Where Have All The Musicians Gone From New Reggae Releases?

[stepping razor]

The year 2000+ reggae music is computer programers not musicians.
We musicians can do it a lot better than a computer and we dont want to be recorded in digital on a computer.
Where has the art of a trade with training as a professional musician gone. lazyness and no soul.
Pick up an instrument then call yourselfs musicians.
Computers have killed real music.

Peace

[leggo rocker]

I think there's a possible change to this trend. Like in other types of music some youths are reaching for instruments because they like 'retro'.

My kids all play guitar, piano and my father is about to give them a trumpet and two of them are very keen to learn brass instruments!

I know other people who's teenage kids are in bands, with real instruments and NO computers.

Hopefully, this trend to retro may even produce some new Old Skool reggae bands. Maybe even a teenage Sly and Robbie come-again?

[donstrumental]

Leggo is 100% correct,the influencing starts at home.Kids are influenced by what they see around them at present and what is out there to influence kids into playing instruments outside of rock music.

Rock musicians have never put down their instruments.Rock is still drum,bass and guitar.

Digital Dancehall,hip hop and R'n'B have a lot to answer to as these are the styles killing a whole generation of musicians.

Respect

[Rootsman]

Didn`t Prince Jammy make them all redundant ?

Dave

[kalcidis]

I think that this discussion is a bit narrow minded. There are several excellent artists today who have a backing band and I know several new released rhythms that have been produced with a live band. Reggae is not strictly digital nowadays.

Live and digital simply have to co-exist today. I have a bigger problem with reggae not taking any interesting new directions rather if it's built up by binaries or live musician.

[I-Lion Tafari]

Yes donstrumental and others,
the influencing is a part of parents´ responsibility. You will find households where they only "play" tv, pc, stupid plastic music - or even worse - cell phone...

My girl friend runs a private music school for flute, transverse flute, piano, sax and guitar.
There is a strong demand to learn the instruments. Even from 5 or 6 year-old children. Mostly from families where mum or dad used to play an instrument in their childhood or youth.
The folks from around 12 to 20 yrs have a strong interest in reggae. I joined a workshop weekend of the sax section where they asked me to play famous jamaican horn sections for them - they loved it.
A lot of dem youth are into reggae (most a dem start with...guess...Bob Marley) - more than i expected - and it fills me with joy to see that.
They rehearsed a lot this weekend and then they opened an exhibition of contemporary glass art ina south german gallery.
So they could experience their own success which is a motivation to continue.

[stepping razor]

I am a bass player and theres no way the computer can beat a real bass player in sound and feel.I also play a 2 foot long tin whistle with low pitch and sounds like a flute, speically made and you have to have big hands to play it. the person who made it, made it to big for their hands.Piano, keyboard,melodica,percussion, concertina the irsh one not the english folk music one.
Jazz started with the end of the American cival war in the US and when the armys left, they left behind all their marching band equipment such as trumpets, trombones,and saxaphones so the people starting using all these instruments left behind by the yanks and the confederates.
Jazz.
Peace

[Lion]

I hear still real musians on the new roots reggae release!


Lion

[imet]

ever heard of groundation band ??

[Rootsman]

Sorry guys

My comments were not meant to be narrow minded but were more tongue in cheek.

But the truth still remains that the digital age has had a detrimental impact on the role that musicians play in the recording industry.

Obviously there are still great musicians around that play both live events and studio recordings. But, the music industry is a busines, more so than at any point in the past, with big money to be made.

For many its all about profit margins and the attitude of why pay musicians to play when we can get more or less the same result from a computer program at minimal cost.

Real musicians play for the love of the music. For them its an art form, they want to be the best they can. Its about study, learning, devoloping and evolving to continually improve themselves through the music that they produce.

To hear music played live by great musicians is a thing of beauty. I love hearing live music, especially jazz, and seeing the musicians improvising and developing their art right in front of your eyes.

But only the fortunate few, will ever become rich through their art because they are not a viable option in todays "profit speaks volumes" music industry.

Dave