Over recenttime, many of us have listened to the catchy beats of newer music, but have we ever thought about whether it was digitized or actually played by a musician? I haven’t, but now that I think about it, I realize that musicians are slowly being replaced by computers.
Now, I’m not knocking those that do play still, and there are a lot of them all over, but I’ve just come to think that there are fewer true bands today than there were a decade ago and earlier.
With artists like Lady Gaga or Katy Perry using synthesized beats through a computer, the need for a musician has gone down drastically. Back in the earlier era of music, there were session musicians who just played for albums and worked for the studio. The band Toto was even formed from studio musicians.
Other groups just had their own backing bands. A great example is the E Street Band that backs Bruce Springsteen. They just play with the frontman, but at least they physically play their instruments.
The best example of musicianship has to be the legendary Funk Brothers that played with Motown. They were a group of men who weren’t credited, but just played their guitars or basses, or the drums to the best of their abilities.
The sounds of that wah-wah pedal or the distortion of an electric guitar just cannot be replicated on a synthesizer. Since the mid-1980s, the technology-driven sound has dominated music. We see it even more today. I just cannot understand it. When I listen to the ’90s bands like Matchbox Twenty or 3 Doors Down, I see musicians who love their craft, not just performers who are onstage to lip-synch to a catchy beat.
I know that music can change over the years, and I admit that change is necessary for music, but I’m rooted in the old school of music. I love the guitar and the simplicity of just a guitar, a bass, a drummer and, occasionally, a piano. If it can make four kids from Liverpool, England, the most popular music group ever, then it’s good enough for me. For now, I’ll listen to my Chicago or Bon Jovi and wait for the guitar rock to come back.
Wendlant is a sophomore broadcast news major and can be contacted at mic.wendlant@drake.edu