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

[moxie at kfib.org]

On Mon, 14 Jan 2002, Scott Gravenhorst wrote:


> Art tools are different, not necessarily better or worse.
> As in palette knife versus brush.  An individual artist might assign
> attributes of "better" or "worse", but for any artist that says 
> a tool should not be used for such and such, you will find another 
> artist that does so and creates art despite what the first one said.  
> The "purpose" of tools are defined and created by the artist, not 
> the other way around.  The value of a tool is in how the artist
> uses it.  I don't see it to have an intrisic value other than that.

> I view MIDI and it's limitations as part of a whole instrument,
> if you will.  A violin has only 4 strings.  A piano cannot play
> quarter tones (without bizarre tuning).  I have only 10 fingers.
> I have a limited amount of musical talent.  A trumpet does not
> sound like a harp.  Are these limitations?  Yes.  Do they limit
> what can be done musically with them?  Yes.  Does that make any 
> one of them "unmusical"?  Emphatically NO.


These two paragraphs contain wisdom. Great wisdom, even.

/Moxie (Collects for posterity)