# Are we horribly spoilt?



## Alex Fraser (Aug 2, 2019)

Back in the 90's when I was a younger gent, music technology was expensive. I lusted after a number of unaffordable bits of gear, one of which was a Korg M1 costing four figures.

I've just downloaded the plugin version of the M1 on sale for the princely sum of $25. Including all the optional sound cards. This may not seem like much to someone who's younger, but for an older 40 something like me this is quite simply nuts.

Have we completely lost perspective on how much our tools are actually worth? For the same money that would buy a cheap workstation 20 years ago, composers can amass gigs of deeply sampled instruments and a clear surplus of storage and cpu power to actually use them. If you'd shown me todays typical starter rig back when I was wrestling with 1mb sample memory, I'd have chased you out of the room shouting "witchcraft!"

Rant over. Thoughts?
A


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## JohnG (Aug 2, 2019)

Yes, we are totally spoilt. If you can't make music that sounds ok today, on almost any budget, you just need to keep trying. 

The tools are there and, as you said, Alex, dirt cheap.

If you want to have Every Sound Known To Humanity at your fingertips, that's a bit more of a challenge, but still.


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## JEPA (Aug 2, 2019)

I remember I did make music for theatre-dance with only General MIDI Rom-Sounds...


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## chimuelo (Aug 2, 2019)

I deserve to be spoiled.
I had Rack of 4 x Roland S760s with 1GB Shoebox sized Hard Drives.
4 x RGB Sony Trinitron Monitors and a Roland D70.
Only 2 760s could be used at once while the others loaded, the D70 would keep the Piano and Brass Section sounds loaded at all times.
4 zones live was a lot of work.
Before that the Oberheim DPX and Emulator III loading FDDs all the time, which believe it or not Linux finally this week announced no more support for the 5 1/4” and 3 1/2” FDDs.

Now I sound better, have 8 zones anytime I want, and Omnisphere loads from an NVMe M.2.
The newest upgrade was impressive because I had a D50, bought the new D-05, and now I don’t need it because the D50 sample in Omni is spot on.
Except I had to add more sustain on the Soundtrax Patch, which became longer using excessive velocity.

No complaints from me.


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## Alex Fraser (Aug 2, 2019)

JEPA said:


> I remember I did make music for theatre-dance with only General MIDI Rom-Sounds...


Haha - I think I've got one of those boxes in the attic...

I've just finished a track where I used the M1 plugin. It wasn't a sound that couldn't have been found in any number of other libraries in my stack. I used it just because the "new shiny.."

That's what I'm talking about: That luxury of choice and power.


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## dzilizzi (Aug 2, 2019)

Yes. And no. I've always been a singer with music in my head but too uncoordinated to actually play an instrument well. I can make music now. It is amazing. There are so many inexpensive tools available (and not so inexpensive ones) that help make it easy. It takes longer than someone who can actually play, but I'm mostly happy with the results and I'm learning to improve. I'm sure there are others like me. 

But I'm with you on the cost of things being so much cheaper than they were when I first started. you can get into computer music with minimal outlay now and they are much better for the price. Though to do big things like full symphonies will still cost a whole lot for a starter. The sales are better than they used to be if you can wait. And RAM and SSD prices keep dropping. 

But I think you are talking about the range of sample libraries available at reasonable prices. So much choice of instruments that sound good. Unlike the early sample libraries that really sounded like old records. And you were stuck with the awful loops that didn't go with your melody. And were so noisy. so much better now. Definitely spoiled with choices.


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## CGR (Aug 3, 2019)

I do feel spoilt when I realise I have so many software synths & sampled instruments I haven’t fully explored and made the most of. Back when all I had was an early model Roland DP, JV1080 and Korg Wavestation SR, I knew them inside-out and extracted every possibility out of them. In many ways, I was more focussed and less distracted with the latest new shiny toy given everything was so damn expensive.


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## Zero&One (Aug 3, 2019)

In 91 I bought my Ibanez UV777. Cost a fortune and had to be imported. I felt like a god!
I hated it... but damn I played that thing to an inch of it's life and knew every wood grain on the pig. Only because I knew I wasn't getting anything else for years and years.

These day's I'd probably slapped it on eBay and took the loss. It made me a better player 100% and it's still in my possession today. Still hate it


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## Apostate (Aug 3, 2019)

JohnG said:


> Yes, we are totally spoilt. If you can't make music that sounds ok today, on almost any budget, you just need to keep trying.
> 
> The tools are there and, as you said, Alex, dirt cheap.
> 
> If you want to have Every Sound Known To Humanity at your fingertips, that's a bit more of a challenge, but still.



