Live musicians create something that's intangible that we feel in our bodies. And yet, with the hurdle of technology to overcome, there might possibly be a beneficial result of this struggle. Look at Turtle Island. We're a string quartet. We took a very traditional format with a long history and worked to bring other styles of music into it.
People then have a context to hear the experimentation in.
Extending a traditional form to include other things has really been a helpful way to get around the assertion that the only way to innovate is through technology. If you go by that assertion, you're leaving out the human part - the part that has been there all along. Players need to develop a personality in their playing so that they're less replaceable. Balakrishnan stresses the simple benefit of having scale wages available as the standard for professional musicians to rely on. You know there is someone behind you to protect you from being misused, which can happen very easily in this field.