Hello everyone DJ Dizzy here & a while back I did a paper involving my thoughts regarding how technology has impacted music & though they go hand in hand there are times it an come off as too much of a gimmick take a look & share your thoughts.
Music
& Technology: Battle of Wits
As
we all know music has been a part of our lives from when we were kids to the
time when we grow up. You can find music everywhere and you can create music
just by making instruments out of everyday appliances. That is how I was taught
when I grew up. But being able to make music is much more than that, so much
so, that technology, by way of electronics, has gotten involved. The overuse of electronics in music is taking
away from real artists in music and it is more about special effects than real
talent in some cases.
In
a recording studio, you will see the people behind it using sound and mixing
boards, but nowadays people are making recordings in their own homes through
computers and flash drives. So that is where the question of do we really need
anything electronic to make us better musicians and singers comes in. And how
much of it is too much? Supporters of technology in music may say that we do
rely on it way too much when it comes to music. So much so, that you see
singers and rappers using auto tune technology, be it in videos or live in
concert. David Bowie predicted that the electronic technology was going to
dominate the music world and change everything from within. “I don’t even know why I would want to be on
a label in a few years, because I do not think it’s going to work by labels and
by distribution systems in the same way. The absolute transformation of
everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able
to stop it”-David Bowie (excerpt from the 2002 New York Times article “David
Bowie, 21st Century
Entrepreneur” by Jon Pareles) (El Gamal)
According
to a CNN article that was published a while back on auto tune they had this to
say regarding it, “But the jury is still out on
whether Auto-Tune was a boon for the music industry, or a disaster: in 2010,
Time magazine included it in the list of The 50 Worst Inventions, calling it ‘a
technology that can make bad singers sound good and really bad singers sound
like robots.’" (Prisco). Some singers will sometimes rely on auto tune
to help mask the sound of their singing voices by making them sound robotic or
to aid their voice as they get older with age.
Some examples of this would be Cher, T Pain, and Rebecca Black. These
are just a few examples of people who use auto tune. Cher, an older singer, did
use auto tune in a music video to enhance her voice. (See the video ‘Believe’
for details.) T Pain also uses auto tune in some of his songs to give more of a
robotic effect. He even went so far to come out with a toy microphone, complete
with an auto tune setting.
There
is also Rebecca Black. She is known for
that song ‘Friday,’ and she uses auto tune in her singing so much that it
caused her to have just that one hit, and only one hit. The auto tune gave her
singing voice more of a nasal-sounding effect which definitely did not enhance
the singing experience.
However,
in addition to artists using auto tune, television music shows submit to this
as well. A good example is that of X Factor in which they used auto tune with
most of the contestants. This was not really fair because you could not tell
who was good or bad. Luckily it stopped airing.
One
final example is of Britney Spears’ song “Alien”. There are two versions on youtube.com. One is
clearly marked as a “raw vocals” version and the other version does not have
any commentary as to the type of singing.
There is a stark difference between the raw vocals version and her
“secret” auto tune version. It leaves
one begging for Britney to always use auto tune.
But
auto tune is just an example of how useful it can be; but it can be overused.
Sure it is a gimmick, but there are other singers who use it for those purposes
such as Peter Frampton who uses a talk box when performing (See the video “Do
you feel like I do.”) Also, funk band Zapp uses auto tune for the same
purposes. Check out the following songs, “Computer Love” and “More Bounce to
the Ounce.” It is okay as a gimmick but
the more you use it the less it is about the music. According to Tao and
Bushnell (2009), “some see Auto-Tune as our generation's musical phenomenon,
injecting life and relevance into the same old artistic routine. Others dismiss
it as a cheap way for artists to hide their lack of talent behind the banner of
originality.” I agree with this quote
because while in some cases it can be used depending on how you do it but you
should always let your true talent show outside of it.
Supporters
of technology and music say that music and technology have been partners for
good reasons. A good example is using it to make holograms of performers who
have passed on, such as Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, to name a few.
