From: spike66 (spike66@ATTBI.com)
Date: Sat Mar 30 2002 - 13:17:29 MST
>
>
>spike66 wrote:
>
>>We have a clear precedent in the world of published sheet music. When
>>photocopiers became widely available in the 70s, it became so easy to copy
>>music that the profitability of publishing sheet music decreased
>>dramatically...
>>
>Mike Lorrey wrote: The piracy of copying it was a direct consequence of the
>pricing (which I assume was set on the assumption that it would be
>pirated)...I do recall, though, that all through high school (the early 80's) the
>chorus and band directors were able to get sheet music for many recent
>pop tunes, so I don't think that there wasn't any publishing going on...
>
Mike makes my point better than I did. In the late 70s I and some of the
other band members would arrange the latest pop tunes for marching
band. It was highly popular to march out onto the football field blasting
out current top 40, straight from Casey Casem's Countdown.
But even the least musical astute could see that over time, the current
pop tunes were becoming ever less translatable to horns. As society
slid from rock and roll to disco, we found that it only takes five notes
to play, for instance, KC and the Sunshine Band's hit single:
Thats the way, uh huh uh huh,
I like it, uh huh uh huh... (repeated about 800 times).
To do rap "music" I suppose it would take only one note.
But on the other hand, I suppose the progression of music mirrors
our downsizing society. A classical chamber orchestra requires
a good 50 players, whereas the swing bands of the 1930s only
require 15 to 20. Rock and roll was demonstrated by the
Fab Four (actually 5 players), and modern rap only requires
two, one to "sing" and the other to go back and forth on the
phonograph to make the rippa rippa rippa noises.
Perhaps the reason why teenagers feel so little guilt about
copying modern top 40 is there is so damn little content
to it, its like stealing a paper napkin from the local fast
food place.
Oh jeez, I have become my grandfather. spike
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