So, I was sitting in H&M the other day with my girlfriend. She had brought me along to go shopping with her and her mum and dinner later. Now, I'm not a huge fan of shopping, in fact i quite dislike it, but there was a free meal involved (I also happen to enjoy the company of my girlfriend).
Regardless, as I'm standing in this H&M, "Read My Mind" by The Killers comes on over the loudspeakers. Only, it wasn't the song I'm used to, it was a remix of the song, and boy, was it terrible. I mean, really, I wanted to find out who was playing this, hit them in the face and then destroy the radio equipment.
And, as I stood listening to the trash, I came to think about remixes and the such, and I came to a realization, remixes generally suck. People write good stuff, and then some idiot with garage band on their Mac or someone with 3rd rate DJing equipment comes along and fucks it up by "remixing" it. It's a perfectly good song on it's own, want to prove you have real talent, create something original.
Another thing I'd like to know it when the hell it became cool to be a DJ? I go to an arts school, and let me say, everyone is a friggin' DJ. Everyone. When did it become hip, and where was I for that? I mean, I could have been sooooo much more popular in high school if that had been the trend. How hard is it? All you need is a computer and a couple program. What really bugs me about it is it's not even relaly music... it's taking other peoples music a putting it together, there' no original composition.
Now, I know you could argue that "They're using them differently to create something new!" or "Well, there's really no such thing as originality." For the first arguement, no, they're piecing together other people's material and calling it their own, that's stealing, not creating. And as for the second argument... well then people need to stop acting like they're the fucking original gangsta' of DJing.
Sometimes I don't wonder if we shouldn't just go back to violin concertos and things of that nature.
Until my next time,
A frustrated music person
P.S. Here's the vidoe for "Read My Mind", in case you've not heard it.
About Me
- KPOni
- Umm... I'm a theatre student at an arts college in Chicago. I love to act, and because of that love I have no money. I also play guitar as well as sing. Other than that I'm really not much, but I will be, you just wait.
Random Crap!
3 comments:
John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, Lester Young, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Charles Mingus, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Lightnin' Hopkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, etc.
Wear earplugs in stores.
You know, I'm well aware that that is only the beginning of the list you could give me.
Meh, there are good remixes and bad remixes. I've heard remixes by renowned DJs that are excellent, and take several days work to complete. It is an art, and not everyone can do it. There *is* composition involved. It may be on layers of abstraction from the original song, but it's still composition. Composition, you see, does not have to involve penning out clefs, notes, and a wide array of other musical symbols. Digital music software can be viewed as just as much of an instrument as any other.
Now, I agree that there is little skill in using most sampling programs to create, say, a simple beat on top of someone else's work. That being said, a remix does not have to be so basic, and many programs like Reason, FL Studio, Cubase, Ableton, etc. may be used to make high quality music - or at least, music that may be deemed excellent by many others.
Violin concertos? What makes you think they don't still exist? Pretty much any major city (in developed countries) has their own orchestra, and in these same areas it's quite easy to find a musician of possessing a good deal of musical talent.
Not everyone likes the same kind of music. Don't get so angry over talentless "DJs". Not that someone who uses Garage Band is a DJ, of course.
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