From: chapman@u.washington.edu (Bruce L. Chapman)
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.synth
Subject: Re: Defending the Slugs
Date: 27 Jan 93 19:17:17 GMT
Article-I.D.: shelley.1k6n3tINNlqk
Organization: University of Washington
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.95.35.14

In article <1k51e9INNm11@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> bt979@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeff  
Preston) writes:
> 
> In a previous article, chapman@u.washington.edu (Bruce L. Chapman) says:
> 
> >herself as a musician, either). What I really object to is someone trying to  
> >inflate their reputation by posing as a musician when they aren't willing to  
> >walk the walk.
> 
>   Isn't it easier on your blood pressure to simply pity these folks
> quietly?  :)  Obviously if they are in need of this ego-massaging,
> then I see no reason to deny them their delusions. Then again, I do
> not view music (on a personal level; I realize the Real World is a 
> different beast) as a competition, and don't feel that these folks
> cause any injury to me.

Yeah, and I suspect it'd be easier on a lot of *other* people's blood pressure  
as well. :)  But, you know, a Man's Gotta Do What a Man's Gotta Do and It's  
Time to Take a Stand... <sigh> .... One of the hardest parts of talking about  
this stuff is that I find myself sounding like people I don't much like.

I'd like to think of music as non-competitive, but I can't honestly say that it  
is for me. I measure myself against every other musician I hear and play with,  
and I think most musicians do the same (you've heard the joke: How many  
musicians does it take to change a lightbulb? Eleven: one to change the bulb  
and ten to stand around him and say "I could do that.") When I find something I  
do better I give myself an "attaboy" (and hope like hell that someone else  
noticed that I'm better at that, too).  When I find something someone else does  
better I work like crazy to match it... and then top it. And when I find  
someone doing something different, I shamelessly steal it and try it on for  
size.

With other musicians, this is Good Competition --- It's a positive-sum game,  
one that makes all of us better than we could possibly be alone. This sort of  
competition is the reason I play in a band, rather than going solo.

When posers enter the picture, the whole game turns destructive. Posers in  
music are like counterfeiters in a monetary system: they are getting something  
for nothing by trading on the overall integrity of the system. If the  
percentage of posers/counterfeiters is high enough, people simply lose faith in  
the whole system. I think we're near or beyond that point for keyboard players.

>   I'd still be interested in hearing what you think "the walk" should
> be... at what point are you worthy of the adjective "musician"? 
> 

Read my first post. Basicly, it's like obscenity: I know it when I see it. I  
know it's not chops; I suspect it requires honesty, creativity, and the ability  
to transcend the sum of the parts. I'd love to see a better definition, if you  
happen to have one lying around. :)

>   Jeff
> 
> -- 
> | Jeff Preston - owner and moderator of | "We don't  get  many requests |
> | the  Allan Holdsworth discussion list |  for recent history."  -- Mr. |
> | *** To subscribe, send e-mail to: *** |  Atoz, from the '69 Star Trek |
> | <atavachron@morekypr.morehead-st.edu> |  episode _All Our Yesterdays_ |

Bruce
Xref: sparky rec.music.makers.synth:1842 rec.music.synth:20342