Korg Forums

[Yatmandu]

[laikenf]

[Ruso]

[shabudua]

[Ruso]

[shabudua]

[johnagiambalvo]

Using these machines does not make you a musician, but it helps to be one when using these machines. Mastering a guitar for example takes a lifetime and then some. Mastering these machines will not take you a life time to operate. I am new with these machines and have been listening to peoples compositions and for the most part what I hear is boring. If you all give a listen to Jean Luc Ponty. He is a fusion violinist. He also has been on the cutting edge of the technology. We all can learn from him. He uses machines in very interesting ways as backing tracks, with punctuated, syncopated rhythms, changes digressions and movements. Then he plays his midi violin on top of this sometimes using EFX. I am sure he had some idea of what he wanted to do before he started. Of course you could be inspired by the Technology, it may spark the beginning of a theme. I get inspired by listening to others. I may start with some idea I heard in a song and embellish it until it becomes my song. Hey Billy Joel writes with musical ideas and tries to fit words to the rhythm. he doesn't start with a theme. A little of this and a little of that makes your style. Always have fun,unless you are writing the blues then you must write what you feel... Johnny G.
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Smooth Jazz guitar over electronic trks

[oobs]

+1 Amen!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac

[paul_courville]

Well it's been 3 years, 52 replies and nearly 4000 views later since I first posed this question. I've really enjoyed hearing the different perspectives on this one.

I've come to my own personal conclusion that yes indeed we are musicians, but of a new and different breed... a band of ELECTRONIC MUSICIANS and as several of you pointed out, a person with a wide variety of skills and background.

Yes using machines can speed up the process, and yes much of the process can be automated and yes music theory can be helpful, but ultimately the end product should be something you (me) feel good about.

It should reflect something of our inner-self our soul if you will, irrespective of genre.

I for one am glad we have this technology, without it I doubt I would be a musician at all.

Perhaps because of my career choice (or perhaps despite it) electronic music seemed like a natural choice for me.

I am an electronics engineer and enjoy the circuits and systems of my studio almost as much as the music itself.

Who else could spend an afternoon looking at the schematics and using oscilloscopes and signal generators and digital multimeters to probe around inside their gear.

I'm sure many of you do... that's part of what makes us electronic musicians, an interest in... well, electronics.

Moving forward, I believe we can all agree the process of making music and art in general will become more technical.

It's simple something to accept, embrace and enjoy.

I remember an old freind back in the 80's that was bitter about people using MIDI to make music, and he didn't mean using MIDI files. He meant connecting synthesizers to drum machines and sequencers.

Not "allowing" that seems almost laughable today.

I would really be interested in hearing some of the work of the good people who took the time to respond to this question.

Please provide links to your music.

You can find mine at www.psyuniverse.com/papaheavypsy

As for the Electribe itself the secret is simple...

"PUSH ALL THE BUTTONS, TURN ALL THE KNOBS AND RECORD WHAT SOUNDS GOOD!" LOL

Enjoy my freinds!

[sadist%vince]

I damn sure consider myself a musician as I make my living from doing music. The Electribes are instruments in every aspect I can think of and can make some very good sounding tracks with just using the EMX and ESX only. I started off using the old MKIIs but have been using the X's now for almost 5 years and still can get new sounding sounds out of it. I also own a Machinedrum and Monomachine and thought that once I got them the Electribes would be gathering dust but they are still used on a daily basis by me along with my Elektrons. Those guys play very well together BTW. www.reverbnation.com
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www.reverbnation.com/mecanikill
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mecanikill/198754674527

[Griffin Avid]

Wow, I read this thread a few months ago, but didn't bother to reply since someone always said what I was thinking in the many pages.

The Electribes are instruments in every aspect I can think of

Hate me, but I disagree. I consider them Drum Machines and not musical instruments. My own definition (and you don't have to agree) is a musical instrument must function in an acoustic sense.

Therefore The Electric Guitar is a musical instrument because it was born from...an Acoustic Guitar- in other words can be used round-the-camp-fire.

Adding "electricity" to drums = Electronic Drum set. And thus to operate it, you must be drumming- in other words; be a drummer.

Not so with Drum machines. On most albums you'd get credited with "Drums programmed by" if you made the drum track artificially. People make the same argument that a PC or Lap top is a musical instrument because they make wonderful music using it. Those are musical TOOLS. Not musical instruments.

A turntable is not a musical instrument. It's a TOOL that plays records that can be used in a musical way or even AS A musical instrument, but that does not change what it is. If you use Electronics/Programming in every/most aspects of your music production, you are an Electronic Musician- the Electronic part signifies that you are aided by Electronics.

In the same way a MIDI controller is NOT a musical instrument. It is a tool, but you may be a musician with great playing skills using that tool to create your music.

So for the expected exceptions that always creep up- you can bang on the pads in real time and perform your entire song live without ever using the record button. That's still using a tool in a musical way and those people will always have the background skill of a drummer. Great skill in Programming a drum machine does not give you the skill of a drummer.

That's the difference.

The definition of musician to me requires a proficiency with a Musical Instrument.
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[P-E]

In that case, is a barrel organ a musical instrument?

[Griffin Avid]

I had to Google that. I found on Wikipedia:

A barrel organ (or roller organ) is a mechanical musical instrument consisting of bellows and one or more ranks of pipes housed in a case, usually of wood, and often highly decorated. The basic principle is the same as a traditional pipe organ, but rather than being played by an organist, the barrel organ is activated either by a person turning a crank, or by clockwork driven by weights or springs. The pieces of music are encoded onto wooden barrels (or cylinders), which are analogous to the keyboard of the traditional pipe organ.


Mechanical Musical Instrument is the exact definition. It's in a sub-set of musical instrument. Just like an Electronic drum is to an actual acoustic drum set. The original question was directed at the USER and in this case I've underlined the difference between playing an instrument and operating a tool. If you're still unsure: an organist plays the organ. Anyone can turn the crank on a barrel organ. And thus, simply because I use a Barrel Organ doesn't mean I'm an organist.


It fits perfectly. Electronic musician is the exact term that fits and it's a subset of musicians. We can get into subtle semantics, but it's the difference between saying you play a synthesizer in your band and your band uses a lot of synthesizers.

The obvious assumption or connotation is that you play the keyboard.
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[P-E]

How about I connect my Electribe's midi output to a board with a microprocessor able to trigger valves, relays and other electro-mechanical actuators that would trigger mechanical apparatus to generate sound? Interesting results would arise from such thing!

When I was studying electronic engineering, one of my professors built an accordion... that was producing sound in a 100% mechanical way (with air pumps and everything), but which was controlled by a computer, using Matlab to drive relays according to a midi file.

I've then been told that another professor of the school, a very old man, once noticed that the magnetic memories of the school first computer (few decades back) would make some noise when changing state. He then wrote a program that would turn this into a sort of electromechanical musical instrument/tool , in the same manner some people are now playing Star Wars theme using harddrives (youtube has some videos).

[wikter]

Is Chris Martin name enough to say Electribe is useful for real musicians???
Then Add Shakira too in the same set.
Skip to time 4:58

https://youtu.be/58I3LFNYKJg?t=298