According to Polak, seeing as ravers don't like live performances, it should be renamed EDN. Electronic Dance Noise.
Music: Combinations of pitches and rhythms produced by voice or instrument. A laptop is not a musical instrument. It is a composition tool.
To be fair, guys like Kid Koala can use turntables as a genuine musical instrument for spontaneous performance.
And don't get me wrong, half a lifetime ago I also had recently discovered ecstasy and loved raving. But then the drugs wore off and I realized "this s*** sucks."
Is a synth attached to a midi keyboard an instrument? You press a button, it plays a note? Just like a piano. Exactly like a piano actually. That how EDM music is made.
If you don't like EDM that's fine, I loved rock in High School. Jesus, I had the biggest hard on for Guns N' Roses in the world. I played the guitar for 5 years and I got pretty decent at it but then it just started to bore me. Learning other peoples music gets stale quick and writing your own music on a guitar without any singing ability or friends who play other instruments didn't really work. That combined with getting bored of listening to the same old rock songs from the 70's, 80's and 90's cause nothing new interested me led to me falling out of love with the genre. I still love all of those songs and I'm all for a good indie rock song when I hear it (funny though, cause most of the indie/alternative music is becoming electronic based anyways), it's just not my favorite genre.
My favorite quote out there is "Anyone who doesn't like a certian genre just doesn't understand what context it's supposed to be enjoyed in". You should really try adopting it cause your dismissal of EDM is pretty pathetic. These guys are musicians through and through, they just play a different instrument then most.
As for "DJing" I agree it's not playing an instrument. I'll be the first to say that DJing is a joke and I do it. EDM isn't about the DJ. It's about everyone there and the whole experience. The DJ is just in charge of the soundtrack which drives the whole night.
And you still haven't answered my request from the other thread, to provide an example of an EDM track that requires even mediocre performance skill at the piano/keyboard.
Probably not what you're looking for since it was before the "EDM" craze set in, but...
33 seconds in.
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Is a synth attached to a midi keyboard an instrument? You press a button, it plays a note? Just like a piano. Exactly like a piano actually. That how EDM music is made.
You challenged me to demonstrate my skills making music on a computer, and then I invited you over to see. Do you not think I understand what you're saying about MIDI?
Unless the DJ has the MIDI-keyboard on-stage and is performing the licks from the song live on-stage then it does not qualify as a musical performance. This is not my opinion, it is a generic interpretation of a simple definition of what music is.
By your own admission, the piano licks in EDM are quite mundane as far as the caliber of performance skill on keyboards required to play live. So does it really count "just like a Piano?"
EDM needs more guys doing that controller stuff like in the video. I'd pay good money to see that guy and Kid Koala play a set together. It would be amazing.
And why is it The Prodigy seem to do just fine playing live and drawing huge crowds? The Fat Of The Land is one of my favorite albums of all time in ANY genre, and they didn't even use a computer when making it. They had an old-school monochrome screen Roland 16-track midi sequencer from like 1988, and most of the basslines on that record were made on synths that pre-dates MIDI, so they actually had to perform all the parts start to finish without mistakes. I think the subconscious effect of the endearing value of that record is that so much of it is a human performance despite the sound-palette.
"That isn't music, they don't even play the violin"!
-Mozart about rock n roll....probably
The tools of composition change but that doesn't mean the art is any less valid or any less meaningful.
Arguing about technical merit is pretty silly. There's a reason no one cares about Yngie Malmsteen or Stevie Vai. The Ramones and the Sex Pistols did more and they couldn't even play their instruments.
Kanye is absolutely a game changer. I get that people don't like him because he was mean to a pretty white girl on TV, but the art is on a whole different level. He is changing music the way Stevie did 30-40 years ago.
And why is it The Prodigy seem to do just fine playing live and drawing huge crowds? The Fat Of The Land is one of my favorite albums of all time in ANY genre, and they didn't even use a computer when making it. They had an old-school monochrome screen Roland 16-track midi sequencer from like 1988, and most of the basslines on that record were made on synths that pre-dates MIDI, so they actually had to perform all the parts start to finish without mistakes. I think the subconscious effect of the endearing value of that record is that so much of it is a human performance despite the sound-palette.
