Re: [OT] Vivi, the Virtual Violinist, plays LilyPond music

[Kieren MacMillan]

Hi James,

> and so we're back to Graham's point. Anyone can now make 'music' without 
> having to spend years learning a 'real' instrument etc.
> It's not so much some 'musicians' can no longer play an instrument or read 
> music but that some extra 'musicians' can now create music without having to 
> play an instrument or read music etc.
> That is a good thing.

Certainly if we said a similar thing about 'medicine', we'd have to question 
whether "that is a good thing".  ;)

Admittedly, the creative arts are less "critical" than medicine in a "you might 
die" kind of way… But as someone who cares deeply and passionately about the 
continuing musical arts, I offer that "spending years learning a 'real' 
instrument" -- that being just one example of commitment, but hardly the only 
one -- is not too much to ask of you before you foist your "masterpiece" on the 
world.

Note that I don't think the current "music education system" is the best way to 
train musicians. In fact, I'm quite convinced of the opposite: beyond 
encouraging/demanding the discipline required to technically master a 
traditional instrument (the "conservatory" aspect), I think the current music 
education system *actively hampers* creativity and true musicianship. And of 
course many of the greatest musicians of our time (e.g., Louis Armstrong) 
didn't go through The System -- one could even argue that *most* of the 
greatest musicians of our time learned more outside of The System than inside 
it. But they sure spent years learning a 'real' instrument.

The idea that you can create "meaningful" music without having to exert any 
music-related effort -- such as learning an instrument, or learning to 
read/write the symbols -- is yet another manifestation of our current "I want 
something for nothing" culture, which lionizes "Jersey Shore" participants and 
accepts (nay, embraces) Paris Hilton as an "actress".

Cheers,
Kieren.