Music is doomed

[DeathFrogg]

Been saying it for a couple years. These games are going to totally destroy human creativity. Substituting talent, intelligence, perserverance, and the desire to succeed at something unique and artistic for the ability to push buttons in time to pretty flashing lights.

It happened in the machine shops years ago. Makes me wanna puke.

We used to have real musicians entertaining us. People who dedicated their intelligence and passion to creative things, unique, the product of hours and years of systematic improvement of the knowlege of the instrument. People dedicated themselves for years to thinking of new ways to make incredible sounds that people would pay good money to hear performed live. Because the talent was respected. Because it was something new.

We used to have Ray Charles and Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. Now, we have Brittany Spears, Hannah Montana and new Kids on the Block. All prefabricated and produced in a committee, all corporatized and attractively packaged for your convienience.

No longer do we need to actually deal with talent, its easier to just hire some pretty little blondie with a nice ass and bigotitties to lipsynch and prance around on a stage. All that is required is just repackaging the same tripe over and over and over again. It's cheaper to manufacture, and easier to just hire some little minimally talented airhead to punch a clock and do what they're told than to actually deal with someone who might have something new to contribute.

I wonder, what Mozart or Lizt would have done had they been able to work with an analog Moog?

[Irrylath]

You'll have to pry my Guitar Hero from my cold dead hands. I have no delusions that I'm a guitarist. I understand that it's a game and I love it.

[IRONDICK]

You'll have to pry my Guitar Hero from my cold dead hands. I have to delusions that I'm a guitarist. I understand that it's a game and I love it.

Ditto, I play for fun and fun only and I still buy plenty of cds and dvds. I have also noticed that alot of the kids that ride my bus are getting more interested in music from when I was a kid which I think is really cool.

[soundguy]

The current crop of "popular musicians" is complete shit, but that's really nothing new. It's been that way for decades. The vast majority of the do-wop and girl-groups of the 50's and 60's were "producer's projects" manufactured and developed by the likes of Phil Spector and Barry Gordy

"Real" music will never die because it doesn't care about commercial success. It comes from someplace deep in the human psyche, a place far more ancient and primal than intelligence, language, or rational thought.

What *is* dead is the type of venue where one could go and see real music performed by real musicians at a reasonable cost. The general worthlessness of our currency, restrictive smoking and drinking laws, and the complete abolition of any sense of personal responsibility by the legal system and juries of brain-dead fuck-wits have all contributed to the decline of the live music venue.

It's getting more and more difficult these days to get people (and their wallets) to leave the house at night in large enough numbers to support a thriving and diverse live music scene. Without the minor leagues of the music business, the major leagues will never be anything but manufactured shit.

[AchimbaProphet]

...some pretty little blondie with a nice ass and bigotitties...

This part sounds good to me.

Real musicians, ie people who play the actual instruments and not simulators, should have no fear of the video game industry. In fact they should embrace it as a broad new avenue for distribution. Video games have soundtracks. Video games outsell everything else. Get your music on a video game soundtrack and millions of more people will hear it than would have otherwise.

Playing a guitar and rocking guitar hero are two different things. I know some guitarists who suck at the game and some amazing game players who can not play the guitar, a very small number of people who are good with each, and a large number of people who suck at both. To be skilled at either of these requires coordination, talent, and practice. I have no doubt that if someone achieves great skill at either of these that they could attain a comparable mastery of the other craft given similar investment. If someone puts all of their energy into their endeavor then they can learn to play anything on either tool.

There is a major difference between these two activites that puts musicianship above gamesplay. Musicians are artists. Musical artists create the music and players of games cover them. Musicians make music and guitar heros mimic music. This distiction means everything to those who feel threatened by the rapid growth of music orientated video games. This sense of elitism I believe is undeserved. This is a bit like a brick maker holding themselves above a brick layer. Two different things related only by components and concepts. A very skilled guitarist may be just as incapable of creating music as any other person. They could lack that creative element and find their niche within the strict confines of technical excellence. There are many people in the world who learn to play some beautiful music but never really are able to birth beautiful music on their own.