I guess we're spoiled...except there still isn't a library that captures the sound of a live performance, especially in terms of (what I might erroneously term) sympathetic vibration. As the great David Newman put it, instruments just plain sound different with all of those instruments around them, and good luck trying to run an especially personal, expressive piece through today's technology to your complete satisfaction. Even the "full orchestra libraries" ultimately fail to convince.

We can fool mostly people whom know very little about music, which isn't exactly a big victory. But good luck getting past a non-novice.

Now, if your goal is to be inspired during sketch writing by really good sounding vis, well, you're covered.


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## Apostate (Aug 3, 2019)

To be truly spoiled (and I have to thank @Parsifal666 for this gem) is to have the capability of having a personally nuanced, idiosyncratic composition of yours played by an orchestra that likes your music.

That ain't going to happen in the vi world...perhaps ever. To use another one of P666's examples, try finding a convincing, vi'd rendition of the last movement of Mahler's 9th. Or geez, ANY of Mahler's symphonies (or, for chamber music, ANY of Beethoven's late works).

And please provide a link, I would honestly LOVE to be schooled on this (wallet ready lol!)


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## chocobitz825 (Aug 3, 2019)

I only think so when i see critical threads about how terrible some software is because it doesnt fit our own individual needs down to the letter. “This legato is terrible! How dare they have a delay!?” “THE PHASING!! OH MY EARS!!!” “how dare they not include the articulations I personally want!?”

I’m not saying we just shut up and be satisfied by anything....but it wouldn’t hurt to be a bit more grateful...we have an arsenal of incredible and ever improving technology that lets us bring our imagination into the world. The budget one would need to make the music we make with the various plugins that emulate millions of dollars worth of gear is an after thought when thinking that most of us get it for a fraction of the cost. Just imagine how much more music we get to listen to now, because this tech evened the playing field a bit so people without the studio budgets could still produce their ideas, and services like soundcloud let them distribute that music. It’s pretty cool.


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Aug 3, 2019)

James H said:


> In 91 I bought my Ibanez UV777. Cost a fortune and had to be imported. I felt like a god!
> I hated it... but damn I played that thing to an inch of it's life and knew every wood grain on the pig. Only because I knew I wasn't getting anything else for years and years.
> 
> These day's I'd probably slapped it on eBay and took the loss. It made me a better player 100% and it's still in my possession today. Still hate it



Trading my duplicates from the Spitifre Everything Bundle for the Universe.


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## Apostate (Aug 3, 2019)

James H said:


> In 91 I bought my Ibanez UV777. Cost a fortune and had to be imported. I felt like a god!
> I hated it... but damn I played that thing to an inch of it's life and knew every wood grain on the pig. Only because I knew I wasn't getting anything else for years and years.
> 
> These day's I'd probably slapped it on eBay and took the loss. It made me a better player 100% and it's still in my possession today. Still hate it



Sounds to me like it was more than worth every penny (I can't stand anything Vai).


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## ProfoundSilence (Aug 3, 2019)

extremely spoiled. I remember finale's playback in like 2003 blew my brain. Then I heard Sibelius from a fellow composer who lived nearby in 2005 and thought it was absolutely crazy.

Flash forward to today, and we piss and mount about the tiniest details.


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## Eloy (Aug 3, 2019)

Alex Fraser said:


> Back in the 90's when I was a younger gent, music technology was expensive. I lusted after a number of unaffordable bits of gear, one of which was a Korg M1 costing four figures.
> 
> I've just downloaded the plugin version of the M1 on sale for the princely sum of $25. Including all the optional sound cards. This may not seem like much to someone who's younger, but for an older 40 something like me this is quite simply nuts.
> 
> ...


Yes.


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## Tim_Wells (Aug 3, 2019)

It's good for the soul to take a moment and be grateful for all the amazing tools that have been made available to us. It's an incredible bounty.

I'm deeply indebted to the developers and everyone who's involved in bringing these tools to the world.


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## AndyP (Aug 3, 2019)

I still remember very well my first synthesizer. It was a Moog Prodigy and i loved the thing idolatrously. I had to work in the holidays to save my money together. Today I buy more or less without thinking about the money, but I am aware of what I get there for relatively little money. An Orchestra, out of the box, which is hardly distinguishable from a real one for non-musicians. I feel like I'm in paradise because I can produce today with the sound I used to only dream of. I also think it's important to give the manufacturers feedback, they are very thankful and happy about it. Producing a library is a lot of work and I often have to think of Thomas Bergersen who, because there was nothing that was right for him, created his own library according to his wishes (with Nick and Co.). That's passion, and I'm infinitely grateful to those people.


