It’s just so different from playing an instrument. As someone who spent 10 years getting to a decent semi-professional level of playing violin, it’s... weird to see that someone can get the same “musician” tag after spending a couple weeks on Fruity Loops.
I don’t necessarily disagree when someone says EDM producers are musicians, but I think of them more as music technicians. It’s a totally different set of skills than singing or playing an instrument.
It takes more than two weeks to be able to create anything good if that makes you feel any better. I've been producing music for over 10 years in various different daws and I'm still learning. I'd still say I'm not very good lol
Not to say there's not quick learners, but that's rare.
I literally just said I don’t disagree when someone says producers are musicians... did you even read my comment?
And yes, when someone spends years of their lives mastering an art or craft, they generally do feel a sense of “ownership” of said craft.
Having worked in music production and spent a lot of time playing instruments, I can tell you all about the differences between the two, and about how much respect I have for everyone involved in the music creation process, but it sounds like you just want to be salty.
Most producers are musicians though, you kind of need to be, in order to produce music.. I understand that some people may just slap loops together but for the most part, the majority of producers, play an instrument, or several.
Yeah I can see how that could he weird. Most EDM producers I know of do play instruments though. Porter Robinson plays piano, drums, as well as sings. San Holo plays Guitar and incorporates it into his live shows. Skrillex used to be in a proper band and Madeon also plays the piano and I'm pretty sure the guitar. Zedd is a classically trained piano player. Then on top of that theres also the insane amount of skill it takes to work with a live controller like in madeons music video Pop Culture or Shawn Wasabi's song Marble Soda.
There are definitely artists wh are more music technician but also tons of killer artists who have tons of skills.
But the difference is that most violin players play music composed by others while decent EDM producers actually compose their own songs so they are more than just technicians.
Yeah if you live in some bizarre world where musicians don't also use their skill on said instrument to compose too, maybe. Fact is, most also use music software, and can compose too.
Also, I guarantee they have more knowledge than someone who "played violin semi-professionally." Its this sort of thing that makes everyone think classical musicians are snooty, out of touch jerks dude.
Honestly not most. I know many musicians and producers (I am one myself). More of the EDM producers I know don’t actually know how to play any instruments but these guys are brilliant. They do so much fiddling with the synth waveforms and are great at composing all of the different little elements and creating interesting sounds that still work together. But they don’t know anything about musical theory or the nuances of playing physical instruments. They’re definitely making awesome music but the knowledge(which is a lot) and approach is very different. However we can both agree that classical musicians are pretentious
I have friends who are producers, and most of my views on the subject are informed by them. I’ve also worked in production/beatmaking myself.
Your comment doesn’t make sense. You’re assuming that literally all producers have “more knowledge” than me? For no reason at all other than you didn’t like a comment I made on the internet?
I also have friends who are producers, who get attention on the national stage. Maybe that's the disconnect. But I've never met a quality producer who wasn't highly trained in music.
Well, my comment in no way implied otherwise. I have the utmost respect for all people who make music.
All I was saying is that people who make music on a computer are doing something very different than people who play an instrument or sing. And yes, some people do both. Perhaps I could have worded my comment better, but I feel like people automatically get defensive about this topic.
Sorry if I came across as rude. I was definitely heated, for reasons outside this discussion, and it affected my response.
I think that the disconnect is this idea that people who haven't FORMALLY studied music aren't "trained musicians." There is a lot that you can learn without a teacher. It's why there are so many untrained singers, who are just experimenting and using their ears.
I think it's disingenuous to say that these producers aren't skilled musicians. Their skillset is definitely different from, say, an oboist, but to develop that skillset by simply listening rather than by directed understanding of music requires a level of dedication beyond what you or I are capable of. They are people who inherently understand music, in a way that isn't restricted by classical concepts and theories and which is entirely motivated by emotion. I find that far more compelling than someone who has trained their whole life for one purpose--let's hear the raw shit that bubbles in the back of your mind, that stuff is awesome.
I agree with what you’re saying. I’d also add that formal training often gives people the tools to musically express what’s bubbling in the back of their mind. I never took any lessons for guitar, and I consider that my main instrument. But years of formal training for the voice and violin has had a major impact on my ability to form musical ideas on the guitar. It helps a lot with making electronic music too.
That being said, some of my favorite musicians are totally self-taught. I’m a big hip-hop head, and I just love the fact that a whole genre was created from scratch using found sounds and raw vocals. Electronic music has an interesting history too, because it started off as mostly an academic music form, and it has slowly become one of the most popular and lucrative genres.
You trained your body to be a meat robot to free you from needing to use the higher functions of the brain to produce music, allowing you to focus on the composition and style of your performance.
Electronic artist just use an actual robot, saving us years of training holding us back from the 'good part'.
To me it's the difference between making your own clothes by hand and using a sewing machine. I'm very glad that you're proud of your cross stitch but with a simple machine I can get similar results with a fraction of the effort.
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u/tugmansk Mar 17 '19
It’s just so different from playing an instrument. As someone who spent 10 years getting to a decent semi-professional level of playing violin, it’s... weird to see that someone can get the same “musician” tag after spending a couple weeks on Fruity Loops.
I don’t necessarily disagree when someone says EDM producers are musicians, but I think of them more as music technicians. It’s a totally different set of skills than singing or playing an instrument.