Is DJ Hero a bad thing?
Tod Machover talks a bit about guitar hero and expresses great angst.
http://fora.tv/2009/07/02/Transforming_Music_Tod_Machover#Is_Guitar_Hero_Dumbing_Down_Music To be fair, this is only a short clip of a much more extensive speach, but I'm personally annoyed by music snobs. I think Tod agrees that Guitar Hero provides a means for individuals to connect with music in a new way. Tod alludes to how simplistic the interface is and how it undermines the "true" musical experience and how we as a music community need to pressure companies to move these interfaces forward. I suppose he suspects that people that would have otherwise bought a guitar and took some lessons are instead playing a game and as such are cheated out of a far more rewarding experience. Fine, that might happen, but I suspect if we actually looked into guitar sales we'd find a significance increase, and by people that otherwise would never have considered taking up an instrument. We might also look at the millions of neglected guitars that were used only a handful of time and are only kept out of the trash bin by a faint sense of guilt. I'm not a player of guitar hero, and DJ Hero doesn't look appealing because of the simple interface and the memorize by rote philosophy. However, I think that exposing people who never knew the magic of Eric Prydz, or Bennassi will bring more people to our music and this will eventually be a very good thing. Yes it will change things in both good and bad ways. Yes, an entire generation of wanna-be DJs are going to think they have the ability to beat juggle. We're going to see a bit too many mashups of old 80s rap songs in future sets. We'll see some corporate producers/DJs gather great fame and possibly cross over Moby style into mainstream music. We'll see girls in heels show up to warehouse parties and whine about their hurting feet. On the good side is that we'll have more people in the community buying music, going to events, and bringing passion to a form of music we love. We'll also see some amazingly talented kids become proper DJs and producers as they advance the sound in unexpected ways. There will be more money and more people will be able to pursue their passion and get paid for it. We'll also see stuff we never expected, and it will be great. Remember when we switched from Vinyl to CDs? It was supposed to result in a catastrophic change in electronic music. Instead we've seen some dramatic changes. Bedroom producers are producing revolutionary work and publishing it far cheaper then in the days of white label Vinyl. DJ's often remix tracks before each performance to test different ideas and further optimize the sound for indoor/outdoor venues. And we're seeing far more music then ever before... this is a great thing and points to the vitality of our community. I don't think people realize that music forms are threatened more by stagnation then by change. So I say "Yay for DJ Hero!" When I see someone say "that Panjoo track is pretty cool" I'll point them to Beatport and mention 16 Bit Lolitas. Who knows? maybe I'll help bring some more talent into something I care deeply about.
