Klarinet Archive - Posting 001181.txt from 2000/06

From: Bilwright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: RE: [kl] Good/bad music
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 12:41:05 -0400

<><> Lacy=A0Schroeder wrote:
Well, I must agree to that. I've felt that the accessibility of music
due to the media, has lowered the peoples' standards of good taste. I'm
glad I'm not the only one who thinks this.

I suppose that it's happened to all of us. We find an old CD at
the bottom of a pile, or we purchase a CD of music that we owned on
vinyl many years ago.... and when we listen to it, the *quality* of the
performance just knocks us flat. "How could I possibly have forgotten
this music?"

It happened to me this morning while I was driving my daughter to
school. She complained that I had 'forced' her to listen to Gregorian
chant for two days running, so I whipped out "Burl Ives Greatest Hits"
on Decca.
It wasn't the usual guitar and vocal solo. It was full
orchestration, immense amounts of humor and humanity -- One Hour Ahead
Of The Posse -- Royal Telephone -- Call Me Mr. In-Between (which made my
daughter laugh out loud despite her desperate attempts to keep a
straight face).

How could I possibly have forgotten that music!?

...anyway, while listening to Burl, a thought hit me. I've heard
some of these teen-aged singers when they are caught off camera or off
mike or off guard. Some of them actually _do_ have a voice, but they
don't use it during their big numbers. So why not?

This is a truly ugly idea to suggest, but I think that there is a
kernel of truth in it. They 'sing down' to their audiences on purpose
in order that the kids can identify and fantasize "This could be me. I
could do that."
When you listen to Burl Ives or Emma Johnson or Itzhak Perlman (or
even Elvis Presley), you _know_ that you'll never be able to do what
they do. That's why you listen. But 'modern' media is offering
something entirely different -- a different psychology altogether. They
are saying, "Here's something that you can believe that you can do
yourself. We've done a lot of work to make it appear as if you could.
It may not be the best music we can produce, but it's the best that you
can reasonably imagine doing by yourself."

(now George, baby, I warned you about singing in a clear soprano, I want
to hear it through the nose and ten cents flat, that's what sells)

This is a _very_ ugly thought, perhaps I should apologize to the
industry. But intentional or not, this seems to be the outcome of a
major segment of today's music industry.
I never let up on my daughter. Every day on our way to school,
real quality goes into my CD player, be it Anne Murray or
Niederaltaicher Scholaren. It's force feeding, but it's for her own
good IMO.

-- Bill

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