A guitar hero virtuoso should be just as worthy of acclaim by people who care about such things as those who care to give acclaim to certain musical artists. Video games have made the transition from entertainment to sport. This is gaining momentum within popular culture. Someday soon talented video game players will be likened unto rock stars in terms of fame and perhaps sex and drugs and maybe just maybe good old rock 'n roll.

I do not think that I will ever pay to buy a ticket to see someone play a video game. I will continue to buy tickets to see musical artists perform. I will continue to buy video games as well as CDs and DVDs. I will also continue to not buy video games, CDs, and DVDs that I think are crap. There are a lot of those. A great guitarist can capture my soul within a riff (if I had one muwahahahaaa) but even the best video games player will not be able to affect me in any meaningful way.

I guess that my point here is that I will give credit to each where credit is deserved and that I will take music artists for the win.

[Sister Khaos]

Music is not doomed, it is just a big pile of heaping shit right now and it has nothing to do with games.

Games are games...

just because I was the pole position champion did not make me think I was a racing car hero and I still aspired to drive a race car in real life. Same goes for any game I ever played. Next year I am going for my pilot license... and I was really good at flying games. I think that for some of us, it just makes us open our minds to the real things we can do in life if we wanted to. Those games never gave me a delusion of talent, in fact that helped me find a few that otherwise may have been hidden to me. The kids playing guitar hero will most likely do what every other kid does when they see a guitar hero! Get a guitar! Talent at games verses talent in real life... as a kid I knew the difference.

And looking back, I wish that there were music related games when I was a kid. Knowing the type I am, it probably would have made me want to actually practice my real instruments more.

[Sister Khaos]

AchimbaProphet - haha... I would never pay to see anyone play a video game either... BUT I have always wanted to go to an air guitar competition and maybe even be in one.

and

GREAT points!

[Adremelech]

We used to have Ray Charles and Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. Now, we have Brittany Spears, Hannah Montana and new Kids on the Block.

I was reading an article about this a few years ago. We don't have music superheroes like Eddy Van Halen anymore. Record companies apparently don't like guys like that. They like bands who they can promote like mad and make decent money off of while they are hot, and then move onto the next band. We don't have any more ZZ Tops, Aerosmiths, U2s, Van Halens, or ACDCs. The age of the supergroup is done.

I wonder, what Mozart or Lizt would have done had they been able to work with an analog Moog?

just look what Rick Wakeman and Kieth Emerson did with Moogs. I'm sure even the likes of Mozart would have been pleased with what those two were doing.

[LIVE FO RETSINIM]

just because I was the pole position champion did not make me think I was a racing car hero and I still aspired to drive a race car in real life. .

I am gonna have to agree with DeathFrag on this one, see, when Pole Position came out there were a bunch of us that knew it would destroy racing all together. We used to have the greats like Andretti, Allison, Cook, now what do we have? Woman drivers??? The whole idea of a woman driving a car is completely absurd. There probably could have been plenty of great men drivers, but instead they just sat and played Pole Position all day rather than driving a real car. Same with 007 Golden eye. I probably could have been a British super spy, but I wasted it all playing that game.

[pox1169]

I think that what some video games have done in very recent times has given kids something to expand there minds out to. My youngest son just bought his first guitar because he was playing rockband and guitar hero and liked some of the older bands that are on there. Granted he is only playing single notes and not chords but once I showed him the similarities he has at least started playing power chords.

I would agree with the statement that I wish these were around when I was a kid and I probably would have taken the guitar way more seriously.

[Sissy-Freak]

I was reading an article about this a few years ago. We don't have music superheroes like Eddy Van Halen anymore. Record companies apparently don't like guys like that. They like bands who they can promote like mad and make decent money off of while they are hot, and then move onto the next band. We don't have any more ZZ Tops, Aerosmiths, U2s, Van Halens, or ACDCs. The age of the supergroup is done.



just look what Rick Wakeman and Kieth Emerson did with Moogs. I'm sure even the likes of Mozart would have been pleased with what those two were doing.

