Comment by bitwize
21 days ago
My wife's (and many other music-lovers') test for whether something counts as "real music" is whether they can perform it live (and sound as good as the recording). Music which is programmed doesn't count, as there's a lot of nuance that a skilled musician with an actual instrument can put into a performance in a split-second as they play.
If it moves and connects with you then it's real music.
It's fine to have a preference for live musicianship, but the 'real music' argument has been leveled against every new musical technology (remember the furore around Dylan going electric?). It dismisses contemporary creativity based on a traditionalist bias that elevates one form of execution above all others. There's also a huge amount of skill in producing good electronic music. It's always hard to make good music no matter the means.
It's a spectrum and people are free to draw the line wherever they want.
If you dial the dial high enough you can say that that amplifiers aren't "real music" because you are no longer hearing the "real instruments", but "a machine that is distorting the sound". If that's your line, then only listening to classical music at a concert hall would count as "real music".
You could dial it up even higher. Using a musical instrument at all is not "real music" any more, because human voice can have more nuance than any instrument. Then going to a church to listen to gregorian chants would be the only "real music".
I personally think that Daft Punk rocks, and for a lot of artists I very much prefer listening to their studio recording rather than listening to them in a concert. (Surrounded by ... people. Ugh.)
The nuance of a skilled player in the moment is a beautiful thing to behold, but saying programmed music isn't "real music" is like saying that film acting isn't real acting, but theater acting is.
It's like saying a novel isn't real speaking, but a speech is.
Like animating an image isn't real, but recording a video is.
If that's your preference, then that's alright. But it's a silly distinction to make.