necessarily think they can demand as much respect as those who put in the time to learn the instruments. That’s how I see this issue. This is a great thing to discuss. I look forward to hearing what other people might think.
    Edit: also, nice Dragon Ball reference. Took me a minute to catch that.
     

    Ed Seith

    Supreme Galactic Overlord
    Staff member
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    • Nov 11, 2019
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  • #4
    That’s the difference between being a music creator and a musician, or instrumentalist.
    Someone like Skrillex is a music creator. Whether I like what he creates is irrelevant – it is music that brings some people joy or some other emotional connection or response. It has rhythm and melody.
    Jimmy Page, the shared example above, is also a music creator. On top of that, he is a musician and instrumentalist.
    Same goes for Syn and Papa. For Papa, you have to also add comedian to the mix.
    Back in the late 90s, I wanted to experiment with studio software, but I didn’t have an interface, or the money for one. I wound up being able to hook a Yamaha MIDI keyboard up to the computer, and used it to produce basic drum beats, some melodies, and then imported sound clips of TV show and movie quotes over it. Yes, there was some “instrumentation” from the simple keyboard, but it was nothing like the instrumentals I’ve written, recorded and produced since.
    But I was still being creative, and it was still (in the loosest sense, to me) music. It wasn’t GOOD music, but it was music nevertheless.
     

    Filip Tomiša

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    Nov 11, 2019
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  • #5
    You can look at it this way, if a person plays an instrument they might consider themselves as a musician, whereas a person who programms music might consider themselves as an artist. Musicians are artists but not all artists are musicians if that makes any sense…
    @Ed Since you mentioned Skrillex, I would consider him a musician because he can actually play a guitar, piano and also sing. He was actually in a metalcore band before he started doing dubstep.
     
    J

    Jak Angelescu

    Guest
  • #6
    I’m probably not the best person to comment on this because I have no idea about producing music or recording it or anything. All I know is how to write it and create it and play my instrument. But coming from my perspective, I don’t think there’s anything unethical or immoral about simply creating music. I wouldn’t really call a DJ and musician as much as I would call them a performing artist. My brother is a DJ and he’s a well respected one in our area. There is a lot that goes into being a DJ and working with all that software. But I still wouldn’t really technically call it a musician since you’re more about learning how to use software than actually playing an instrument. Is it immoral though? I don’t think so
     

    Andrew Milner

    Campfire Attention Holder
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    • Nov 11, 2019
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  • #7
    This…actually makes me feel better about this whole thing.
    And yeah, I fully agree that there is a distinct difference between the two.
    I guess moral is a strong word. In my mind I was trying to figure out what exactly I’d call myself if I was creating music without actually recording it. I wouldn’t consider myself in the same leagues as the guitarists mentioned above even if I was a full time player.
    So yeah, as I’ve said, this whole discussion helped me feel a lot better about this.
     

    Noah Berends

    Campfire Attention Holder
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    • Nov 11, 2019
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  • #8
    I totally respect the music made by people who are DJ’s or electronic artists etc. I find deadmau5’s creative process really inspiring and dubstep has always been one of my guilty pleasure genres (I know, i know). What they do is a unique craft in and of itself with a lot of really creative people. But I feel they’re not really comparable to someone who’s spent years perfecting their chops on a physical instrument. It’s almost two different realms of thought.
     

    Richard O'connor

    Free Bird Player
    Nov 11, 2019
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  • #9
    I would say of course you can call yourself a music creator. In fact, I’m sure, but I could he wrong but deadmau5 creates all his music electronically. He admits to not being a good piano player so spends his time drawing everything in. Regardless of whether you can play an instrument is irrelevant if you ask me, bit again I could be wrong and it’s only my opinion. Whether you can play the piano or not, the musical ideas and melodic sense is still there and that’s what’s important. I think in these modern times with certain types of music, knowing an instrument is becoming less important, even if in my opinion that is wrong. I think kanye west called the guitar a bullshit instrument. Claiming the guitar can’t make any sound that fruity loops can’t, and yet he’s a huge music star. Ultimately, as long as you are writing melody, and doing something different and something that stands out….who cares =)
     

    Dominik Gräber

    Hot Topic Tourer
    Contest Winner!
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    • Nov 11, 2019
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  • #10
    The way I see it, using a program is just a modern way to create your music that makes the whole process way easier – without spending millions of hours perfecting your skill on an actual instrument. It’s a litle like driving with your car than walking by foot. I am not quite a fan of creating all your music digitally but let’s face it, compared to what you can do with a laptop today, the guitar is just “old-fashioned” and therefor less and less important. Maybe not for the musician but for many listeners. So summarizing it, I would say that there is nothing wrong about using modern devices to create music, but it is respectable if you are actually picking up a physical instrument and try to master it.
     

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