[lbo-talk] Re: Say BYE BYE to VINYL!

[Carl Remick]

>From: Jon Johanning <zenner41 at mac.com>
>
>Hey! There certainly are quite a few acoustic techies around here! But this 
>tends to confirm my worst suspicion: that we are in danger of losing sight 
>completely of what music is really about.
>
>What I wanted to suggest, but most contributers to the thread seem not to 
>have noticed, is that music throughout most of human experience has been a 
>performance art, a social event with a profound communal significance.

Quite true.  The ubiquity of recorded music has diminished the communal 
aspect of music making and produced such debased listening experiences as 
Muzak.  This has had the same negative impact on the social role of music 
that fast food has had on the social role of eating.


>... my answer to your question: "But was it a pleasure for their 
>listeners?" Sure it was -- why wouldn't enjoying an evening of music making 
>with people you were close to not be?

I would answer with one word:  karaoke.  I myself have never participated in 
karaoke, but I've had some horrifying glimpses of it.  I suspect karaoke's 
popularity owes much to another popular pastime -- drinking -- but 
regrettably as a non-drinker I lack that experience enhancer.

Carl