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## bvaughn0402 (Aug 3, 2019)

For all the sounds I have, I now want the originals. I have so many Mellotron sounds ... but I still want the original (I actually had one I could have bought last year and passed because the guy wanted $4k for it). I would love an OB-Xa too.

But I can recall struggling to make music 10-20 years ago. I was thinking recently how much easier it is now for me ... that I had finally figured out the "secrets" to arranging a song and adding parts.

But I guess if I'm honest ... mostly it is because I have so many great sounds at my fingertips and amazing technology that puts me there faster.


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## Ashermusic (Aug 3, 2019)

No, we aren’t spoiled, we are deluded. I WAS spoiled when I first got into the business and on an almost daily basis got to create music with other talented musicians. THAT was spoiled. Now I am mostly reduced to trying to coax decent sounding music without the input of other instrumentalists from a bunch of snapshots of real instruments. Yes, they are better and more affordable than ever but it’s a poor substitute.


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## AndyP (Aug 3, 2019)

Ashermusic said:


> No, we aren’t spoiled, we are deluded. I WAS spoiled when I first got into the business and on an almost daily basis got to create music with other talented musicians. THAT was spoiled. Now I am mostly reduced to trying to coax decent sounding music without the input of other instrumentalists from a bunch of snapshots of real instruments. Yes, they are better and more affordable than ever but it’s a poor substitute.


Depends on ... 
I just had to think of a very bad guitarist in the studio who not only ruined the mood, but also the recording.
I agree with you, the exchange with other musicians and the shared playing experience can't give us the whole vi.


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## Ashermusic (Aug 3, 2019)

AndyP said:


> Depends on ...
> I just had to think of a very bad guitarist in the studio who not only ruined the mood, but also the recording.
> I agree with you, the exchange with other musicians and the shared playing experience can't give us the whole vi.



I specified good musicians. Of course, I will take a good sample library over a bad musician with a bad attitude, but I think most places to live have a number of good musicians. In the past you just needed to do the work of finding them and connecting. Now since nobody will pay them because they settle for samples,it’s much harder.


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## AndyP (Aug 3, 2019)

Ashermusic said:


> I specified good musicians. Of course, I will take a good sample library over a bad musician with a bad attitude, but I think most places to live have a number of good musicians. In the past you just needed to do the work of finding them and connecting. Now since nobody will pay them because they settle for samples,it’s much harder.


I agree with you on that.

For many musicians it has always been hard to live off, and the vi certainly didn't make it any easier. 
On the other hand, today we can live out our musical fantasies without looking for the right musicians.
In certain regions it is certainly easier than in the countryside where there are less people in general.
I consider it a composition aid, but if i wanted to have guitars in a real production i would always let a real guitarist play them.
Nothing beats a real musician (ok, the original is from Bergersen - nothing beats a real orchestra). This is hard to contradict.


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## Ashermusic (Aug 3, 2019)

AndyP said:


> I agree with you on that.
> 
> For many musicians it has always been hard to live off, and the vi certainly didn't make it any easier.
> On the other hand, today we can live out our musical fantasies without looking for the right musicians.
> ...




Certainly, it beats not being able to create at least some of what you can conceive. But not having to look for the right musicians is not a "musical fantasy" for me. 

For me, it is settling for what is currently possible for me.


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## BassClef (Aug 3, 2019)

Yes... but I still miss my Ensoniq SD-1!


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## JohnG (Aug 3, 2019)

Apostate said:


> Even the "full orchestra libraries" ultimately fail to convince.



First off -- you're right -- let's agree on that!

But...

...whether you're "convinced" depends a lot on the material and how it's to be consumed. 

1. String quartet? Wind sextet? Forget it. Hire players;
2. Huge loud orchestra in battle scene in a movie with planes diving and 'kak-kak-kak' guns blazing? Hmm. Not saying there's zero benefit to the orchestra, but less than there was 10 or 20 years ago when sampling was not as developed;
3. Symphony or anything artistic -- hire players;
4. Most Emotional Scene In Movie -- hire players.

So I guess I agree that _most_ of the time really you have to have at least some live players, preferably at Abbey Road or Sony or something, but there are times (see bullet 2) when not even trained people are likely to discern anything amiss.


