Some very much are. Some perhaps not so much. Just glancing thru the list I see several that do create their own tracks. Teisto, Skirllix, Deadmau5, Avicii I know do original tracks as well as remixes and playing others. Some on that list I do not know.
There is a skill to properly mixing a set, more of an arranger than musician, but as long as they do create their own music even if that is remixes then yes they are musicians.
No they are definitely not musicians as far as I am concerned.
Are they worth it? The market says they are. At least for now.
Local bar owner in my neighborhood (solid guy, friend to all musicians) tells me he can't get kids to pay $5 to hear live bands on the weekend, but he can get kids to pay $20-$30 to listen to that crap. Of course, there's kind of a weird economic alchemy with that crowd from a club owners perspective, because they drink a lot less as most of them are doing the latest designer drugs instead. Used to be ecstacy but now something called flakka? Anyway, bigger door smaller liquor sales is his new equation. He makes it work.
It does however mean the continued death spiral for live perfromances of rock, blues, rockabilly etc. At least in my neck of the woods. Sad, but it is what it is.
Last Edited by Honkin On Bobo on Aug 27, 2015 5:46 AM
Current trends are created by younger crowds...the latest thing, etc.
Many times us old farts don't like the direction, but it is a reflection of our current society for good or ill.
Death of live music of the genre we enjoy is inevitable.
Why not understand the new trends and find a way to incorporate them into what we do - Miles Davis did it during the last phase of his career. His trumpet still sounded the same as he surrounded himself with younger players that reflected the current music of the times. ---------- The Iceman
No and no. Was a radio DJ of the 1960s or 70s a musician? Not unless he/she was also adept at an instrument, vocals, etc. Modern DJs are still just playing other people's work, or at best providing a mix of sounds created by others. Nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't make them musicians any more than turning on the TV makes me a TV producer.
Worth it? Nobody is worth that kind of money unless they provide the equivalent of absolute cancer or Alzheimer's cures (or anything that improves humanity on an equally massive scale). ---------- Marr's Guitars
Over a decade's experience designing, building & playing Cigar Box Guitars
Last Edited by Rontana on Aug 27, 2015 6:19 AM
"Why not understand the new trends and find a way to incorporate them into what we do"
Easier said than done. Lest anyone think I've critiqued it without listening to it, I was in said bar for the end of a happy hour one night as the DJs (that's what I call them not musicians) were setting up. So I decided to stay and have a listen. I withstood the torture for about an hour. Not as bad as waterboarding, worse than any aural experience I've had (and I've had some doozies).
My most objective description would be: It was - like standing at the rear of a 747 upon take off - loud. Dominated by a steady pounding of way, way, way waaaay overdriven bass almost to the exclusion of any other frequency. No visual except for contant multiple strobe lights, which I thought was only used by the CIA to keep prisoners they were interrogating sleep deprived. About the only discernable variation in tempo was when the steady pounding would be interrupted time to time by a high speed electronic drum roll. And of course no lyrics, which is not a bad thing I guess, I mean a symphony right? But this was far from that.
Absolutetly the most soullessly vapid stuff EVER (yeah, even worse than disco).
So I think I understand the trend absolutely perfectly. Incorporating what we do? I'll tell you what iceman, work something up, or link to something, I'm game. I'll give a listen.
Last Edited by Honkin On Bobo on Aug 27, 2015 6:51 AM
If I were totally active in performance or if it was my main source of income, I'd work something up.
As it is, I focus on gourmet food creation with harmonica way in the background - teaching, rarely playing out (my area doesn't offer quality musicians like a big city does - Detroit, for example).
However, guys like Jason who are out there gigging may be more adept at incorporating this idea.
Keep in mind that Miles Davis was the one and only former jazz player that progressed into using what was happening on the street into his musical evolution (pissing off a lot of jazz nazis while he did).
His "On the Corner" CD totally confused most when it came out in the 80's. Yet, it is directly lauded as an important inspirational source for a lot of hip hop, rap and street music that has since appeared.
Here is an example in which a new direction wasn't appreciated at the time of its release (most critics said it was just a bunch of noise), yet hindsight has shown its importance to the evolution of music to date.
