So getting back to the point you were making that with all genres of music there was controversy but all involved humans to perform the instruments. But out of all the years of music this is the first time we are seeing the musician being replaced.
You know, that's not true. Four quick examples from the last 4 decades of the 20th century.
In the 60s the musicians union tried to get the mellotron banned. The reason ? Fear that this instrument {the first ever sampler, in effect} meant that human musicians were being replaced. Yes, the taped instruments within the mellotron were played by humans, as are many of the samples used now, but when King Crimson, Genesis, the Strawbs, the Kinks and others wanted the sound of an orchestra, they used the mellotron, not needing the services of 120 musicians. The union reacted straight away. They were not happy. The saw the writing on the wall.
In the 70s some of those disco songs {"I feel love", for example} utilized the synthesizer and drum machine in place of bassists and drummers. In point of fact, loops had pointed the way in the early 60s. All that was needed was one measure by a drummer and then loop it. After a while, you didn't even need the measure from the drummer.The seeds had been planted long before today. The band Forever More on their 1971 LP "Words on black plastic" discuss the replacing of people by machines in "What a lovely day". Great song.
Here is a quote from a book I'm sure I got at the very end of 1981 but I definitely remember reading in 1982. It's the producer Mickie Most; "One of the things which I think will help the industry as far as producers and production are concerned, is the aid of the electronic pulse
and the devices which will play the instruments for you - it's not going to be long before we won't actually need a musician in the studio. The errors come from musicians and with electronic equipment that's available now, we're using machines for drums which no drummer could ever equal either in sound or technique. And they don't sound sterile because they have as much movement in them as an actual player..........if you feel the song needs to slightly speed up or get more dramatic in the chorus, you can include all that information and it'll do it........I've got every drum sound I want, from Led Zeppelin's to Pink Floyd's to Paul Gadd's and to me it seems that's the way records must go although all the electronics there are won't help if the song's no good."
And from an early 90s interview with Cheap Trick's Robin Zander, when commenting on his sample driven remake of Nilsson's "Jump into the fire" in which the drums and keyboards were programmed, he commented "That was probably the most fun for me
because there were no musicians involved".
Hmmmm.
The phenomenon you speak of is not new but it is definitely more widespread. But then, so is the advent of home recording. I probably have driven many people nuts saying this repeatedly over the years but from the moment sound on sound recording entered the game {and bear in mind, this was
pretty early on in the game} it became a different game. Les Paul's records became sonic illusions and pretty much everyone has had to follow suit since. Heck, even so called live albums more often than not are not. Why ? Because despite what people often say, the performance is not nearly so important as we are led to believe. Not since the tools to correct 'errors' have existed and they've existed a very long time.
You can't use plug-ins and "fancy gear" and still sound human? That's not a production problem, that's a personal problem.
I actually have alot of affinity with this viewpoint. As I see it, tools are simply that. They're tools. They're neutral. They have parameters that the person using them can set. If it sounds sterile or not human, that's first of all a subjective judgement and secondly, if it is true, then that's due to the user, not some intrinsic quality of the plug or tool.
Personally, I abhor the idea of a machine that plays something for you and replaces musicians. Actually, I can't really conceive of such a thing. Samples and VSTis are different because a person still has to play them, even if a MIDI keyboard is being used. I think that depending on the types of music being played, more and more people will just naturally gravitate to the hybrid set up that looks back in time and here and now simultaneously.
Some of it is also an age and era thing. I'm of the age and ilk whereby guitars, basses and drums will probably always form part of my basic sound. I'm fortunate to know a few drummers. As many acoustic instruments as I can play will remain with me. But I also like the sounds of exotic instruments that I want to utilize but don't have 15 years or the inclination to learn how to play. It is here that technology serves me well.
I just hope the demand for a real drummer and guitarist stays a priority and the innovations support the musician not replace them.