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## Apostate (Aug 3, 2019)

JohnG said:


> First off -- you're right -- let's agree on that!
> 
> But...
> 
> ...



2. Sure, that's easy to agree with. Or any time there's a lot of crazy, diverting activity on screen.


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## JEPA (Aug 3, 2019)

JohnG said:


> 1. String quartet? Wind sextet? Forget it. Hire players;
> 2. Huge loud orchestra in battle scene in a movie with planes diving and 'kak-kak-kak' guns blazing? Hmm. Not saying there's zero benefit to the orchestra, but less than there was 10 or 20 years ago when sampling was not as developed;
> 3. Symphony or anything artistic -- hire players;
> 4. Most Emotional Scene In Movie -- hire players.


Thanks, I will print this and paste it in front of me over my monitor at work.


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## Michael Antrum (Aug 3, 2019)

Alex Fraser said:


> Back in the 90's when I was a younger gent, music technology was expensive. I lusted after a number of unaffordable bits of gear, one of which was a Korg M1 costing four figures.
> 
> I've just downloaded the plugin version of the M1 on sale for the princely sum of $25. Including all the optional sound cards. This may not seem like much to someone who's younger, but for an older 40 something like me this is quite simply nuts.
> 
> ...



This brings back so many memories. For me, it was the Yamaha DX7. I think they were £ 2k when they came out and I had a physical ache for one. I've never owned one, and now I don't want to. Sometimes it's better never to meet your heroes.

However, the M1 was my first real keyboard (though I had a Jen SX1000 back in the day). I'll never forget buying it. I was working for London Zoo at the time and lived in North London, during what I look back on as some of the best years of my life. My girlfriend, who was the hottest girl in the whole of the East End (and is now my wife of 30 years) and I had just moved into out first flat together and life just couldn't be better. The M1 was icing on the cake.

I remember going to see it at Chappells in Bond Street, and plonking down the best part of £ 1500.00 on the counter. I'll never forget taking a (very rare) Black Cab back to our flat and unpacking it. They were great days.

Its funny I've just upgraded my portable to a Nord Electro 6D 73, and that was around £ 1500.00. But when you take inflation into account.......

Are we spoilt with kit now ? Absolutely, but I'd swap it all in a heart beat to re-live those halcyon days of making do with what you had. In many ways it was far more liberating and made you far more creative musically.

Is it only me, or do I remember being far more concerned back then about the music than the fidelity of the sounds and production....


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## Alex Fraser (Aug 3, 2019)

Michael Antrum said:


> Is it only me, or do I remember being far more concerned back then about the music than the fidelity of the sounds and production....


Not sure I remember having a choice! Before getting my hands on a DAT machine, I was mastering to cassette..


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## Niah2 (Aug 4, 2019)

Maybe this is a little off topic but technology has also allowed me to discover live players from across the globe and to collab with them, not to mention to find musicians in my city that I didn't even knew they existed (hello shy people!!). Technology has also allowed me to collab with ensembles and orchestras via the internet.
For that reason I do feel immensely spoiled either by the sample tools plus the reach we do have now to work with any live musicians or ensemble/orchestra as long as there is a budget for it. The possibilities are infinite.

Having said that ethnic or jazz sample libraries still fall short for me. It's not the devs fault, it is really a big challenge to emulate such musicality and expressiveness. Perhaps also because I am not looking for a hybrid result but rather a more authentic one. 

.


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## Bluemount Score (Aug 4, 2019)

Yes, we are spoilt.

My bank account still isn't happy about all of these possibilities right at my feet.
You always reach for the unreachable, no matter how much you own already.


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## ein fisch (Aug 4, 2019)

the more people that provide software, hardware, sample libraries - the cheaper they get, i think thats just normal. probably doesnt make having a career in music nowadays any easier because theres so much competition


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## BlackDorito (Aug 4, 2019)

I was in hog heaven many decades ago when I scored first a DX7, then soon afterwards, an IBM PC with MPU-401 MIDI card, a Korg M1 and an Emu Proteus 2. Never wanted to leave the studio. But then .. the studio was of course my livingroom, and I eventually needed to clear it out to maintain domestic tranquility. [It was easy to resell keyboards in those days.] All that gear was well above $20K when you count the tape decks (and those were bigger dollars back then). For my master PC, slave PC, all libraries & software, extra monitors .. everything I've spent in modern times, it is still much less than the old days. We are spoilt.


