Electronics and the Human Factor in Today's Music.

Hello gang,

Hope everyone is doing well. As the year (and decade!!!) closes and cold starts looming in NYC (brrrrr!) I thought I'd share some thoughts and music with you:

First, I'm very impressed and happy with the students I've had this month, both at SAEOnline and SAE NYC's EMP course. Both the enthusiasm and quality of music assignments are up the roof, giving me several of those "I must be doing something right" moments. :) It's always refreshing to listen to the students' questions, POVs and more importantly, their music. There's always something that leaves me pondering about a topic, or open my mind in one way or another. That cliché that says that teachers also learn from the students is quite true, as I've found out sometime ago.

As of lately, I've been pondering about the fact that around 90% of my students, if not more, are clearly divided into making and liking two main categories of music: House and Hip-Hop (and/or subgenres of these two). This is something I've been noticing for a while, and it's a given with both my online and my "face to face" students. Obviously, these two genres get along better with computer-based composition. Rock, jazz, blues, and most other styles require by far more live instruments (samples will do the job only in certain occasions). But nowadays, there is plenty of tools for the instrumentalist to take advantage of digital technology. First, audio interfaces are cheaper and more efficient than ever. It takes very little money to turn your laptop or desktop computer in a recording machine of decent capabilities. Second, the software keeps getting better and better for guitarists, bassists and vocalists. I've noticed that many times, the computer skills/eagerness in a Hip-Hop or House musician is inversely proportional to the computer keenness of instrumentalists. Your humble servant here brags to be proficient with both :) Therefore, I can program beats and electronics and then add "the human factor" with my guitars and bass. This is hardly a ground-breaking idea, but when it comes to my musical/production aesthetics I tend to to think and compose in a way that the electronics are supporting and servicing the human-generated music, and not the other way around.
Software like Native Instruments' Guitar Rig offer the best of both worlds: You can make a guitar sound unbelievably real and old school just by plugging it in your computer (no amp needed), and you can also modify the sound in such a way that it will sound like a twisted, otherworldly synthesizer or even a drum machine. In my opinion, Guitar Rig is a perfect blend of a guitar's subtlety and warmth with digital versatility. What are your thoughts and experiences regarding the balance of electronics vs. human-played instruments ("instrUements")? I'd love to hear some opinions and thoughts.

And, since I've been talking guitars... I've got a new one and I'm smitten :) . A 1975 Fender Mustang in near mint condition... *sighs* Great trebly tone, used quite a bit for surfer rock back in the days. Later on, the Mustang was made popular by Kurt Cobain, John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Adrian Belew, PJ Harvey, Patti Smith and David Byrne to name a few. It was a student model when it first came out in 1965. I couldn't be happier to have and play such a relic :) . Can't wait to play it onstage, although my gigging activity calmed down in these last two weeks. Which is somewhat good, since I've been playing shows non-stop in the last two months and I was starting to need some time to write and produce instead of being so focused on performance. However, there are exciting perspectives for both my bands, Puracane and Copal, in 2010. I'll keep you posted.

Speaking of Puracane, I've uploaded one of our tracks to my profile for your listening pleasure. Also, you can download 4 remixes of our last album, for free; at my website:

www.juanmasotta.com

(see the big red "FREE DOWNLOAD - 4 PURACANE REMIXES" text? click on the link below! ;) ) Also, feel free to browse the site. An update is due and coming soon.

Happy listening and I'll get back to you next week with some more music/gear/education/anecdotes-related thoughts.

Best,

Juan.-