Yngwie Winds Pickups for Haiti ...

[csparks75]

I liked it better when you guys were trying to figure out what kind of "shellacquer" he dipped them in. You can forget about reading the can, that won't help...

I'm guessing some kind of mix...1/2 laquer, 1/4 schellaque, 1/4 devil piss for extra shred-ness.....the video didn't show if he left it in there a long time, or just a quick dunk and dried under a lamp?

Man, everytime I see a video of the SD plant, I want to hop a plane and check the place out! That place is my nirvana....

[Norcal_GIT_r]

To me, a musician is someone who can earn a living making music.

And those who don't make a living are not musicians.
There's so much more to being a musician than making money at it.

[David Schwab]

Define "meaningful"?

OK.

meaningful |ˈmēni ng fəl|
adjective
having meaning : meaningful elements in a language | questions that are meaningful to students.
• having a serious, important, or useful quality or purpose : making our lives rich and meaningful.
• communicating something that is not directly expressed : meaningful glances and repressed passion.
• Logic having a recognizable function in a logical language or other sign system.

As it pertains to music, if you are just playing a lot of random notes, it's not music.

music |ˈmyoōzik|
noun
1 the art or science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion : he devoted his life to music.

So therefore "meaningful" would be defined as a series of notes that satisfy the above.

[Steve Conner]

Well maybe to be charitable, we could call them (us? ) "amateur musicians".

But I stand by what I said. To be a musician, you have to have something to say in the format of music. And if you have something to say, but nobody wants to hear it, do you really have something to say?

The fact you can make a living from music is proof that people want to hear what you have to say, and they want to hear it bad enough that they'll part with money.

I love to play guitar, have been playing it since I was a kid, and have played in a bunch of local bands that never amounted to much. The most profit I ever made from a gig was $20 and six bottles of beer. So I wouldn't call myself a "musician".

The final irony is that John Cage composed a piece that consists entirely of silence, and people have bought tickets to see it.

[David Schwab]

Lol +1! I prefer Satriani... until he tries to sing.

Me too.

To me, a musician is someone who can earn a living making music.

No, that's a professional musician. And some people who make money at music are not even musicians. Take Britney Spears as an example.

A musician is a person who is talented or skilled in music, or a person who plays a musical instrument.

Who would win in a "meaningfulness" contest between AC/DC and John Cage?

I like Cage better than AC/DC, I also don't consider something like 4′33″ as music.

Now if you picked AC/DC or Bach, that would be easy.

The point was that just playing scales is not music, and that's not really what anyone does.

There's nothing wrong with AC/DC, but it's very simplistic music from simplistic players. If you like that sort of thing that's fine.

But it's like anything. I like reading Dr. Seuss books to my daughter, and I think he was very talented, but it's not exactly what you would call a great work of literature. And it wasn't trying to be.

[David Schwab]

Well maybe to be charitable, we could call them (us? ) "amateur musicians".

If you don't make a primary living from music than that would be the correct term.

But I stand by what I said. To be a musician, you have to have something to say in the format of music. And if you have something to say, but nobody wants to hear it, do you really have something to say?

There's an audience for everything. Popularity does not equate to it being good. Just listen to the radio for proof of that.

Also people who know more about music will often listen to things that casual listeners wont. That's true of many things too... doesn't mater if it's beer, or audio gear or cars or guitar pickups. Enthusiasts get deeper into things.

The fact you can make a living from music is proof that people want to hear what you have to say, and they want to hear it bad enough that they'll part with money.

No, it's proof that an industry can tell people what they want to hear, create a market for it, and sell it. Will it be around in 50 years? Probably not.

Do you like all the music you hear on the radio? If not, why are they making money at it? Would you rather listen to 50 cent or AC/DC? Who's making more money? So I guess that makes 50 more of a musician? Really good music is usually obscure and not very popular. It's always been that way.

I love to play guitar, have been playing it since I was a kid, and have played in a bunch of local bands that never amounted to much. The most profit I ever made from a gig was $20 and six bottles of beer. So I wouldn't call myself a "musician".

You didn't try hard enough. I never made much money playing originals, but I made $460 filling in for someone for a New Years Eve gig last year. Why? Because I was good enough to be able to do it with 4 days notice. Being a musician is often about how well you can play various styles of music.

The final irony is that John Cage composed a piece that consists entirely of silence, and people have bought tickets to see it.

Four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence actually. Frank Zappa recorded a version of 4′33″. I love Zappa, but that's damn silly if you ask me. Actually I think it's safe to say that more people have done a version of 4′33″ than AC/DC songs!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4′33″#P...and_recordings

But that's not the only thing Cage has done, and even if he performed it, it's not very long, so I'm sure people payed to hear his other music too. Would it have made any more sense for people to pay to hear a single four and half minute song?

I think you have to see that Cage was being sarcastic. Before he "composed" the piece he said a desire of his was to "to compose a piece of uninterrupted silence and sell it to Muzak Co. It will be three or four-and-a-half minutes long—those being the standard lengths of "canned" music and its title will be Silent Prayer. It will open with a single idea which I will attempt to make as seductive as the color and shape and fragrance of a flower. The ending will approach imperceptibility."

So his point was that "the industry" sells crap to people all the time, be it music or perfume.

The opposite end of the spectrum is "noise music" and "free jazz" other crap that masquerades as art, such as "performance" pieces, like shooting a dead pig from a cannon, or the corner of an empty room with a light bulb that goes on and off. That's not art, and 4′33″ is not music.

I'd rather listen to Philip Glass anyway.