Though they are not really around anymore, people can still have the experience
of seeing their concerts and feel like they truly have not died but rather will
live on through their music. According to Variety Magazine, Whitney’s family
members decided to scrap the idea of a hologram of her because they thought it
was not a lifelike representation of her. This was to be aired on the NBC show “The
Voice”.
There
is also a well-known pop star that appears as a hologram named Miku Hatsune`
who has sold out concerts in different countries. Though she is a vocaloid
hologram character, she proves to be entertaining. (See the video “The World is
Mine”) While her image is projected on the screen, the rest of the music is
played by live band members.
The
main rebuttal of this whole argument is, would anyone want to spend money to
see something that is not really there or would they prefer to see someone lip
syncing? Because all it really is doing is cheating someone out of a good
performance and live music in the process.
While
in some cases that is true, the thing to remember is what kind of taste other
people may have. It is more about what each person thinks of it and most of all
if this is something they would want to go see, rather than focusing on what is
real in an act.
There
is also another factor in music that I must mention that of lip syncing and
using teleprompters in concert. Sure you have seen your share of performers
messing up in concert, but it is all due to nerves. Other times, some singers
want to try to remember the words to their songs without having to read from a
small piece of paper or a screen.
A
perfect example is from what I have seen on TV regarding some so called live
performances which will involve singers or bands who lip sync their own songs.
Good examples are the movies and the TV show,
“This is Spinal Tap,” “The Rocker,” and the “I Carly” episode “I fix a Pop
Star” (iCarly). In the first case the audience got mad at the sellout band
Vesuvius when it was revealed that they were lip syncing and got caught and
condemned. In the second example Ginger
Fox, who was a parody of Britney Spears, embarrasses herself by doing a flimsy
job of performing by failing to keep up with the vocal track and just
mindlessly marching around onstage despite the audience cheering her on.
Lip
syncing at the time was something you got busted for when you did it live on TV
or in concert. Some examples of this are Milli Vanilli and Ashlee Simpson who
both got busted for lip syncing in a live performance.
For
those who do not know who Milli Vanilli were, they were a pop duo who had some
hit songs coming up on thirty years ago, “Blame it on the Rain” and “Girl You
Know It’s True.” They even won some awards for their work until it was revealed
that they did not actually sing their own songs, all thanks to the skipping
record of “Girl You Know It’s True” by repeating the phrase “girl you know it”
at least fifteen times at a live MTV concert. Because of this new found
information they lost their Grammy Award (VanHemert).
Ashlee
Simpson was partly busted for that same reason when she performed live on
Saturday Night Live and she ‘supposedly’ sang the wrong song, only to blame it
on acid reflux. (VanHemert) There is also
Technetronic, a then popular Belgium based electro band that had a number of
hits in the early 1990s such as “Pump up the Jam” and many other songs. They
never charted again after it was revealed that one member was lip syncing since
he did not really speak English. (Vidinfo) Though lip syncing is a big deal,
nowadays you can do it for fun, but when you are doing a live show or concert,
be real to your fans.
I
also want to add that there were some movies that depicted technology as well
such as “Josie and the Pussycats” which was basically a big commercial in which
they used subliminal messages on kids and teens telling them to buy into
product placement by way of pop idols. They even went so far as to extensively use
brand names throughout the movie. (Blackwelder)
There
is also the film “Jem and the Holograms” in which a young girl meets a robot
named Synergy who creates holograms. Also, the record label she is with turns
her into a typical cookie cutter singer to suit their expectations. But much to
the former owner’s dismay, they rebel. It is supposed to be based off the
cartoon but was an epic fail. However, it had a good message so there is that.
Another
film I have seen before would be “Macross Plus,” found on Anime News Network,
in which a woman manages a pop star named Sharon Apple who is really a hologram
that she controls. But since she is an artificial intelligent being she takes
on a personality of her own, despite her manager’s dismay.
