[sdiy] MIDI isn't musical : Flame bait?

[jdm at synthcom.com]

Don Tillman <don at till.com> wrote :
>
>> Because MIDI is unmusical.  

Funny, a lot of great music has been made with MIDI in spite of that.  Yes,
MIDI has problems which are well known, but it has its uses.  I use it
mostly as a compositional tool, and a way to overcome my limited playing
skills.

 
>> Think of all the truly great keyboard solos or riffs, the ones you
>> personally find memorable and inspirational.  Were any of them
>> performed over a MIDI stream?  None of my favorites were.

You speak as though that's a bad thing.  I grew up listening to bands like
Pink Floyd, ELP, Yes, King Crimson, et cetera, and at some point the
over-indulgent soloing wore thin.  Thank GOD electronic music took a
different path.  

The types of people who make music using MIDI, for the most part, could
care less about solos.  If you are at all familiar with the huge variety of
electronic musics created during the MIDI era, you should realize that a
different aesthetic is at work than there is in the realm of band created
music.  Instead of gathering 3 to 5 instrumental virtuosi with competing
egos together to compose a song, you have 1 or 2 people who may or may not
be able to play an instrument composing a song.  Different methods,
different results.  You may prefer one, I prefer the other, and since it's
horses for courses, we're not going to get anywhere arguing which is better.

JDM