Anyone who has a problem with electronic music production should try it themselves. I encourage acoustic musicians to find ways of implementing live sounds into their music. I don't think there are any "should's" either. The ubiquitous nature of computers almost demands that we become familiar with the many ways in which to implement them into our music either in production or performance.
The idea of a live drummer in electronic music is often either misunderstood, or ill-defined. A lot of great electronic music uses samples of live drummers. The further you get into electronic music production, regardless of your instrumental background, you may find yourself thinking of the DAW and sound design to be your main focus rather than one instrument. I think about this a lot. I'd love to see some other members input and samples/setups. It's a great avenue for drummers in particular to find their way into arranging music.
Good points. I think it's the drummers/guitarists etc. that
aren't involved in programming, who seem to have the most resentment towards it. Almost as if a sequence denies them work that they're somehow entitled to. What they don't understand is how much work actually goes into sound design, and that a strong musical background is just as crucial to making good electronic/dance music, as it has always been in the acoustic world.
It's easy to say "oh, that's just a 4-bar drum loop, what's so great about that?" Well, some tracks
are that simple, just like in live playing. But there's a tremendous amount of imagination that goes into a lot of sequenced songs, and they're far from the boiler-plate or cut&paste tracks that some people accuse them of being.
I make a living backwards-engineering songs, and have dissected more than a few sequenced songs. Some of the drum/percussion parts are deliciously inventive, and sometimes far beyond what most live drummers could bring to the track. But, someone who dimisses those kinds of recordings and doesn't really listen to them, can't possibly appreciate the work that goes into them. Further, they think that if they could only play live drums on the track, it would instantly be an improvement. Again, they just don't understand, because they haven't really done it as pro players. I've seen a ton of it as YouTube drum covers, and it just wouldn't fly in the real world.
It's hard to imagine that, with virtually everyone having a computer, more musicians haven't explored programming, production, and sound design. Even basic programs like Garage Band or Acid are a good starting point to constructing music. It's not just a hodgepodge of samples, imagination and writing skills are important, just as they are for those musicians who insist on playing it live.
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