Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Mon, 12 Oct 1992 18:46:08 PDT
Comments:     Resent-From: MASUDA@SJSUVM1
Comments:     Originally-From: Tim Johnson <ST402711@BROWNVM.BITNET>
Comments:     Warning -- original Sender: tag was ALLMUSIC@AUVM
From:         MASUDA@SJSUVM1.BITNET
Subject:      Re: Perfumed ambience

Yours truly said:

>>I have worked with classically trained musicians, and have found
>>that ... they don't know how to play from their heart ....
>>Mike Masuda.

Tim Johnson said:
>  Bzzzt!  wrong answer.

>  To be fair, Mike corrects this a sentence or two later, saying
>that they can play other people's music from the heart.

>  Look, improvization is just a different sort of music.  It
>is not necessarily more real, more emotional than playing
>fully scored music.  In fact, if I were really in the mood
>for a debate, I'd say that having the notes set down ahead
>of time allows the performer to concentrate his full efforts
>on the expression - playing from the heart - rather than having
>to worry about where he or she will go next.

I just had a strange afterthought on this subject.
To "unify the theory", to put it in terms I'm familiar with:
I came to the realisation that classical performance and
improvisation are aspects of the same thing--only difference is that
the classically trained musician has to memorize more ordered notes to play.
That's all a soloist is really doing--playing jabs and licks called
ordered notes, in a manner which he/she learned or invented.
These ordered strings of notes are all placed into the repetoire of
the improvisor's mind, and are played when the improviser sees fit.
The classically trained musician has a longer set of notes to
remember, so it is usually written down to be used as a guide when
playing.  They are doing the same thing, only the lengths are
different.  If the classically trained musician progressively learned
shorter and shorter pieces, to the point where each piece was only
a fraction of a second long, and trained further to have the ability
to play these pieces end on end, then you would have an "improvisor".
Coming from the other side, if an improvisor teaches him/herself an
hour-long lick, and trains him/herself to follow a score to know where
in the lick he/she is at that moment by reading the score, that musician
has become a classically trained musician.

Of course, there are good players and bad players in both ways.
What seems enigmatic, is that in between both extremes, there is
a lot of trouble.  You can't play a long lick done by someone else
and claim it to be yours--case in point, the solo from
"Stairway to Heaven"--You can't play that whole solo in the middle
of another song with the same chord progression and claim it to be
an original solo.  That's plagiarism (and a laughable plagiarism
in this case).  It's no longer an improvisation.  Hmmmm...
What is the limit where a string of ordered notes becomes
a plagiarism?  7 notes?  Don't you hate it when a new group
comes up with a "new" song and borrows a few melody lines from
someone else? I think it's really stupid, and I make fun of it
whenever I can, because I think it's basically musical ignorance.
Examples:

Tracy Chapman "Fast Car" and John Cougar "Jack and Diane"  (guitar part)
Led Zeppelin "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" and Chicago "25 or 6 to 4"
Bob Marley "Buffalo Soldier" and The Banana Splits' theme song
Night Ranger "Sister Christian" and Michael Penn "Someone to Dance with"

Some are subtle, some are blatantly obvious.
I'm not sure if I'll ever listen to Marley's tune without thinking
about Ringo, Dingo, Drooper and Snork first.  Don't get me wrong,
I love Marley's music.
Catching similar musical phrases has always been a curse for me.
I can't seem to enjoy music as much after I recognize that the
later musician "let one slip by" without careful consideration.
I can't say that I've never done it myself--I've done it a number of times.
But I always catch it before I make a fool out of myself
(one time, I wrote this cool Christmas tune and later realized that
the chorus had the same melody line as "Daydream Believer".  Humiliating.)
I guess that's why some guitarists are sensitive about other people
stealing their riffs.  It's like stealing their soul away...

And now, with the advent of rap technology, anyone can lift a groove
from a record and claim it to be theirs.  It's become an acceptable
thing to do.  Wanna be musicians don't need any talent other than a good ear
for grooves to become an overnite sensation.  A couple of James Brown
records, a sampler, and some lyrics that cop on another rapper
is all that is needed.  Pretty sad.

Disclaimer:  Yes, I think that some rap is kick-ass.
L. L. Cool J. puts out a mighty fine groove with "I'm Gonna Knock You Out".

On expression:  Over the history of music,
the focus has changed from one concept to another.  I was thinking about
this also.  Maybe there's a samsara (hi Marco), a circular pattern
that's going on here:

melody-the first step of the cycle.  Simple and purely stated.
virtuosity-taking polymelodies and mixing them together, speed
mood-a reaction against the virtuosity, return to emotions from the emotionless
ingenuity-a new technology or concept is discovered and utilised
beat-the masses take the technology and use it in simpler form
melody-reaction against mindless rhythms, simple rhythms are reintroduced.
etc.

melody                renaissance
virtuosity            baroque, classical
mood                  romantic, impressionistic
ingenuity             post-impressionistic

beat                  swing
melody                radio pop
virtuosity            bebop
mood                  cool jazz, blues
ingenuity             fusion jazz
beat                  jazz rock

beat                  rock and roll
melody                sixties pop
virtuosity            progressive rock, heavy metal (Zep)
mood                  funk, blues rock
ingenuity             synthesized music
beat                  disco, punk, technofunk
melody                early 80s pop (Police, etc.)
virtuosity            metal revival
mood                  late 80s pop (Sting, Peter Gabriel, dirge music)
ingenuity             world beat
beat                  rap, house
melody                90s pop (the better of modern rock)

According to this scheme, there should be another wave of virtuosity
coming along that will be an offshoot of the funky house music pop
that's going on now.  Taking simple pop ideas and going crazy with them.
I'm just hypothesizing, but who knows, it might be true... :)
My new band may do just that. (nudge nudge)


>But...one shouldn't make the mistake of supposing
>that one form is all expression and another is all technique.
>(As Mike seemed to be doing.)

>                             -Tim

Oh well, life goes on.
It seems to me that I've digressed from the original idea I had that
improvisational players play with more feeling than classically trained
musicians.  In this new scope I've devised (for you to tear apart, of
course), it seems that the classically trained musician and the
improvisationally trained musician are basically doing the same thing,
in different proportions.  In the end I guess it doesn't matter.

But I still have to say that classically trained musicians in general
are hard to jam with (for me, at least). :)

Michael M. Masuda

    Re: Perfumed ambience
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