On drums...

This is brilliant. From an article in the WSJ on Leon Fleisher. He is talking about classical musicians, but it sure applies to the rest of us.

The secret of great musical performance lies in listening, he reveals. "It is a tripartite process: We have to be three people at once. Person A 'hears' what the music should sound like, setting the goals. Person B sits there and pushes the keys down, in response to Person A. Person C sits apart and judges, telling Person B what adjustments to make. This goes on simultaneously. Most students are concerned with producing what they want—A and B—but they have the least amount of space in their brains for listening: C.

"In all the conservatories, including my own at the Peabody Conservatory and the Curtis Institute, the kids are extremely competitive—they want to play louder and faster than the pianist in the next studio. Most of them can play the hell out of the piano in a way that their elders never could. But they belong more appropriately in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. It all has very little to do with making art. They have a lot of work to do, but it's easier just to pump plastic."

Couple this lack of listening with a "competition for the entertainment dollar," he asserts, and you get a truly destructive combination. "Players try to convince us by using body English—they writhe or look up at the ceiling—all to prove how affected they are by the music. They don't realize what a distraction it really is. We are supposed to be impressed by their show of emotion, but in reality they are merely erecting a barrier between the music and my soul."

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Gregory

Unfortunately, I saw a great example of part of this yesterday when I stopped into GC to pick up a couple of snare batter heads...

A guy, about my age, who had apparently brought his own sticks and brushes, and was putting on his own little solo performance, using every little gimmick and visual trick in his arsenal (including grabbing a key, and randomly tightening one lug on each drum) to accomplish nothing more than producing ordinary sounds.

A number of Christmas shopping parents were suitably impressed, and he became the 'resident non-employee expert' in the GC drum department. I was still standing in the general area, waiting for some heads to come from the back room, when he had dispatched his admirers, and then attempted to engage me as though I was the longest waiting admirer, to see what wisdom I was patiently awaiting.

"Are you here all week?", I asked.

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

When I read stuff like this I think of people like Virgil Donati and Thomas Lang. To think one of those is pumping plastic is a silly notion. Would love to have just a portion of the skills and showmanship either one of them possess.
Just like everything else, there are some that do it badly and some that do it perfectly.

To suggest neither is musical is also a silly notion. Don't know what Thomas Lang has ever done "musically" but I know Virgil's stuff is extroadinary. The two can go hand in hand.


EDIT: Wow...sorry Cliff...we were posting at the same time. This site is too crowded.

EDIT 2: Ha the 3 of us are on-line.

You wrote; "...do it badly" or "... do it perfectly." What, in those phrases, is "it"?

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Gregory

I follow you as far as that you like those drummers. The point is not that playing fast or loud is in itself wrong. The point is that musicality is very often sacrificed for speed and power, or either one of the two, or perhaps by other things. He is not decrying those things in and of themselves, but rather putting forth that being a musician entails far more than setting goals (A) and hitting the notes (B). 'Most students are concerned with producing what they want—A and B—but they have the least amount of space in their brains for listening." (C)

I would further suggest this is not just a musical problem, but that be filed under "Other than drums."

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Gregory

Are you here all week?

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

And next. But the waitresses are really helpful.

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Gregory

Maybe to you...

...I have been waiting two hours to get a drink.

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

That's because a plastic band is set to go on and the place is mobbed.

I think that point was a given and understood Greg. Any musician who is neatly trained without a heart (lacks feel) for it usually does not appeal.
The ones where their personality comes out in their playing are favorable. Unless of course you're an asshole. But then there are a lot a great asshole muscians.
I think the bigger problem is...not all music genres appeal to everyone. Like you I have no interest in todays music. Don't even understand it. But...it's a new generation, a few behind me. Could it be said they are less talented. I don't think so. It's just not for me.

I also don't like the old time 70's music where the muscian just acts like he is in another world, some place no one else can go but the god in him. But it worked back then for more than a few. I'll bet there was a point in the authors life where it was not a distraction.

Some really great drummers don't appeal to me simply because I am not interested in what they are doing.