Hahahaha. Ah Iceman, i'll cop to being a lot of things, not a music nazi though. But hey, thanks for the insinuation. I could lob some stuff back your way but that wouldn't get us anywhere would it. So i'll bow out. the last word is yours.
Not sure dance/house/trance music is the most current popular trend with which to fuse. There's a bunch of pop, rap, rock, and country acts the top the highest earning. Though, 5 years ago Bart played this at SPAH which is a harmonica/trance fusion:
i think i might have a different perspective than some blues musicians. my audience is made up mostly of 20 somethings.i find if i cover DJ songs in an acoustic blues,or just blues style,they can get pretty wild. also,i think you can get a washboard to make these beats and rhythms. sometimes i play my national like a washboard. i think bones,bodhran and washboard could give DJ grooves a run for their money. so anyway,covering known DJ songs on harmonica and guitar ,and doing them in a blues-ish style is fun,and the audience likes it. these songs come and go very quickly,so you only have to memorize a little bit,and do it for two or three shows,then forget it.
a lot of this is "trance "music.so if you play trance blues,you're almost there.
even if you have a chip on your shoulder,if you watch the armand van helding video of "my my my" and think of washboard and harmonica,you just might smile.
a fun song to confuse people with is to cover SOHN's the wheel. i think it only has a one and a four in it. memorize a verse or two and work it in ,to say,a clarence carter song :)
the funny thing is,i am usually pretty old fashioned.i don't like loops,samples,jam tracks,overdubs etc. normally.and,if i see a computer on stage,my ears turn off.
but this is different. ---------- www.shakeylee.com
I think most of these guys (and gals) think of themselves as "producers" rather than "musicians". Google "electronic music production" for a wealth of knowledge about how one makes this music. It's not all about sampling anymore (although sampling is still important). Really, when you get down to it, what they are, are "composers". Rather than writing a score for traditional instruments, they program in a sequencer for electronic instruments and samplers. Rather than standing on a podium waving a wand around at an orchestra, they stand in a DJ booth with an interface to Ableton (etc.) on their laptop, or to a suite of hardware synths and samplers, and "conduct" the music by twiddling knobs and hitting pads. Seeing a good "DJ" is no less a "musical" experience than going to the orchestra to watch the "maestro" conduct, IMO. But certainly neither are the the same as going to watch a cat like Miles Davis play... ----------
Bobo "Hahahaha. Ah Iceman, i'll cop to being a lot of things, not a music nazi though. But hey, thanks for the insinuation. I could lob some stuff back your way but that wouldn't get us anywhere would it. So i'll bow out. the last word is yours."
Am not understanding this.
I was talking about the reaction Miles got from the old jazz collective during the time he decided to go contemporary/street sound.
No obtuse reference to you at all. ---------- The Iceman
The problem i see with the harmonica and the contemporary music is that when a harmonica player does contemporary music he centers it around the harmonica. A beat, a snare, some spoken words and 3 minute harmonica solo is NOT music.
I saw the same thing when old guitar farts were going in that direction. It sounds awfull with rap music and a satriana guitar solo.
People are making good "modern" music with "regular" instruments today why can´t people(we the harmonica players) come over the fact that the solo is dead and individual performances are often only for the vocalist?
I listen to some of these guys. This music is just another point of view. Acoustic musicians choose instrument and try to get of this instruments as much sounds as they can, while electronic music producers choose a great sounds and make a new music of them. Its all about new grooves, new timbers interaction, sometimes they can compose a great catchy melody. I dig electronic music and listen to more and more of it, trying to incorporate these grooves and timbers in music I play. I spent some tome on learning ableton and Ableton push controller in a top of my wishlist.
These guys are definitely composers, arrangers, soundguys and I think they deserve to be considered as musician. For guys who think its crap: try to compose your own composition or even to cover something from Skrillex, I promise its tons of knowledge and skills.
And final note: check wikipedia pages about these DJs, most of them plays some instruments, sings and some of them are even well educated in music. ---------- Excuse my bad English. My videos.
Last Edited by boris_plotnikov on Sep 01, 2015 1:00 PM