There
are also bands that have gotten busted for lip syncing in music videos such as
the ground C and C Music Factory who is known for the song “Everybody Dance Now
had a model named Zelma Davis lip syncing to the track when it was really
Martha Wash of Weather Girls fame who actually provided the vocals. Because of
this Wash sued the group for not crediting her on the song. (Vidinfo)
There
is also an episode of Hey Arnold that depicts a pop star named Ronnie Matthews
who has no real musical talent and was just in it for the money much to the
dismay of a contest winner because she felt like his songs were beautiful and
meaningful. (Fandom)
According
to Corser (2015), “Whether people agree that using samples and automated instruments
is live or not, it cannot be argued that these artists are staging a
performance incorporating music and technology.” My thought and answer to that would only be
that you are disrespecting the family of the artist and the fans by giving them
something that is completely staged,
Most
people would rather hear and see a live performance by a real performer, not
one that they can see through. For example, I myself have mixed thoughts on
holographic singers especially since that performance with Michael Jackson at the
Billboard Awards that is just what I think.
I tweeted an indie Nu metal band called
Hidden Scars to ask them what they thought about technology being overused in
music, to which one member responded with, “I agree with you to the extent of
that a performer should never use prerecorded music to cover their own role
onstage. For example, Hidden Scars will be using prerecorded synths, orchestral
instruments, electronic percussion sounds, samples and noises to create our
sound. But our guitar, drums, bass, and vocals will always be all organic. And
I do not rely on auto tune in the studio either. I just sing it til I get it
right!”
I also emailed an actor who is also a
singer named Vic Mignogna who had this to state,
“I absolutely agree.
Artists do not need to be as good these days because technology helps them so
much.”
I
also spoke with another band called Blue Helix who is an indie band, to which
one member responded with this comment, “Pop and modern country artists rely on
it, while rock, acoustic, metal and jazz don’t. I’m in the rock/acoustic genre,
so I steer far away from anything that I can’t naturally do. I feel it is
overdone when it is in those above genres I have mentioned. And it saturates
the music.”
Also
another way that music and technology go hand in hand would be an example of
talk boxes or wah-wahs used by some guitar player it provides a wah-wah effect
by speaking or singing into it creating the sound of the instrument. As I
mentioned earlier Peter Frampton was the first musician to use this effect on
his guitar, and taking inspiration from him was Motley Crue and Bon Jovi, who
used talk boxes on their songs. See “Kickstart My Heart, “Doctor Feel Good,
“Living on a Prayer” and “It’s My Life”. They all rock extremely hard.
There
are also dancers who use technology to enhance their performance such as
special effects. (See NBC Network’s “America’s Got Talent” 2015) There were a
lot of dance troupes and dancers who got cut from the competition because their
performances were more about flash then the performance itself, which you do
tend to see sometimes.
There
are also bands that follow this as well when in concert when it comes to smoke,
lasers and too many lights flashing. You cannot even see the band or singer in
all of that fog and technology. But when you go to a show to see a show, make
sure it is one worth watching and does not have too many special effects. That
makes it difficult to see the performer especially through all of that smoke.
So
the main point that I am stating, is that while technology can be a factor in
music, the point is not to rely so much on it and to always practice your
instrument, be it your voice or anything else. Keep in mind other peoples’
perspectives on musical tastes.
If
it were me, I would see a real singer instead of a poser. I am not all about people who use auto tune
because all it does is mask a person’s true voice which is wrong. I have mixed
thoughts on holograms in concert because there is no point in wasting money on
something that is not there even if it is a singer that died. I should also add
that product placement can be a massive influence in music as well as in
advertising even in web pages.
I would rather see someone who is
about the music and can actually play, but that is just my own opinion.
Although, I do not mind a few songs done electronically, depending on who it is
or how it is all done.
My
final thoughts and conclusion would be that people have a wide variety of
tastes and expectations that should be met with their standards and pocket
books. But overall it is how you like your music – it is a matter of personal
preference.
