General Music Chat

Agreed

Yes indeed! Dog eat dog, first bite counts. But that's just reality. I'm not into covers at all, never have been, never will be! Doing what's already been done gives me melancholy! I've been doing my own thing for 30+ years. Writing my own stuff, dreaming the proverbial pipe dream! Hey, if Daniel Johnston can make it? There's always hope as long as one's still sucking air and blowing out CO2.

I've been in both cover and original bands and I'm doing covers again at the moment just to get out giging with my new band but I'm looking forward to when we start creating together cos at the end of the day, you can't beat the feeling you get when playing your own stuff to an appreciative audience

I've been in both cover and original bands and I'm doing covers again at the moment just to get out giging with my new band but I'm looking forward to when we start creating together cos at the end of the day, you can't beat the feeling you get when playing your own stuff to an appreciative audience

When playing a cover, the musician in question already has the template from which to work from. Everything is there. The sound, the arrangement, lyrics, vocal melody, dynamics, everything. All the cover musician has to do is recreate with a degree of accuracy what has already been done and success is pretty much a guarantee. By no means am I saying this is easy. Just easier then creating something from scratch. By no means am I saying cover musician is not a musician. " I " just put them in a different category.

Now let's look at the musician doing originals. There is no template to draw upon, so they have to construct everything from scratch. There is not the luxury of picking and playing something popular and known to be widely accepted so it's totally luck of the draw if it goes over. Lastly it is extremely difficult to do successfully thus why not many musicians attempt it. IMO it is the pinnacle of the state of the art and takes a great deal of confidence or stupidity. Take your pick.

To say that ones star has passed and use that as a rational not to write ones own music IMO does not hold up unless you are talking prehaps from a monetary standpoint. Even still one could write a song that could have huge monetary rewards at any point in their musical career. Basically we can write music until we die and any one of those compositions could pay dividends. So age really has no bearing.

This is way I approach the whole thing anyway.

Like I said, you can't beat the buzz you get playing your own stuff but also would be highly flattering for someone to like it enough to want to cover it don't you think???

Not to bring up the obvious here, but that's why there are terms like "performer", "composer" and "composer/performer" to differentiate between these disciplines.

There is nothing wrong with being any of those.

Why are you so wrapped up in what other people think?

You should know by now, the masses are dumber than stones on the bottom of the ocean floor.

If I listened to what people say, I would be miserable.

Just listen, refine the opinions you agree with and ignore the rest.

Don't let the fools rattle you, there are so many you will surely go under from all the blather.

Listen to the inner voice and make good choices, enjoy yourself and be happy.

I feel like the fing Dali Llama. LOL

Front_Man,

How did I know you weren't going to agree?

Agree to disagree we can. However for the sake of engaging in the lively art.....

Even using the analogy of a template, and we will use the simplest in the form of the 1-4-5 chord progression (you pick the key!) the composer still has to fill in all the other blanks, and get each part to "gel" with the rest of the composition. A failure in any one component will lead to total failure in the piece. This is why IMO original song writing is so difficult and why those who can do it are in a different league.

As far as luck, we are in total agreement. I believe luck is the #1 component to success with sure determination being a close #2. Work at something long enough and your odds of success are greater. Or as General George S Patton said, you have create your own luck and you must test your luck on a regular basis. As far as your statement of how some of the crap that is out there ever got recorded, don't get me started. Although what's the saying "One mans trash is another mans treasure?"

I am also in total agreement with the "IT" factor. I have stated in other threads that this is why it is so difficult and why success eludes so many in this business. All the factors have to be there. Miss any one, and the odds are not good.

In closing the more I thought about your statement and what Irminsul mentioned is that if we use the term "musician" by definition then your position is valid and solid. A musician playing covers or originals is a musician no matter how you slice it, so I am flip flopping and agreeing with you. I think what we have to do is apply a different moniker for the originalist and coverist. (are those even words? It's make your own words night)

I believe this is where one is a musician, (cover) and one is an artist (original) or one of the other monikers as they apply that Irminsul mentioned.

That makes sense to me.

If you can play well, you are an artist.

If you play others' material, you are a cover artist. If you play your own thing, you are an original artist.

Everyone wants to do their own thing, as the recognition factor is greater.

I.e> Would you rather be remembered for doing a good version of "Hurt" or be the guy who wrote "Hurt" to begin with?

It is a hair split. Do what you do, play what you play and enjoy it as you really don't know how long you will be able to, now do you?

There are far more performers than there are composers, but that's understandable because the composer usually produces more than he or she can ever play, master, or vary. So it all works out.

I think you are right. The amount of people that can create is much less. I think that stems from the amount of people that are tuned in to channel "Z".

I can't always hear it. I definitely can't hear it when others are playing. That's why I like Sonar 6 Cakewalk, I can compile it quietly and then once it is something I like, I can teach it to the rest of them.

Trying to write in noise is like trying to hatch an egg in an earthquake. A possibly messy and uncertain enterprise.

Plenty of good players out there, but few that can hear the golden music of one's own discipline.

I know there will be a lot of disagreement, but I cant remember listening to anything lately that I would call original. Most of the "original" music I hear on here or myspace or anywhere is just a rehash of something else.

Didnt ZZ Top get in some lawsuit for the song LaGrange. They took that rythym from John Lee Hooker. What was the first I-IV-V song, arent all of them since in one sense of the word a copy or cover, just some different lyrics. Led Zep Whole Lotta Love I remember reading somewhere was a cover of a blues song.

A cover artist takes the template from the original and either recreates it close to the original or destroys it. Johnny Cash totally owns the song Hurt which Im sure helped ole Trents bank account. Remember Devo, they totally destroyed the song Satisfaction. WHitney Houston took that old Dolly Parton song on The Bodyguard movie to new heights.

I think and this is just my opinion, that an artist is someone who can take a piece of music either their own or a cover and breath new life into it, in other words make it their own.

If you play an instrument even spoons you are a musician.

I have friends who play covers 2 or 3 times a week. Currently I sit around and write songs. A non musician would consider them more of a musician than me cause they are in the public eye and Im just noodling by myself.

On another note for the past 6 years I raced motocross semi professionally. I was racing 30 weekends a year up until this spring, The people I used to race with dont consider me a racer anymore cause Im not out there racing. So it goes to figure if Im not out playing music in public, maybe Im not a musician anymore.

Ive had too much coffee this morning.

C-Ya