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

[Tom Gibson]

Logical concerns, perhaps, Bill, but empirical evidence has shown a  
reverse trend (at least in my experience). One great thing to arise  
from all of this technology is a much better educated and discerning  
music consumer. They have options and can exercise choice in their  
listening. That has led to a "smarter" audience for us musicians. We  
all know that it doesn't take long before a music-lover appreciates  
the human aspects of music-making. Live shows, bigger orchestras,  
more community groups, more church groups, more chamber groups, more  
new venues........all are on the increase. Studios that once swore by  
the sampling method now realize that LIVE musicianship cannot be  
reproduced. The studios that still swear by sampling will most likely  
come to the same conclusion, IF they are in pursuit of quality. If  
they are just trying to make a quick and easy buck, that's nothing  
new and those factories have been around for years. By and large,  
they are not producing high quality stuff and thus their market is  
limited. The consumer will ultimately steer that market, and luckily  
they just keep getting smarter and smarter.

I've been hearing for 20 years now that live music is in decline, but  
every year I see more work for myself and hear more great stuff being  
done by creative humans. The prospect of being a professional player  
has never been more filled with opportunity, in my opinion. What  
music schools need to do is alert their students to the myriad of  
possibilities and prepare them for a versatile marketplace. Great  
playing is step ONE. Many other attributes and skills will be  
required of tomorrow's musician. They can seek solace in knowing that  
it's never been easier to find an appreciative audience for their  
brand of art.


Dr. Tom Gibson
tom at trombonelessons.com
Visit me at iTunes:
Trombonelessons.com Video Podcasts
(or just search "trombonelessons" at the iTunes store)










On Jun 6, 2008, at 2:01 PM, billdin at comcast.net wrote:

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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Trombone-l mailing list
>>> Trombone-l at samford.edu
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