About This Particular Macintosh 6.04 - eDisk

Columns: Who Needs Musicians?About ThisOpinionBeyond the BarlineBY DAVID OZABdozab@atpm.comWho Needs Musicians When You’ve GotGeneral MIDI?I’ve been a musician for many years now, and until recently I spent most of my spare timeand energy being frustrated with other musicians. First came the many failed attempts tostart the next great rock band in my garage. Actually, it was usually the drummer’s garage,but that’s beside the point. The musicians I worked with fell into one of three categories:those who were terrible; those who were really good, but spent too much time and energy inunrelated pursuits, such as chasing loose women and planting bombs; and Jeff.Jeff was my always reliable bassist, and like me, he eventually got sick of all the losers wefound ourselves stuck with. We took two very different paths. He found a nice girl and settleddown, while I put the guitar away and became a composer.As a composer I thought my life would be easier. I could write exactly what I wanted, andhighly trained musicians would play it exactly like I’d tell them to. Well, I soon discoveredhow wrong I was. First of all, I suffered from an extreme handicap for a composer—I wasstill breathing. Most classically trained musicians won’t even consider playing your musicuntil you’re dead.Since dying is only a good career move for a composer who’s actually written something, Iruled out that option right away. That left me with a small group of performers who wereinto “new” music. At least I figured they’d be dedicated. Soon, however, I discovered howtemperamental some musicians can be despite their “training.” I just wanted them to playthe notes, rhythms, dynamics, and articulations that I had written clearly on the page.Instead, they would keep talking about “interpretation.” After all the hours I’d spent meticu-ATPM 6.04 ← 29 → Columns: Who Needs Musicians?