
Rimshot
New member
I've found this debate really fascinating. The to-ing and fro~ing for me has contained many interesting points and as is often the case, I can see the merits on both sides and I can understand where the various protagonists are coming from.
I tire of the bored little rich kids living on mommy and daddy's trust fund and living the "Bohemian" lifestyle in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn or Downtown Manhattan(or any similar places in other cities) where they are given cute names like "Hipsters" or "Trustepharians". These people gravitate towards really bad and loud Punk Music (not saying Punk Music is bad) or very folksy type of really bad blues (I happen to love Blues) or "Drum Circle" type of self indulgent noise. They emit an air of being just too incredibly creative and artful, but they refuse to study any of the skills that people in the arts usually have a working knowledge of and they will dismiss trained musicians as "conservatory trained" while trying to bolster their own self-importance. Without any knowledge or skills with an instrument (like grinding away at three chords on an old acoustic guitar and making Richie Havens sound like Andre Segovia), these mouth breathers decide they're going to use something creative (like a suitcase as a kick drum). Sure it sounds like crap but they are given a pass because, "Look, they're using a suitcase as a kick drum, like WOW, man!" And look, they're "doing bass by blowing into a jug. COOL, anybody can be a musician!"
Please, spare me all of this self indulgent crap! We have perfected and masterly made instruments capable of wonderfully controlled ranges and good response. All of us have made certain items that we may use in our "back kit" for certain ambience sounds and effects, but that's it. We don't discard a perfectly functioning instrument just for the sake of using something inferior. That isn't about music! It's about misguided showmanship and an excuse for poor musicianship.
There was a fellow that appeared on late night variety shows that would perform Rossini's
"William Tell Overture" making fart noises with his hands. The crowd loved it. Is it because he was being musical or because he could play a recognizable melody making fart noises with his hands? It was a novelty act. It wasn't music.