Still allergic to digital ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter grimtraveller
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Hey, you know what?

It’s all good. We’re talking.

We can still talk. Jeff beck can’t do that anymore. Sadly he’s passed away.

So to all, count your blessings. We’re still here and talking. ;)

RIP Jeff
 
I personally have zero interest in digital recording. It’s becoming more and more challenging to make recordings on tape start to finish, but I’m hanging in there because if digital were the only option, I would not record at all. I personally believe they are different art forms/disciplines, which I understand is a controversial opinion.

I’ve always found this particular forum to be one of the only places online to discuss tape. Though it’s been somewhat of a ghost town in recent years- I thought the “allergic to digital” thread (train wreck it may have been) actually seemed to inject some energy into the forum.

That said, I also find that kind of thread to be off putting and not in the spirit of what I like about this forum, or what’s left of it.
 
lonewhitefly said:
if digital were the only option, I would not record at all
Click to expand...
I wouldn't go back to recording on an 8-track cassette portastudio, let alone a 4-track one. But if it were the only option, I'd be in there like a shot. Heck, if sound-on-sound were the only option, I'd be in there like a shot ! ?
 
The thing about Recycle is that when I looked at his other post on other threads, he seemed like he was giving decent, genuine answers. Then he became a massive troll.
 
Here’s something to consider.

Analog recording is keeping real music alive.

In this digital age people are losing real world musicianship skills.
Cut and paste comes to mind. Auto tune comes to mind.
Every technological advance comes at a price. How many people you know who’s handwriting skills have gone to shit because of typing on a touchscreen or a keyboard?

Yes technology is convenient, handy, and maybe even empowering. And it’s certainly addictive.
But with the addictive nature of it and the constant upgrading, when will enough be enough?

It’s only a matter of time before there’s serious AI commonplace in home studios.

A whole composition will be able to be done on the computer from start to finish without musicians even being needed.

Only need a good programmer. Or maybe not even that.

Just a thought. :D
 
RFR said:
Here’s something to consider.

Analog recording is keeping real music alive.

In this digital age people are losing real world musicianship skills.
Cut and paste comes to mind. Auto tune comes to mind.
Every technological advance comes at a price. How many people you know who’s handwriting skills have gone to shit because of typing on a touchscreen or a keyboard?

Yes technology is convenient, handy, and maybe even empowering. And it’s certainly addictive.
But with the addictive nature of it and the constant upgrading, when will enough be enough?

It’s only a matter of time before there’s serious AI commonplace in home studios.

A whole composition will be able to be done on the computer from start to finish without musicians even being needed.

Only need a good programmer. Or maybe not even that.

Just a thought. :D
Click to expand...
I think AI will be decent but never amazing. It’s like why children can be prodigies at music. They just have amazing muscle memory along other things.

But I’ve never seen a child prodigy writer. It takes life experience to be a good writer—something that children gain as they age.

AI is fantastic at certain things. Like extracting certain sounds from a song. But creation from nothing is not something I think will ever come to pass until after I’m dead.
 
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I've never thought about this forum area only being for people sold on analogue, but a place where we can (and do) talk about it. I can only speak for myself, but while I can record and replay in analogue - reel to reel and cassette, when a job roles in, I'd be foolish to risk old gear? I love playing with it, and it looks good too, but in work now, I have to risk assess almost every day - and the rules is always that you look for potential problems and reduce them. Pretty much I don't trust two computers, so I use two macbook pros, and have a system where if one fails, the other is a backup. I do not have two analogue multitracks. They need care, kindness and a light touch - I cannot put them in a flightcase and put them in the van. They don't like condensation, the media can get stretched, damaged, and the media actually contaminates the machine so you need constant cleaning etc etc. Analogue is really nice to own - not certain it would ever earn it's keep though?
 
RFR said:
Here’s something to consider.

Analog recording is keeping real music alive.

In this digital age people are losing real world musicianship skills.
Cut and paste comes to mind. Auto tune comes to mind.
Every technological advance comes at a price. How many people you know who’s handwriting skills have gone to shit because of typing on a touchscreen or a keyboard?

Yes technology is convenient, handy, and maybe even empowering. And it’s certainly addictive.
But with the addictive nature of it and the constant upgrading, when will enough be enough?

It’s only a matter of time before there’s serious AI commonplace in home studios.

A whole composition will be able to be done on the computer from start to finish without musicians even being needed.

Only need a good programmer. Or maybe not even that.

Just a thought. :D
Click to expand...
Another thing to consider:

Analog and digital are both tools used to record our musical thoughts.

No matter what method I use, I am still writing the music and lyrics, practicing my parts and then laying down and mixing my tracks. I still play and practice every day so my musical skills will only degrade when my poor old hands no longer work.