I disagree with some of that. Look at Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers and ect...Thyey are the next round. It takes years to get that. It's a statement that can't even be thought about for the next ten years. Some bands do and some don't. It still happens. Video killed the radio star...Old concept new generation.

[BigHurknFrontman]

Video killed the radio star...Old concept new generation.

Nice analogy.

[AchimbaProphet]

Video killed the video star?

[Blake NWR]

If it's good enough for Yngwie...

Rock Notes: It's pretty cool that some of your new material was chosen for Rock Band downloadable content. What goes through your mind when you learn that your songs will be featured in such a popular video game?

Yngwie: I have to be honest with you. My kid is ten years old and a couple of years ago I brought him to one of those video game stores and said, "Hey, go get whatever you want." And the guy that worked there knew who I was. He goes, "Hey, check this out," and put this plastic guitar on and starts playing "Smoke On The Water" or whatever. And I'm going, "What the hell is this?" But I have to be honest with you, this Rock Band and this Guitar Hero, it's all been good for me! Because even if it doesn't say Yngwie Malmsteen, it is stuff that relates to what I do, and let's say ten years ago, the guitar was pretty much dead in this country. To me, this is fucking great! If the kid plays some game like Halo, or whatever they're doing, that's cool. But this is something that introduces them to music and good rock and roll. Not long ago I was sitting in the airport with one of my bandmates and this little kid, like six years old, goes to me, "Are you guys in the band?" and I go like, "Yeah, we're in the band." And he says, "I want to be in a band!" This is so cool because this didn't happen before. And all the kids you see at my shows now? So I think it's a good thing. I think it's cool. I was very skeptical at first but I think it's good now.

[BigHurknFrontman]

I'm shocked that Yngwie took the precious time out of his busy schedule to speak to a kid. He's not known for his friendly demeanor, you know?

[Blake NWR]

I'm shocked that Yngwie took the precious time out of his busy schedule to speak to a kid. He's not known for his friendly demeanor, you know?

Haha, funny you mention that, he addressed that very thing...

Yngwie: Let's face it, in the past when I first started out and all that I probably had a fucking attitude. I was very confident and very young and I probably said and did things I shouldn't have. So some people have based their opinion or theory of who I am on that. Which is okay, because it happens to me almost every day I do these interviews and I hear people say, "Oh, man you're really cool and I was so worried about talking to you." You learn when you're in this business that no matter what you do or no matter what you say there's going to be a certain element of people that are going to try to bring you down.

[BigHurknFrontman]

Dude... didn't he throw a drunken tantrum on an airplane just last year or some shit? Why's he talking like he hasn't been an ass since he was a young, pimply-faced axe slinger?

Yngwie fuckin' cracks me up!

I saw him on a new show on VH1 called THAT METAL SHOW, and he was an arrogant, pompous turd on there, too. Oh... and it made me feel good to see that he got FAT!!!

[Chris Slack]

Dude... didn't he throw a drunken tantrum on an airplane just last year or some shit?

The "Unleash the fucking fury" sound bite got popular a year or two ago but was later proven to be 10+ years old.

I saw him on a new show on VH1 called THAT METAL SHOW, and he was an arrogant, pompous turd on there, too. Oh... and it made me feel good to see that he got FAT!!!

I think he's been pretty chunky for a good number of years. I think it's alcohol bloat.

[BigHurknFrontman]

The "Unleash the fucking fury" sound bite got popular a year or two ago but was later proven to be 10+ years old.

Which is coincidentally the title for his most recent album!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unleash_the_Fury

[Blake NWR]

Actually it's this one... check the uber-metal scowl!

[BigHurknFrontman]

Nice Photoshop job on his face & body! He's EASILY 40 pounds heavier than that photo would have you believe.

[BigHurknFrontman]

IRONY: How a thread titled "MUSIC IS DOOMED" can be so easily hijacked by tales and images of Yngwie Malmsteen.

:D:D:D:D