That's exactly what I'm saying. Electronic music used to be performed live. Kraftwerk, Depache Mode, Moby, The Prodigy and even recent acts like Calvin Harris and Empire of the Sun, perform or used to perform, with their midi/synth keyboards, analog bass guitars and electric (or real) drumkits, on stage. I don't get what you don't understand though. The tastes of EDM fans changed.
Rave style parties overtook concerts as the mainstage for this sort of music and those parties are more suited towards a DJ then a live act. Hell, even big, mainstream festivals are becoming more "Rave-Like". The difference between raves back in the day and these parties today is that the DJ's that make their own music and have success at it have become rockstars so instead of saying "I'm going to <insert cheesy rave party name>", they say "I'm going to see Avicii" and people automatically jump on the "you're going to watch some guy play his ipod" bandwagon when in reality they're going to party with a bunch of like minded people who like Avicii's music and want Avicii to provide the soundtrack for their night. If he does a good job then he's a good DJ in the contexts of todays EDM. If he does a terrible job like he has every time I've seen him, then he is a piss poor DJ. Still a great producer in my mind, but I digress.
The Prodigy is more industrial rock and less Electronic Dance Music. I doubt many people will have a hard time deciding between The Prodigy and Hardwell at some big festival. Different strokes for different folks.
It's gotten to the point where acts will list whether they're DJing or playing Live on their flyers as it makes a big difference to the fans.
P.S. I don't think DJ's are musicans. I think EDM producers are musicians. Big difference.
Last edited by polak; 07-25-2014 at 02:50 PM.
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"That isn't music, they don't even play the violin"!
-Mozart about rock n roll....probably
Please tell me you've never taken a single class in music history, ever. Because that is the dumbest statement so far in this whole argument.
Quote:
Kanye is absolutely a game changer. I get that people don't like him because he was mean to a pretty white girl on TV, but the art is on a whole different level. He is changing music the way Stevie did 30-40 years ago.
He isn't even close to the musician Stevie Wonder is. He even said so.
From Stevie Wonder's wiki:
"In 2005, Kanye West said of his own work, "I'm not trying to compete with what's out there now. I'm really trying to compete with Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. It sounds musically blasphemous to say something like that, but why not set that as your bar?"
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So far, this is the oldest I've been.
Last edited by Traditional_Ale; 07-25-2014 at 03:19 PM.
Having to listen to those totally lame, potty humour, Gerry Forbes, flower shop prank calls that you have to listen to as 'brother station' promos on Funny 1060. The only people that might find them funny and that is even debatable, are 12 year old Jr. High School boys.
Gerry Forbes RGMG.
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Having to listen to those totally lame, potty humour, Gerry Forbes, flower shop prank calls that you have to listen to as 'brother station' promos on Funny 1060. The only people that might find them funny and that is even debatable, are 12 year old Jr. High School boys.
Gerry Forbes RGMG.
Don't take this the wrong way, but if you don't like it, why not change the channel? I haven't heard a peep out of Gerry Forbes in years!
Unless you're in a place where you don't have control of the music, of course.
Edit: Although it sounds like you WANT to listen to Funny 1060, but it keeps getting littered with Gerry Forbes cross-promotions. Yeah - that sucks.
Well I don't know. I can get where your coming from saying a dj isn't a preformer, but an EDM show is without a doubt a performance. A good one can really blow you away. Sure it's not just the DJ who puts together an awesome EDM show but I guess he gets the credit?
Maybe a better term would be an entertatiner?
Either way I'm glad we can put the EDM discussion to rest.
Don't take this the wrong way, but if you don't like it, why not change the channel? I haven't heard a peep out of Gerry Forbes in years!
Unless you're in a place where you don't have control of the music, of course.
Edit: Although it sounds like you WANT to listen to Funny 1060, but it keeps getting littered with Gerry Forbes cross-promotions. Yeah - that sucks.
Exactly this.
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Having to listen to those totally lame, potty humour, Gerry Forbes, flower shop prank calls that you have to listen to as 'brother station' promos on Funny 1060. The only people that might find them funny and that is even debatable, are 12 year old Jr. High School boys.
Gerry Forbes RGMG.
It's almost as bad as these Vibe 98.5(?) DJ's who also litter Funny 1060 with their hilarious promos as well.
