Klarinet Archive - Posting 000500.txt from 1997/10

From: Richard Lahrson <tripspud@-----.net>
Subj: Re: When is a musician a musician?
Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 19:10:26 -0400

I have an interesting program on my computer. The computer can
compose tunes after you select options. Am I the musician or the computer?
Another program plays MIDI files and lets you select tempo and
instrumentation. Who is the musician here?
Much of the music used in radio and tv ads is sampled and computer
enhanced. What "musician" makes this music/noise, which also is used in
films...?
Clearly the broadest definition of a musician is someone who makes
music. Everyone who plays a CD is not a musician. Anyone singing in the
shower is a musician. Cats or dogs can never be musicians. Computers
can never be musicians. No one must necessarily be alive to be a
musician though they may often be referred to in the past tense but
not always. Mozart's written music is not a musician though few if
any will argue that Mozart is/was not a musician.
Rich Lahrson
tripspud@-----.net