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Originally Posted by mr dave
I'm going to step away from the whole Autechre / Corgan thing because I was taking it into ridiculous projection land.
Though I'm curious about the sculpting side of things now. It sounds more like a construction type situation between the architect/sculptor and the construction workers/artisans who follow through with their plan. Though on the artistic side of things you'd build yourself up from artisan to artiste over the course of your career; conversely no amount of putting up drywall is going to give you the experience necessary to design an actual building.
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I would say, yes, it is a case of the creator having other people implementing their plan, much in the way the guys from Autechre might use a piece of software to implement theirs.
Meh. I think I've really driven the analogy into the ground at this point. One interesting side note though: one or both of the members of Autechre come from an architecture background, something which I think you can really hear in their music.
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Originally Posted by mr dave
Going back to the music thing, I really think if all a person has done is focus on the composing side of things then they're not quite fully realized as a musician. Yes, they're vital aspects of the art form - so are recording engineers. Does the guy who does the mix for an album count as a musician? He's still very well invested within the process, still has a very tangible effect on the finished product, but most people don't count them as musicians.
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Now that's an interesting question. I'd lean toward yes, but I that's certainly an intriguing thing to consider.
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Originally Posted by mr dave
Here's my personal anecdote about an 'electronic music creator'. I was in an A/V class years ago and one of the assignments was to create a radio spot using stock or original music. One group made a spot for 'The Music of Student's Name'. It was jam packed with phenomenally smooth and intricate piano arpeggios like Chopin channeled through Oscar Peterson.
The guy had stubby sausage fingers.
All he actually did was plot notes into a piece of computer software. Is it OK for him to present himself as a musician when he lacked the ability to perform or tangible experience with the actual instrument. No one in the lecture theater outside his study group thought so. From what I've read in this thread so far I'm curious. Was he (with his complete lack of ability to actually play the instrument called the Piano) and actual piano based musician?
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I'm not sure I fully understand the context of this story. Claiming to be a
pianist when you can't actually play the piano is definitely bullsh
it, I agree with you there, but that's a very specific claim. Claiming to be a musician when your instrument is the computer, even if the music you make sounds like it was played on a piano, seems okay to me. I certainly don't think there's anything dishonest about it, which is what it sounds like you're getting at here.
To take this in a personal direction, I'm sort of curious if you'd consider me a musician or not. I've been making music for about 17 years. I took guitar, piano and sax lessons when I was younger, am able to read music with some effort, and have a little understanding of music theory. I make music via computer, generally by creating loops and utilizing a sequencer to some extent to get what I'm going for. I play keyboard, bass and guitar all at a very basic level that would terrify me to try and pull off on stage, but I'm pretty good at taking these pieces, cutting them up and stitching them together to make a song. I also sing, not amazingly well, but good enough to have done so in a couple of bands and to surprise people on the occasional karaoke night.
I usually say "I make music" rather than saying I'm a musician, not because of the computer element, but because it's my hobby not my vocation. I've known plenty of people who make music full time, who've gone to school for it, etc. and it seems kind of presumptuous to put myself on their level.