[Fmpro] going loopy

[Rolin Mains]

i'm actually having a piece performed tonight that is kind of like  
that.  i will dictate the changes, and the violin, clarinet, and  
guitar will "improvise" from a set of notes i've given them.  it is  
certainly a collaborative effort, and i give them full credit for  
their participation and what they bring to it, but when all is said  
and done, i wrote the changes and will dictate the pace.

my point about using the loops out of the box is that if you can move  
people, no matter from whence your material comes, then you have  
accomplished something important.  i think of the film genre (name  
escapes me) where they do nothing but edit existing footage  
together...that genre illustrates that it can be a viable art form to  
bring existing works together to create a new work.

either way you look at it, schlock is schlock...original or not.  and  
music that moves people (especially these days) is hard to do and a  
noble accomplishment, original or not.  i'm not talking about the  
current hip hop trend to actually use full segments of pre-mixed  
songs...but even then, some electronica stuff can get by using a lot  
of pre-existing work and make it look brand spanky new.

i also wonder about the term "writing" music.  i wonder, in the grand  
scheme of things, how much of that is actually done these days.

r
On Jun 1, 2007, at 10:30 AM, sean at shunkydave.com wrote:

> I'm going to chime in here.  When I was in college, writing 20th  
> century
> alietory music, I wrote a piece where I gave violins a set of notes,
> violas no directions, cellos another set of notes, and bass a written
> line.  The instruction was for the violin and cello to play in time  
> with
> the bass part (it was constantly changing) choosing whatever notes  
> they
> wanted from the set.  The viola was to play a melody around the  
> violin and
> cello line, improvised.  The bass played what was written.  It was  
> more of
> a brainteaser than an enjoyable piece, but it fit the assignment.
>
> According to what you're saying here, I should share the writing  
> credit
> with the viola player.  Nope.  It was my piece, not theirs.  They  
> didn't
> come to me and say "I've got a great idea...I could do something  
> like this
> or this" and we wrote it together.  I had the idea, even though I  
> had no
> idea what they would play, and I got them to come do it.
>
> If I put together a combo and I had the rhythm section playing a  
> groove (I
> wrote the bass line and keys), and I asked a conga player to join  
> in, and
> just asked him to fit in the groove, I'm going to expect him to  
> have the
> chops to play an appropriate style and tasteful fills where  
> appropriate.
> If I want something special somewhere I'll ask for it.  If in his
> experience he has an idea that would work well, I'll be open to  
> it.  But
> I'm not going to credit him with writing props.  It's not his piece.
>
> --Sean
>
>
>
>> If you hire a bunch of musicians and tell them to play something,
>> anything,
>> then they are playing their music and you are a producer, not a  
>> composer
>>
>> If you hire a bunch of musicians and explain your musical dream, your
>> vision, in a way that has direction, focus and at least minimal  
>> clarity,
>> then they are playing your music and you are a composer
>
>
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Rolin Mains
615.504.0374 (cell)
”The demand to give up the illusions of its condition is the demand  
to give up a condition which needs illusions.”  K. Marx