Surprise: When an artist relies too much on digital technology to provide his or her sounds, the result is less than organic.
It’s not because DAWGs are not brilliant or creative. No, it’s because
artists are using DAWGs like a farmer uses a tractor. A machine does
the heavy lifting; new seeds (tracks) are planted mechanically;
everything is plowed perfectly; and there’s minimal blood, sweat and
tears. Just like farmers that plumped up while sitting upon tractors,
artists no longer toil in the fields prior to making an album.
Sticking with the farm analogy: music no longer sounds organic; it has a genetically modified, mass produced sound to it.
The
DAWG has enabled the artist to quickly make his music and then focus
his energies elsewhere. Work energy has been shifted from performing
in public to friending on MySpace; from collaborating with humans to
selecting digital loops and synthetic instruments; from subjecting
himself to fan feedback to hiding behind a flat screen; the list goes
on…
The article then provides a fantastic rebuttal at the end:
Being a recording engineer, I have a unique perspective to debate whether DAW-based recording has affected the quality of music or not. If you were to ask me what I thought was the major contributor to the proliferation of what one might consider sub-par music, I would be looking more toward computer culture in general. The fact that in the last 10 years, we have seen the cost of blank CD-Rs go from $35 a disc to pennies, and I don't think I know anyone who isn't tied into the internet, at least at their work, and at most on their hand-held Iphone.
People have been making bad music as long as sound has existed. You used to have to play it live in someone's living room. Now you record it in Garageband and post it on Myspace. Because of the Internet, it's way too easy to self-publish your music, without the filter that record label A&R departments once had. That used to be the barometer for what music was "good" (or at least, "ready for consumption") and what was "bad". Of course there is endless debate on that subject, as most mainstream music that is released by major record labels is arguably not "good" to many music fans. At least there was some sort of filter to separate some of the prime-timers from the basement hacks.