[Steve Conner]

I must admit that I didn't know 4:33 was a sarcastic dig at canned music. It makes complete sense if you imagine it played in the middle of a stream of Muzak. But that in itself is somewhat of a cheap trick. The piece gets all of its meaning from its context, as opposed to a piece of Bach (or AC/DC for that matter? ) that stands in its own right.

No, I didn't try hard enough. I never made any money out of original compositions, and I don't know many of the popular covers, so I'd be hopeless in a wedding band or whatever.

But I probably make a lot more money out of engineering and programming than I would in a wedding band, and I'm probably of more use to society doing that too.

[David Schwab]

<rant>
So, are you saying that you don't need to know anything else about music to play the guitar like Angus? I guess Angus can't keep time, or name the notes in the chords he plays....also guess that means that he doesn't know anything about dynamics, either...

Sorry, but I would consider Angus a musician. Sure, he may play guitar one way, but he has exhibited all the marks of a musician, IMHO...keeps time, uses dynamics, etc. I've met people that claim they are "musicians" and can't keep time to save their lives....am I any less of a musician because I don't play several other types of music, or instruments? Sure, I haven't played the instrument I started out on, or haven't been in any music classes in 16 years, but I think that I know enough to be called a musician.

</rant>

Angus is a musician. He does what he does well. My point was that Dave was trying to say he could only tap his foot to AC/DC and not Yngwie. I think it's real easy to tap your foot to Dark Star, or even Mozart.

The other point was that people saying that Angus is more of a musiian or that he plays with more "soul" or "feeling" is preposterous, and has more to do with personal taste than musical skill.

I'd rather listen to Sly and the Family Stone if I want "soul" and foot tapping. AC/DC is fun, but can get boring fast for me. I'd rather listen to King Crimson. They have soul too.

Steve Conner has it right....define "meaningful".

I did, and it was in reference to just because a musician plays a lot of notes doesn't mean it's a lot of nonsense. All melodies have elements of scales, modes, intervals, etc.

The old BB Kind playing one note thing is all about context. Would BB sound good playing that way with Metalica? Or with Yes? Or on a be bop jazz piece? No. It would seem like less, not more. He's saying something that fits that style of music, and is expected in that style of music. Period. He's also very repetitive. He doesn't stretch out too much. Allan Holdsworth wouldn't fit into a BB King song either, would he?

And for a more "on-topic" response, I respect Yng for what he has contributed to music and the world of guitar....but I don't own any of his albums. I also don't plan on buying any, because I'm just not into his particular style. I don't think he sucks, but I certainly think the leather pants have GOT to go.

He certainly created a style that a lot of players copied, and introduced a lot of metal heads to diminished scales and classical motifs. I don't own any of his albums, and have no plans on buying any, but I can appreciate his playing.

As an aside, I do agree with the statement that some music does exist to show off chops....for me, I seem to recall a guy in high school that played Flight of the Bumblebee on his euphonium just to show off his chops. And he would nail it every time.

Chops are not a bad thing. In the group of people I went to school with, people without chops were "non players". Generally the people who put down the players with chops don't have any. Now chops don't replace taste and finesse. And that's lacking in many players. I guess it's fun to play fast, and many people like to show off and prove themselves, but that's usually not very musical either.

But you wouldn't last a minute in an orchestra unless you could play what was required. I was a tubist, and as such didn't have a lot of demanding parts, but if I had to play Flight of the Bumblebee to get the gig, you know I would have learned it!

I can play fast, but I don't do it unless it fits the music. People seem to like my playing, so I must be doing something right.

[Possum]

...

This is my new definition of "soul." Holy #*@$@!#!!!
Doesn't get any better than this:
YouTube - Let The Mystery Be - Iris DeMent H.Q.

[David Schwab]

This is my new definition of "soul." Holy #*@$@!#!!!
Doesn't get any better than this:

Ha ha! Oh wait, was that a joke? Ummm no. That's country music. Dave, you know white folks have no soul!

This is soul.

YouTube- Al Green - Tired Of Being Alone (SoulSchool)

YouTube - Mavis Staples - I''ll Take You There


And look! A hatless Marcus Miller!

Some more good stuff.

YouTube- respect yourself/the staple singers

YouTube- Curtis Mayfield - People Get Ready

YouTube- Sam & Dave - Hold On I'm Comin'

[Possum]

......

No joke! I saw her sing in the movie Songcatcher and never knew who she was, her voice rips my heart apart. LIsten to the words of that song too, priceless. Heck I learned guitar playing country music along with the TV and some black and white hayride show back in '67, steel guitars, Carter sisters, flambuoyant cowboy hats, boots and shirts, the whole nine yards. 3 chord music on acoustic guitar. Country music was still real back then, I still like that old stuff. Iris Dement is a treasure.

[David Schwab]

She does have a nice voice. And that goes to show what I was talking about. The "rip my heart apart" thing is what many people equate to "feelng" in music. But that's not the only emotion you get from music, so if I player is not making you feel that way it doesn't mean they have no feeling. They just don't have that particular emotion. Not all music is emotional and melancholy. That would be boring.

The soul singers I posted make you feel good, and they aren't projecting that particular feeling.

Old country was good stuff. Check out David Lindley playing pedal steel on the Curtis Mayfield clip I posted! I love pedal steel.

[Sam Lee Guy]

I liked it better when you guys were trying to figure out what kind of "shellacquer" he dipped them in. You can forget about reading the can, that won't help...

Some thingy here?

Wood - Substrates - Products - Product Finishes

[David Schwab]

I used to use SHER-WOOD Catalyzed Lacquer on my instruments. That's good stuff.

[tedmich]

I used (edit) Lacquer (edit) That's good stuff.

eclecticism explained!

(kidding!)


I have never wanted to be a musician; I am a guitarist.


meaningful?
YouTube - glenn branca solo 1978