Comments on: Moving On to Bigger Things

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:29:30 +0000

Insightful points, all. Limitations force us to grow, and the new limitations should be just as intriguing and confounding as our previous obstacles.

By: doggo

doggo — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:37:09 +0000

I’m closer to 50 than I’d like to be and I’m making my second attempt at learning to play bass. 30 years later and I’m finding the music world has changed drastically. And the change is good. The resources to learn to play music available now are nothing short of amazing. The technology, and the price of technology, that enables musicians to record their own work makes making music a much more democratic endeavor.

One can bemoan the change, or embrace it. There are always going to be “purists” and exclusionists. They’re welcome to inhabit their exclusive ghetto. Meanwhile that genius songwriter that was once too “challenging” to get a recording contract is selling songs on iTunes or what have you.

Would I rather every great band was recorded by Steve Albini? Maybe. Meanwhile you can get a close approximation in your own bedroom if you work at it.

Vinyl? Pfffft! Whatever.

By: Lyman

Lyman — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:27:13 +0000

At least Porcupine Tree wasn’t around when recorded music was in its infancy. Early jazz musicians had to curtail and shorten their solos to accommodate the limited amount of recording space, yet those recordings remain some of the greatest of all time. Its only a limitation if you force yourself to see it as such.

By: themcp

themcp — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:24:44 +0000

after spending some intense time on either side of this fence i can only say that i prefer the bright side — every new media standard has had its limitations. arguably the album format itself is based on the limitations of vinyl. if i only have one song in me this month, why shouldn’t i just record and release it? why should i fill like i need to cobble together 45 minutes worth of material to go along with it just to justify the expense of making a physical artifact.

also… i’ve probably heard more full albums in the past five years that i love than i’d heard during most of my teenage years. i’m not totally sure i’m unique in that.