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## BlackDorito (Aug 4, 2019)

Michael Antrum said:


> I'll never forget taking a (very rare) Black Cab back to our flat and unpacking it.


Ah yes, the pure joy of bringing home that large box from the music store and opening it up.


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## robgb (Aug 4, 2019)

Just found a Yamaha FB-01 module in a box in my studio. Forgot I had it. Probably cost me $300+ back in the day.


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## BlackDorito (Aug 4, 2019)

Alex Fraser said:


> I've just downloaded the plugin version of the M1 on sale for the princely sum of $25.


Alex, is this the product you bought? If so I'm wondering if the sound is 'clean'? After jettisoning my M1 keyboard, I bought an M1-R rack unit so I still had 'the M1 sound' available .. but I decided afterwards that the M1-R was hissy/noisy .. particularly the tail of the reverb. I'm wondering if the software is up to the noise floor standards we all expect these days. [The website seems to imply that the 'CMT' technology emulates the circuitry. I hope they are not too literal with that.]


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## Alex Fraser (Aug 5, 2019)

BlackDorito said:


> Alex, is this the product you bought? If so I'm wondering if the sound is 'clean'? After jettisoning my M1 keyboard, I bought an M1-R rack unit so I still had 'the M1 sound' available .. but I decided afterwards that the M1-R was hissy/noisy .. particularly the tail of the reverb. I'm wondering if the software is up to the noise floor standards we all expect these days. [The website seems to imply that the 'CMT' technology emulates the circuitry. I hope they are not too literal with that.]


That's the one. To be honest, I can't hear the noise you're describing but I'm using a temporary setup with questionable monitoring.
Surely the noise and crustiness is part of the whole 80/90's charm?


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## CGR (Aug 5, 2019)

Michael Antrum said:


> This brings back so many memories. For me, it was the Yamaha DX7. I think they were £ 2k when they came out and I had a physical ache for one. I've never owned one, and now I don't want to. Sometimes it's better never to meet your heroes.
> 
> However, the M1 was my first real keyboard (though I had a Jen SX1000 back in the day). I'll never forget buying it. I was working for London Zoo at the time and lived in North London, during what I look back on as some of the best years of my life. My girlfriend, who was the hottest girl in the whole of the East End (and is now my wife of 30 years) and I had just moved into out first flat together and life just couldn't be better. The M1 was icing on the cake.
> 
> ...


Great anecdote Michael. So much of that gear seemed out reach for me as a teenager in the 80's. Kurzweil was the 'Unobtainium' of keyboard gear. But what an amazing sensation when I did somehow find the money to throw down on the counter for a new bit of kit. I clearly remember saving up money for my first car, then being mesmerised after playing an as-new-traded-in Yamaha U3 upright piano in a music shop. The car (and probably my chances of dating a girl) had to wait. How's that for dedication to your art!


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## Apostate (Aug 5, 2019)

Alex Fraser said:


> Surely the noise and crustiness is part of the whole 80/90's charm?



+1


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## Michael Antrum (Aug 5, 2019)

CGR said:


> Great anecdote Michael. So much of that gear seemed out reach for me as a teenager in the 80's. Kurzweil was the 'Unobtainium' of keyboard gear. But what an amazing sensation when I did somehow find the money to throw down on the counter for a new bit of kit. I clearly remember saving up money for my first car, then being mesmerised after playing an as-new-traded-in Yamaha U3 upright piano in a music shop. The car (and probably my chances of dating a girl) had to wait. How's that for dedication to your art!



I couldn't have an accoustic back then - in those days you were constantly moving from flat to flat rather regularly, and the paper thin walls of most of them would have dented my popularity with the other residents. Plus the fact there was a rather splendid grand (Bechstein IIRC) in the function rooms at the zoo if I ever needed a 'fix'. 

Generally, I've always found that girls appreciated the starving musician type.... but London was full of yuppies with BMW's back then and they were rather an arrogant lot back then.


Sigh...


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## Apostate (Aug 5, 2019)

Put it this way, I feel _*better*_ than spoilt (more like heavenly blessed) whenever my music gets played by actual instrumentalists. Everything else is second place at best.


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## Desire Inspires (Aug 5, 2019)

Spoilt? Not even close.

I think we are just catching up to where things should be. Making music was so difficult for so long, even with the few advances in technology from the 20th century. 

I still see need for improvement in many things. One day at a time I guess.


