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I had some musician friends over for dinner last night, and we spent a great evening discussing this topic. It was partly triggered by a combination of Phil's Piracy music thread and my Kenny G thread.
We were listening to a recording of a great Japanese guitar player, and the track was, well very 'Japanese -sounding'.
Now one of the guys at dinner knows this player personally and tells us that he is a fantastic jazz blues player and thats really all he plays and thats what he loves to do, but being Japanese, the record label wants him to do something Japanese sounding.
To market himself, he also needs to create some Japaneseness in his playing, to be taken seriously by booking agents, clubs, etc
Does who makes what music make a difference? Do we musicians stereotypes ourselves? Does the color of skin determine what music you play?
If it does, is it still music? Or are we making some 'processed sound'?. For the benefit of others? Labels, audiences?
Does Hip Hop not sound right unless an African American with big chains is playing it? Is metal not real metal if a Scandinavian band isnt playing it? Music is not supposed to come with picture or visuals, right? ( Screw MTV for now )
What do you think of a musician who for example plays metal, but because the people in his town arent big on metal, plays some watered down stuff ?
I understand if its about paying the bills, but is it still music? Isn't music expressing who you are? Isnt music about being true to yourself? Are you playing the music you want to play?
So, this was a heated debate with no winners, late into the night. Thought I'd share this with you guys, see what you think.
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I had some musician friends over for dinner last night, and we spent a great evening discussing this topic. It was partly triggered by a combination of Phil's Piracy music thread and my Kenny G thread.
We were listening to a recording of a great Japanese guitar player, and the track was, well very 'Japanese -sounding'.
Now one of the guys at dinner knows this player personally and tells us that he is a fantastic jazz blues player and thats really all he plays and thats what he loves to do, but being Japanese, the record label wants him to do something Japanese sounding.
To market himself, he also needs to create some Japaneseness in his playing, to be taken seriously by booking agents, clubs, etc
Does who makes what music make a difference? Do we musicians stereotypes ourselves? Does the color of skin determine what music you play?
If it does, is it still music? Or are we making some 'processed sound'?. For the benefit of others? Labels, audiences?
Does Hip Hop not sound right unless an African American with big chains is playing it? Is metal not real metal if a Scandinavian band isnt playing it? Music is not supposed to come with picture or visuals, right? ( Screw MTV for now )
What do you think of a musician who for example plays metal, but because the people in his town arent big on metal, plays some watered down stuff ?
I understand if its about paying the bills, but is it still music? Isn't music expressing who you are? Isnt music about being true to yourself? Are you playing the music you want to play?
So, this was a heated debate with no winners, late into the night. Thought I'd share this with you guys, see what you think.
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