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Why play a musical instrument when you got ipods?


da5id

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Technology these days allow you to create and remix/change songs just on the computer. So why would anyone play an instrument when it would take years to master?

 

One of my friends asked me this question (I play guitar), and frankly I have no idea how to reply.

 

Anyone got thoughts on this?

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there's a lot of things you can't create with standard synthetic technology because the sound is so complex... you really need to be physically playing the instrument in order to get extremely complex sounds. i.e. atypical strumming (listen to the rapid changes in time signature, and rhytym from adam jones in tool), pull offs, hammer on's, bends, sliding, tapping. The width of the pick can very the sound when your playing fast vibratos. The pickups you use, the wood you play your instrument on.. the amount of action for slapping (on bass).

 

Just listen to Tom Morello, some of the craziest sounds unsynthesizable by computer.

 

I'd also add that playing an instrument for so many years gives me an implicit knowledge of scales and time signatures, rhythym and the type of pitch to look for that would fit crescendos or decrescendos in the music im looking for etc. and that just intuitively comes from playing for so long, and its a lot easier to fool around on an instrument than to try different things on a synth program over and over again if your etrying to pick up the principles of decent composition.

 

Technology these days allow you to create and remix/change songs just on the computer. So why would anyone play an instrument when it would take years to master?

 

One of my friends asked me this question (I play guitar), and frankly I have no idea how to reply.

 

Anyone got thoughts on this?

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Because ipods are secretly sentient machines sent by the great Vindaloo Beast to enslave humanity, obviously.

 

I own a horse.

 

Noooo Lord Jobs is very beneficent. He wants nothing of the sort. All sentient beings that are created by Apple will never seek to enslave humanity - we only seek to befriend it and make it dependent on our over-expensive upgrade packages.

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Noooo Lord Jobs is very beneficent. He wants nothing of the sort. All sentient beings that are created by Apple will never seek to enslave humanity - we only seek to befriend it and make it dependent on our over-expensive upgrade packages.

 

Your kind was the template from which the Vindaloo Beast wove its tapestry of digital deceit. I cannot blame you for your blindness to the peril.

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This is like the why learn math if you have a calculator question.

 

Learning a musical instrument, aside from being fun, is good for building self esteem and confidence, especially in children. I work with an organization in Ottawa that gives free piano lessons to kids who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford them, and their regular classroom teachers say that the kids become more outgoing and confident in the classroom. It also teaches discipline and being able to take criticism, two pretty important skills.

 

Plus, for me it's pretty therapeutic and relaxing. When I'm stressed out, the first thing I do is play my piano.

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This is like the why learn math if you have a calculator question.

 

Learning a musical instrument, aside from being fun, is good for building self esteem and confidence, especially in children. I work with an organization in Ottawa that gives free piano lessons to kids who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford them, and their regular classroom teachers say that the kids become more outgoing and confident in the classroom. It also teaches discipline and being able to take criticism, two pretty important skills.

 

Plus, for me it's pretty therapeutic and relaxing. When I'm stressed out, the first thing I do is play my piano.

 

^^ This.

 

It's fun, relaxing, and another activity where your brain works and it can help to get out of your shell. I don't care about making music to listen to, but I really enjoyed my years of piano and flute.

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This is like the why learn math if you have a calculator question.

 

Learning a musical instrument, aside from being fun, is good for building self esteem and confidence, especially in children. I work with an organization in Ottawa that gives free piano lessons to kids who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford them, and their regular classroom teachers say that the kids become more outgoing and confident in the classroom. It also teaches discipline and being able to take criticism, two pretty important skills.

 

Plus, for me it's pretty therapeutic and relaxing. When I'm stressed out, the first thing I do is play my piano.

 

^^ This.

 

It's fun, relaxing, and another activity where your brain works and it can help to get out of your shell. I don't care about making music to listen to, but I really enjoyed my years of piano and flute.

+1 to both of these.

 

It's not about the final product (the music), but about the process of getting there (playing an instrument).

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