As a drummer/soundmaker/electronic musician/synthist/recordist , “dynamics” in playing and “dynamics” in recording seem at odds…not so the case via Bonzo. Here’s me playing the parts of Bonham and the other tracks on this recording to prove my point and rest my case: https://soundcloud.com/jarrod-barker-1/heavyballoon-jbarker (by the way, 3 mics on the drums, recorded in my kitchen)

hey man -thanks and enjoy – i think there are over 800 articles here,,,, c.

Now we have people who have no idea of how to do it right or the difference between.

The Beatles could play pretty well before anyone ever recorded them, step one. George Martin was a first rate engineer and producer before they crossed paths, step two.

Too many people are trying to run before they can walk today. For one thing, much of the talent out there-and there are big exceptions-either has no biological talent, has no training in any sense, or is simply no where near ready to record except for their own amusement. For another, there is a huge lack of patience and a disinclination to “pay dues” amongst both musicians and recordists these days. But worst of all, the standards people demand of themselves-which is ultimately what determines success-are just about gone. Instead of holding out for good songs played by good musicians and sang by good singers (and no, I am not making myself the arbiter of what’s good-the artists and recordists have to come to that themselves) and recorded in a quality fashion, people want to make a noise NOW!!!! I think a lot of people had that urge all through history, but before the cost of recording tended to act as a filter. Now you can buy, what is even by my own standards, a pretty impressive recording suite for $999 at Guitar Center, and they’ll give you a credit card (never mind GE Consumer Finance’s 29.92% vig) to put it on. It’s a Swiss Army chainsaw to the average buyer because he’ll be on YouTube in a week and the results will haunt him forever.

By the way, Mr. Fine is 100% right about turnmeup.org. I’ve already emailed links to all the screen jockeys at my local crappic rocker and moldies stations.

hi justin, welcome, and i’m excited to check out yr site – you write for tape op? or similar? I know i’ve seen yr name around… c.

As to the chillwave/sampling question — Sure, sampling is just as valid as any other creative form. The only issue is that when our post-modern re-creations are being released commercially, we should (and must) pay a fee to the original artist.

If it’s not being released commercially, then who really cares? But unfortunately we run into some blurry territory on that question: Is posting an amateur video to YouTube commercial? Doesn’t YouTube sell advertising and collect money on that traffic, whether directly or indirectly? Is cutting the original artist out of that commercial transaction a fair move?

Sampling culture is great. When commercially-released, sampled works have just gotta pay the original creators a fair little slice of revenue. No big deal. We’ve been doing that for decades without issue.

And when they’re not commercial? Well — clearly we need more and better *non*-commercial outlets for amateur re-mixers who have no commercial intent. Because there are precious few options on that front.

There is nothing non-commercial about say, YouTube. Google is one of the biggest and most financially successful corporations on the planet! The same kind of argument could be made around ad-supported file sharing networks, Facebook… the list goes on.

It’s an issue I’ve been thinking about a lot, and have explored a bit here:

http://trustmeimascientist.com/2013/03/04/in-defense-of-the-amateur/

Anyway, thanks for the great site, and keep on doing what you do.