The only reason I use a DAW these days is because it allows me to get songs recorded faster. I have a backlog of work to do and not enough time to get it done but that's MY reality. I've heard others say that they are more proficient with analog and that's awesome, whichever way works and inspires is all good!
 
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CrowsofFritz said:
I think AI will be decent but never amazing. It’s like why children can be prodigies at music. They just have amazing muscle memory along other things.

But I’ve never seen a child prodigy writer. It takes life experience to be a good writer—something that children gain as they age.

AI is fantastic at certain things. Like extracting certain sounds from a song. But creation from nothing is not something I think will ever come to pass until after I’m dead.
Click to expand...
It’s closer than you think. You’re still young, I’m pretty sure that long before you’re dead you’ll see the elimination of the songwriter.
With how fast technology is moving, it’s quite possible.

Here’s a video on the currently available AI music technology.

 
but we said the same in the 80s when synth pop took over. The rock, jazz and classical folk just carried right on!
 
RFR said:
I have one request. And that is for people in the digital camp to refrain from ‘jumping borders’ into the analog forum telling us analog folk how shitty and inferior the analog method of recording is.

I personally use and endorse all forms of recording and have a hybrid set up.

No one that likes to use analog has ever gone into the digital sub forums to poo poo on digital recording (that I’m aware of)

I’m not trying to jump on you personally, your post just seemed appropriate to highlight what I feel is a larger issue.
People that frequent this forum are looking for pertinent information, assistance etc.
No one is here to be convinced this ‘antiquated’ medium is shit.

Please allow us analog farts to have our fun in this small sub forum.

Thank you . :D
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I apologize for posting in this forum - I didn't realize it was the Tape forum. I didn't say it sounded bad - I said the advantage of digital are numerous - I couldn't care less what people use these days - but you couldn't get me back on tape for all he tea in China.
 
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grimtraveller said:
Perhaps you should actually try. Try to understand why different people like doing things and using things that you don't.
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I apologize for posting in this forum - I didn't know it was the tape forum.I know why people use tape - When I started out we were using 8 Track 2 inch - which moved over to 16/24 track 2 inch - I been through the all the splicing, aligning, adjusting etc... - I won't use tape - the whole idea is expensive and cumbersome.
 
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grimtraveller said:
I wouldn't go back to recording on an 8-track cassette portastudio, let alone a 4-track one. But if it were the only option, I'd be in there like a shot. Heck, if sound-on-sound were the only option, I'd be in there like a shot ! ?
Click to expand...
Yeh I’m not a big fan of cassette multi track at this point … but I would use them if that was all that existed. Digital, not so much. To me, it’s the difference between photoshop and oil paint and canvass. I understand this is a minority opinion, and mang simply see the medium as capture method for performance. I see it as making a record on totality. The final potential sound of the record is what guides me.
 
rob aylestone said:
I've never thought about this forum area only being for people sold on analogue, but a place where we can (and do) talk about it. I can only speak for myself, but while I can record and replay in analogue - reel to reel and cassette, when a job roles in, I'd be foolish to risk old gear? I love playing with it, and it looks good too, but in work now, I have to risk assess almost every day - and the rules is always that you look for potential problems and reduce them. Pretty much I don't trust two computers, so I use two macbook pros, and have a system where if one fails, the other is a backup. I do not have two analogue multitracks. They need care, kindness and a light touch - I cannot put them in a flightcase and put them in the van. They don't like condensation, the media can get stretched, damaged, and the media actually contaminates the machine so you need constant cleaning etc etc. Analogue is really nice to own - not certain it would ever earn it's keep though?
Click to expand...
Well, I have a friend who’s super into fountain pens. And there are fountain pen communities. He can restore fountain pens, and they can be worth a significant amount of money.

But no one is going to say, “well sure fountain pens are cool but if you are going to write a report for work, they just won’t cut it” LOL.
 
RFR said:
It’s only a matter of time before there’s serious AI commonplace in home studios.

A whole composition will be able to be done on the computer from start to finish without musicians even being needed.

Only need a good programmer. Or maybe not even that.

Just a thought. :D
Click to expand...

In it's current state I don't think AI is going to be breaking new ground any time soon. It's designed to analyze existing music and form a unique derivative. In less than stellar form, that's basically what a lot of artists are already doing. Maybe AI can make music that sounds "nice", or "interesting", but I don't expect anything of the likes of Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Zappa, Van Halen or anything else that threw out the mold and became a fantastic new thing.

Maybe we can learn to program AI (or maybe it can program itself?) to pay its dues, struggle, starve and persevere with a little heart, a little soul, and maybe some groupie action off to the side in a gut wrenching auditory expression of "the human condition", resulting in outrageous stardom and buckets upon buckets of hits.

"Dude, have you heard the new single by xvqz-7? It's called Buffer Stack Overflow!"


Hmmmm....
 
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