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## Saxer (Aug 5, 2019)

The main difference is that even hobbyists have access to full professional tools today. This doesn't concern music only. Most amateur bands have a high end PA in the garage. Every second holiday surfer has a Jason Stevenson surfboard. High end animation software and quadcopters are mainstream as well. Consumer cameras with cinematic resolution. Nothing costs more than an average car. It's a professional hobby market.

The difference is still the time you can invest in things you want to do. That didn't change.


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## Ashermusic (Aug 5, 2019)

Desire Inspires said:


> Spoilt? Not even close.
> 
> I think we are just catching up to where things should be. Making music was so difficult for so long, even with the few advances in technology from the 20th century.
> 
> I still see need for improvement in many things. One day at a time I guess.



Creating good music should be somewhat difficult. That way, musicians become better and more skilled. Otherwise, they just do what is easy.


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## kimgaboury (Aug 5, 2019)

I don't think we are spoiled. Even if making good sounding music has become super cheap and easy, making fkn great music that sounds unique is still as hard as it ever was.


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## Geoff Grace (Aug 5, 2019)

I was spoiled to be alive in the '60s when musicians were revered in a way they aren't now, and music was front and center in a rapid-fire pace of social change.

I was spoiled to be alive in the '70s when creativity blossomed, and progressive rock and jazz fusion pushed the boundaries of what popular music could do.

I was spoiled to be alive in the '80s when music technology began to explode: analog synthesis became more affordable, and digital synthesis and sampling burst onto the scene.

I was spoiled to be alive in the '90s when digital recording became more affordable, and personal computers gave us new ways to record and alter sound.

I was spoiled to be alive in the '00s when sampling jumped from megabytes to gigabytes, and libraries became more realistic.

And I am spoiled to be alive today when virtual instruments and effects are a booming business and more sophisticated and affordable than ever before.

Best,

Geoff


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## R. Soul (Aug 5, 2019)

It's not entirely a new thing that quality sound can be had for cheap or even free.

When I started out in 1990/1991, the first music I made was done using a free sequencer with free samples.
It was a tracker called Soundtracker. Music was made on 4 tracks, all being monophonic, so if you triggered a snare and had a hihat a 16th later, the snare would be cut off. There was no round robins, no velocity layers and if you wanted chords you'd have to use several of your 4 channels - unless you had a sampled chord of course.
It was a bit limited, but still, it was free to make music. 

So if we are spoiled - we've been spoiled for 30 years really.


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## Desire Inspires (Aug 5, 2019)

Ashermusic said:


> Creating good music should be somewhat difficult. That way, musicians become better and more skilled. Otherwise, they just do what is easy.


It isn't difficult for me. That is why I like doing it.


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## purple (Aug 5, 2019)

Ashermusic said:


> Creating good music should be somewhat difficult. That way, musicians become better and more skilled. Otherwise, they just do what is easy.


It'll always be hard to write music. Technology breaks down the barriers to workflow allowing greater creativity, but technology does not allow people who wouldn't be able to write to suddenly understand music theory.


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## dgburns (Aug 12, 2019)

It's crazy what we have at our fingertips.

It's crazy how it still comes down to talent, hard work and ears .... and theory.

and it gets more humbling as the years go by. WTF is up with that?


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## NYC Composer (Aug 19, 2019)

I believe I was writing better music with more primitive tools, but it might be because I was so much younger and hungrier then.


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## AndyP (Aug 20, 2019)

After taking the time last weekend to listen through the different libraries I have now, especially in the area of strings, I realize that there is nothing special missing.
It's always worth comparing the components of the library you own, because I notice that I don't know anything as well as I thought.
Suddenly sounds that I didn't do anymore and rarely used sound really good again and they get more into my focus.
I have fallen into a sale madness and have bought things that I, after closer examination, more or less already had. Or at least so similar that it is irrelevant in use. 
I often hear the nuances individually, in interaction they disappear more and more.
Again and again I read here contributions from people who, for example, hear the Hollywood strings and then say, oh, but they sound good even though they are so old.
The good effect for me to compare all those is that I now ask myself more often, do I really need that? And more and more my answer is, no. 
I've bought a lot this month on sale and I'm fine with it, but somehow I have the feeling I have to put an end to this insanity and just live and work with what I have now.
A feeling of supersaturation begins to set in and slowly it seems to hinder me more than it takes me forward.
The time a tool takes to get to know it fully is getting shorter because the next great toy there is just arousing more interest. 
Exactly that was completely different before, every millimeter of a filter was tested, and the sight of buttons and faders in the dark created a very special atmosphere.


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