I TRIED SOMETHING bizarre this month out of sheer frustration and it worked pretty well. I have been unable to get my “A” team into the studio for four months; someone always is working. So, instead, I used a computer program to create rhythm section tracks.
I recorded myself with it and then I sent the result to a dozen or so people for feedback. Most thought the computer generated rhythm section sounded as good as or even better than the best guys I’ve recorded with.
That is rather disturbing.
A computer lacks the ability to play jazz well so I created modified country and soft rock rhythm tracks. Pop rhythm section accompaniment is typically less interactive than jazz accompaniment and, in most pop recordings, rhythm section players rarely solo. Instead they stick to arrangements and the lead singer or instrumentalist performs pretty much throughout the entire tune. So that’s what I did.
It is nothing new. The music on virtually all television shows, many movies, and a lot of CDs is by one person with a computer. It is increasingly rare to find human beings playing acoustic instruments on TV and movie soundtracks.
And then I wondered how many human musicians we would need in the future….
Jazz and most non-orchestral acoustic music would need human performers. Unfortunately they are virtually dead from a commercial standpoint and show no sign of recovery.
Symphony orchestras and chamber groups naturally will need humans. But, for some time, such groups as the Chronos String Quartet have augmented their live playing with pre-recorded accompaniment. Rock groups and stage acts have been doing it, too. Most vocalists could perform as well with a pre-recorded backup group as with live musicians and some acts completely have replaced live musicians.
Next time you listen to “smooth jazz”, for example, try to figure out how many tunes use actual musicans in the rhythm section and how many use tracks a producer created on the keyboard.
Most pop music can get by with computerized or pre-recorded rhythm sections. Why? Because commercial music is no longer about music; it is about entertainment. And visual entertainment almost always overpowers audio. So, in many cases, a vocalist is only as good as he or she looks. And the audience concentrates on the singer, not the band.
Where does that leave us? In a bleak landscape where the creation of most music and melodies by musicians and composers has yielded to rhythmic entertainment by mannequins and gangsters, many of questionable talent but of “contemporary” and “cool” appearance. It is a landscape where dancing and pyrotechnics trump melody and virtuosity; a landscape where the essence of music has lost many of the gentler and warmer qualities of humanity. It is no wonder computer generated rhythm sections can flourish.
Besides, they are cheaper.
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