[Trombone-l] NY Times article: "Are Digital Orchestras a Sign of the Times?"

[billdin@comcast.net]

Hi JC, 

I guess I have to respectfully disagree with you. While you are surely correct about events like high school band and orchestra concerts, where the proud parents will undoubtedly attend, I am really concerned about the kind of events where professional musicians derive a lot of their income. It is well established at this point that any recorded music can be made essentially indistinguishable from the "real thing" by using the latest sampling programs. And while you or I might be able to tell the difference, it is less likely every day that the average listener will be able to tell, and further more, why should they even care or be aware that there is a better alternative. 

Theater pit orchestras are another dying breed. We used to say that they will never build a synthesizer that can follow the rhythmic instabilities of an on stage vocalist, but that is no longer true. The "conductor" can now tap the tempo into the computer or instruct it to skip bars or parts of bars. Small venues doing scaled down versions of Broadway hits are sure to see this as a blessing. They will no longer have to endure playing the score with a miniscule and out of tune orchestra. But big venues, which are charging a lot of money for seats, will be no less thrilled to get their hands on an "orchestra in a box" in order to maximize their bottom line. The New York Musicians Union was sucessful in the last negotiation in getting big theaters to ban the use of sampled orchestras, but how long will they be able to get these same producers to adhere to the agreement? The next contract is always just around the corner, and eventually this agreement will go down the tubes.

Small jazz clubs and giant symphony orchestras may be immune for a while, but percentage-wise, how many jobs do these venues actually represent? 

As music schools across the nation are graduating ever greater numbers of wonderful players, no one has yet to suggest where all these talented people are going to find employment as long as the technology of sampling marches on.

I know this has all be said before, but that doesn't mean that it isn't vitally important.

Bill Dinwiddie
billdin at comcast.net



-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: <thetubameister at adelphia.net> 

> However, while some people like being pilots, no one like to be shot at. Unless 
> the concert is pretty bad, no one's shooting at us, and as long as people enjoy 
> playing, people will listen... 
> 
> J.c. 
> 
> ---- billdin at comcast.net wrote: 
> > Thanks George, I thought the article was very interesting, but sad. 
> > 
> > >From David Pogue's article: "Today's sampled sounds are amazing. Ever 
> greater numbers of theatrical, TV and movie scores are played using these 
> digitized sounds instead of live musicians; so really, this digital orchestra 
> product is just a sign of the times. I can't help remembering how fonts and 
> laser printers wiped out the entire industry of hand typesetters. Today, we see 
> it as an inevitable replacement of a slow, inefficient process. My question is: 
> in 100 years, will anybody go to the trouble of hiring live musicians to using 
> an equivalent-sounding inexpensive box? And will anyone mind? 
> > 
> > Answer: I'm pretty sure the answer will be NO. I think, in may cases, the 
> answer is already NO. If robots are currently replacing jet fighter pilots, can 
> trombonists be far behind? 
> > 
> > Bill Dinwiddie 
> > billdin at comcast.net 
> > 
> > -------------- Original message -------------- 
> > From: George Butler 
> > 
> > > There's an interesting article by David Pogue, who covers the technology 
> beat 
> > > for The New York Times, in Thursday's paper (Thursday June 5, 2008). David 
> > > is a trained musician himself, and has mixed feelings on the subject. 
> > > 
> > > "Are Digital Orchestras a Sign of the Times?" 
> > > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/technology/05pogue-email.html?em&ex=121281 
> > > 1200&en=8b85700020376d4e&ei=5087%0A 
> > > 
> > > George Butler 
> > > Tallinn, Estonia 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
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