[L-OT] Striking a balance...
2002-07-08 by Hector
Hector wrote: > > Doesn't it say something that after all this time I still have such > >great > > enthusiasm for it all? John replied: > It simply says that you have great enthusiasm for it. That's all. > Just like all the boy bands and girl bands that continue to fester > and multiply for the last 10 years, something that sticks around > does not neccisarily = good....... People tend to grow out of boy and girl band fixations. A scene needs to innovate and evolve to keep people interested in it over a long period of time. Trance has evolved, there is always plenty of good music to be found, and because of that, I still love it many years later. H: >>Were individuals. Nobody follows a set of rules laid >> down by anyone else. J: > Not true as the rest of your post makes quite clear, you follow the > rules yourself and you do it because you think it's quite > "practical". I suppose that if you were to carefully re-arrange my words in my last post, adding ones that I missed out, such as "practical", you could come to that conclusion. J: > You figure out what others want , ie clubs or the punters, and > cater to the lowest common denominater sort of like mcdonalds > marketers. You bet I figure what they want, it's a quality found in good dj's. H: >> I do not see how a loose description such as 'energy trance' >>can seriously affect the way anyone actually writes it. J: > Then you must not have been very into the scene the last 10 > years. It was lawbreaking to use a guitar until just recently?? Was it really? Somebody must have forgotten to tell the following bands/artists: Underworld, Fluke, Lionrock, BT, Sasha and Emerson, The Delta, Sun project, ATB, SpaceTribe, Zen Terrorists, System 7, Juno Reactor, Chicane... to name but a few. And exactly how does a description such as 'energy trance' prevent an artist from using a guitar? H: >>The last time I tried to play some breaks to a trance crowd, > > people came up and suggested that I stick to trance. I am one > >of the more > > adventerous dj's when it comes to trying out new stuff on a > >crowd, but ultimately I follow their wishes. J: > Exactly!!!!!!! > You follow.......their wishes.....like a good marketer...... > Not your own....... > Where's your creativity? The creativity is in choosing the music, putting it in an order that takes people on an interesting, intensifying journey, and in the style in which it is mixed. You seem to be suggesting that things are clear-cut, black and white, with a strong polarity existing between dj's. Those like myself, that you perceive to take no risks, and others that spend most of their time breaking 'rules', playing completely new types of music in order broaden people's musical tastes. The truth is that most dj's, like myself, fall into a middleground or grey area where _some_ risky new stuff is tried out, but most music played is in a style that the crowd wants and expects. Here in the UK at least, most people know what they like, go to a club that promises it and pay their hard earned cash to hear it. A dj that plays a set consisting almost entirely of another type of music is showing them breathtaking arrogance and contempt. Maybe thinking that they are superior beings, able to do exactly as they please in any situation. H: >>As long as the audience is happy, all the other critics can go to hell. J: > Exactly again. Mcdonalds for the masses. HIp Hip Hooray! > If people will eat it, then we'll sell it! Comparing clubs that mostly give crowds what they want, to the MacDonalds corporation is frankly ridiculous. H: > > I don't know why you think trance should be rebelious. It is > >simply a tool with a job to do and it does it very well. J: > I don't think of music as being utilitarian and with a job to do. > It's this sort of attitude that i find profoundly conservative! I am only taking about trance type music, not music in general. And it is only my humble oppinion that trance has the 'job' of lifting the emotions of people on a dancefloor, making them want to dance and have a good time 'til the following morning. H: > > You seem to be very hung up on > > 'sub genre boxes'. I can assure you that they do not influence >> anything. They are merely a means of description. J: > There mundane and self important with no substance to back > them up. Of course it is no suprise that there are some record companies that seek to use a few of the genre names to cash in. You think the names are important and restrict creativity. I think the names are unimportant, simply invented by people to allow description of the music in a conversation and in no significant way restricting a creative artist. We could argue forever on this one. Maybe we should just agree to disagree? H: >>There is always room for experimentation/innovation within a genre without having to do > >something drastic like replacing a '4 to floor' beat with a breakbeat or >> whacking in a > > saxophone solo. J: > LOL...."experiment within a genre", conservative again! Not really, just look at the genre 'psychedelic trance'. There is and has been an enormous amount of sonic innovation/experimentation. Sure, you could do so much to a track that it becomes virtually unrecognisable as being part of a particular genre. But a lot of producers don't want to and prefer to stick loosely to styles that they know and love. Just because there are many people that like to take their music to completely new/original structures and styles, it does mean that everybody has to do this and should be critisised if they don't. J: > Or i could imagine but you probably can't, that someone would > play something outside the mold of the evening and people > might just get exited or inspired. But your far to busy playing to > the "crowd" as lowest common denomonater....money > maker...and dj..... It is perfectly possible to within the course of a dj set to be innovative/creative and play a lot of what a crowd wants to hear. As long as I am a dj, I will always be striving to do that. The tricky bit is getting the balance right. regards Hector.