Computer music composition vs playing skill

[movilogo]

Nowadays we are accoustommed of listening so many great musics in YouTube etc. that I felt very sad when my learner composition sounded just awful. Yes, I understand it is normal and it should improve with practice

Before invention of internet, ways to listen to great music were

1. Buy CDs/cassettes from shops
2. Listening to family members or friends playing (not necessarily professional grade)
3. Attending professional concerts (I never attended one!)

In this YouTube age, access to greatest pieces of music is a 5-min job.

This sets an extremely high bar to someone who has just started playing! Personally I never aim to be a professional pianist, but even playing in front of friends becomes embarassising because people will always compare anything they hear against what they could hear on YouTubes.

I don't know if many people are put off by this fact.

On the other hand, once I master theory of music, it is often possible to create good quality (compared to what I would play on piano by hand) composition relatively easily. You can then add multiple instruments and by attaching with a reasonably priced amplifier, you have your own orchestra - which is good enough for playing in local parties!

Technology did impact people in several ways and sometimes in a negative (relative word, I understand).

Recently I read a lot about London cab drivers protesting against Uber because sat nav + Uber/Lyft have invalidated the need for their "Knowledge". In fact, I read that London's Knowledge center is closing their doors next years as pupils number dwindled.

The ultimate aim of music is to generate sound. If computers can generate beautiful sound, why learn a musical instrument?

[adodd81802]

Firstly, I think there is nothing better than seeing somebody do something with your own eyes. Youtube, TV, Internet, none of these things can compare, I can watch the best pianist, the best singer, the fastest hotdog eating competitor if I want too! but I am 100% more satisfied seeing somebody even 20% of that skill performing in front of me.

I have been to a professional pianist concert, and I would go there again and again, rather than  watching a computer scroll through some colorful bars of digitally edited sounds on the latest £600 application.

You are correct in saying that easy access to media sets a high bar, but what you neglect to mention is that this high bar has always existed, the only difference is now is we can see it more clearly and what that does is give a wider audience a better idea of the skill set required depending on their goals. What that further does is allow people to get to their goals more quickly as with the easier access to the "final product" there is also so much more information and knowledge transfer.

The ultimate aim of music is not to generate sound (personal opinion). It is to connect, to communicate on a level that connects either to you or your audience. Music comes in so many languages that is unlikely you will identify with all of them, this is why we don't all listen to the same music, like the same pieces, play the same instrument.

Computers and digitally composed music creates a different language and why they may be able to replicate some sounds that we already know, they don't speak in the same way, they don't compare to the real thing, I work in IT during the day and so have good knowledge on working with computers and could easily jump on a program that could write out a composition in a couple of days, but I don't identify with it and instead I turn the computer off, go home and work hard at the piano.

[dcstudio]

Nicely said addod...

to the OP;

funny you should mention this as we encountered this exact issue on the forum a few months back.   A new member signed on and posted 30 or so compositions (scores only!) in the audition room--expecting everyone to either listen to the computer-version,  look at the score and hear it in our head... or download them--play them ourselves--and then give him feedback. That is pretty presumptuous in itself but then he acted as if we should all be excited because he, a self-proclaimed "composer," had finally given us something new to play...  The guy insisted he could play these pieces he had written but did not have a camera to record himself...    His music was painfully simple and very similar to what you would see in a level 3 method book.

Needless to say.. he was pretty much run off the forum after someone ( ) called him out for what he was.. someone who could use Finale software... but couldn't play.   If you try and write music for the piano.. there must be some consideration given to what is physically possible to play and what is not.    If you are unaware of or unable to play high level piano acrobatics it's pretty safe to say.. you will not notate them correctly either..  you also will not know how much the piano can actually do...

but this really doesn't mean it's not possible to write good music... no matter what your level is.

as for this member... he came back a few weeks later offering to pay one of us to record his music...  well, he offered a free website that will only cost $250 a year...lol.    This spoke volumes about his respect for musicians...  we aren't worth paying... but you want us to buy your music?  please...

I don't think you will be like this guy... I hope not anyway...lol  just letting you know why you may get a strange message or two...