The Model
May 23, 2010 Nuts & Bolts, Random Ramblings, Stranger than Fiction, Tech
Posted by
JohnHampton
It was probably fifteen (really?) years ago when I first encountered the concept of SOUND MODELING. A little thing called POD, weird looking little kidney bean shaped thing. You just plug your guitar into it and what came out the other end was … well, it was up to you. A clean, country music kinda sound, a giant, Jimi Hendryx kinda sound … even the forever HUGE Angus Young AC/DC metal music kinda sound. One small exception. KINDA. That was the rub.
But it was a breakthrough; For the first time ever, someone like me, who barely knew how to get even a good guitar sound could, within a minute, have a good enough guitar sound. Coupled with my “chord only” approach to the guitar, I was NIKKI dang SIXX ! And I used it a lot, when I HAD to have a power chord guitar part. but the band was in Moscow. As bad as I was, I could play on records! And I DID!
That was a long time ago. In technologicalistic terms, it was an era ago.
Since then, I have seen a little of where it this … science … is today. And, as technology gets sooner or later, it has become relevant. Probably a little TOO relevant. Now I find myself, to my horror, guessing … is it REAL, or is it Photoshop. Or Melodyne, or ProTools, PitchAgent, … there are literally hundreds of modeling programs out there now. And my head hurts.
But it makes sense, in an odd way. Think RockBand. Now you can be a Beatle. I’ve ALWAYS wanted to be a Beatle. But I can’t sing as good as Paul, or John, and I don’t have the charisma that only that particular foursome had. But I bet it won’t be long before there’s a John or a Paul model program.
But what about those magical mystery songs? No WAY I could write a song like “Yesterday”, or conjure up an “Imagine”, or George’s “Something” … even Ringo had a one of a kind way of drumming that no one can reproduce. But …
But nothing. That is my war, and I declare it again every single day.
Take a little program called “Beat Detector“. Sounds fairly innocuous. And I firmly believe these programs have a good use. The ABuse is my problem with them. Beat Detector has the ability to take offbeat, lousy drum playing and put it ON THE BEAT! Whoa. But to this day I insist that if a person was to take John Bonham, the most bestest drummer in … forever, and run the “Beat Detector” over his performance, you no longer have John Bonham playing. Congratulations, Mr. I love to abuse Beat Detective. You just gave rise to any-drummer-USA. HUrah!
I say give it up. We have to stop this tomfoolery of making bad into good and good into great. If that is the final frontier, it’s mediocre to start with. We are casting pearls. And meanwhile, the REAL music and the REAL performance is falling to the rear, trying to catch back up, but refusing to give in to The Model. The tuner. The on the beat-er. That is not what music is supposed to be. It is supposed to be a living, breathing spirit that is intangible and divine. Anyone can put paint on a wrecked car and try to sell it as more than it is, but it is still crap. Now and forever … crap. There is no model on earth that can keep you safe if you are unknowingly driving crap.
Next question …
Tags: Beat Detector, Bonham, John Bonham, Sound Modeling
May 23rd, 2010 at 9:08 pm
My bass playing friend would agree, but he still uses pro tools. He knows what he wants and sounds like, has been a gig cat for years.
The essence of what you are saying matches what artist Derek Trucks says of his listening habits to music. Because of the fact what he hears will often emerge within the moment of inspired playing, he has become picky about what he listens to.
“Garbage in, garbage out.”
Now we put a nice scented confection over the garbage. Gold leaf over dogshoot is still something worthy of being found by spam filters.
But if you were to paint that stuff in layers of acrylic, until it dried, then spray it gold, that would be art?
May 27th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
The example of Doyle Bramhall II as innovator. Never plays a song the same way twice. Always pushes the envelope, even when he says “oops” from going somewhere away from the song while playing with other legends like Eric Clapton.
It is so much better because the edge is there. Out on that tightrope. Look ma, no hands!
Why lose the thing that makes the moment into magic?
Well, the thing that makes the magic into mentalism.(/The Great Buck Howard)