DUPE's DUPE ( 1 day ago) => https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14621515 DUPE ( 2 days ago) => https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14617079
I posted this story first! My shit should of made it to the front page of hacker news :(
The slow death of the electric guitar
61–70 of 343 posts
Re: The slow death of the electric guitar
#62Huh, and all this time I thought "rock and roll" and playing electric guitar was all about sex. At least, that's why we learned to play guitar when I was a kid...
Guitar playing lost its mojo when it was usurped by aficionados enamored by theory and technique and repulsed by swagger.
If I was 14 today, I'd grab a Maschine, load up some tracks in launchpad, and start emulating Avicii until I could pack a small dance hall.
Re: The slow death of the electric guitar
#63Slash was the last famous guitarist. There's your proof that guitarists used to be a big deal, but are no more. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-guitari...
Matt Bellamy of MUSE was my last guitar hero.
Re: The slow death of the electric guitar
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
A more apt description would be "Slash was the last famous guitarist that non guitar players would probably ever remember being mentioned in the popular press". It's along the same lines of saying "McDonalds is the fast food most people have heard of" or "BASIC is the most common programming language that everyone has heard of, so it must be the best". Within each sub-culture, there are dedicated fans that go deeper…
Whoa... is there a slap bass guitar player hiding behind him for the solo at 4:00, or is that really possible on an acoustic?
I had the same reaction as you when I heard it the first time - I never thought one person could make all those sounds on the guitar AND sing. And if you listen you will hear that the singing melodic line is a completely different rhythmic feel from the guitar riff. How he syncs the two of them together is beyond me.
But I know it is possible, and not dubbed at all because I've seen and heard my own son do it as part of his repertoire now...
Re: The slow death of the electric guitar
#65Learning an instrument requires commitment and a lot of practice. And more practice. And more practice. And a lifetime of learning. How many people have the patience for that? Particularly in Generation Internet Points Right Now?
Lots of them. There are tons and tons of pretty incredible guitarists, young and old, male and female, all over youtube. None of them are blowing up huge with original work, but they can cover well-known tunes impecably. Search for guitar licks and chord sweeps, and follow a few different branches of linked playlists offered up in the sidebar.
"Impecably" comes from the latin root for sin. It must be the problem, goody two shoes ain't rock 'n' roll. It used to be about a rebellious nature. If it's right then it's all wrong, you know?
Re: The slow death of the electric guitar
#66Is it just me, or are HN links increasingly often to material behind paywalls?
It's more that all content is increasingly behind paywalls, no?
Re: The slow death of the electric guitar
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
A more apt description would be "Slash was the last famous guitarist that non guitar players would probably ever remember being mentioned in the popular press". It's along the same lines of saying "McDonalds is the fast food most people have heard of" or "BASIC is the most common programming language that everyone has heard of, so it must be the best". Within each sub-culture, there are dedicated fans that go deeper…
Guitar players are usually not remembered by the general public unless they have something else (like being cute). Worse for bass players and drummers, but the frontman/singer gets remembered. It was always a fight. Singer/guitarists is always easier but, like you said, usually considered non guitarist. I listened to the youtube you included and disclaimer taste/I am old, but then I listened to a lot of what he did:…
Well, as far as musicianship, this is the best case of '3 guys really deep in the pocket with a tight groove' that I have ever seen... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vlBGk9qCio
As far as a nice, tasteful guitar solo at 03:25... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG6GKh3NWkQ
Re: The slow death of the electric guitar
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
A more apt description would be "Slash was the last famous guitarist that non guitar players would probably ever remember being mentioned in the popular press". It's along the same lines of saying "McDonalds is the fast food most people have heard of" or "BASIC is the most common programming language that everyone has heard of, so it must be the best". Within each sub-culture, there are dedicated fans that go deeper…
Guitar players are usually not remembered by the general public unless they have something else (like being cute). Worse for bass players and drummers, but the frontman/singer gets remembered. It was always a fight. Singer/guitarists is always easier but, like you said, usually considered non guitarist. I listened to the youtube you included and disclaimer taste/I am old, but then I listened to a lot of what he did:…
Another guitarist/singer that is a favourite of mine is Joe Bonamassa. He is almost invisible outside of the guitar player or blues/rock enthusiast field, but is VERY successful, and busy touring the world... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-69Djk5HdQ
Re: The slow death of the electric guitar
#69I think the trend will continue down for guitar playing, and for all musical instruments. My theory is based on the fact that learning to play well is difficult and time consuming. Popular music is by and large not the product of humans, moving muscles, energizing mass, thus generating sound waves. "Sounds" that we hear in pop music are in main generated digitally, usually with software instruments, in a computer. Po…
The human voice remains one elements that is still generated by biological processes. That's being fixed.[1] That's a Vocaloid, which is a 10 year old technology. You can buy the software for about $100, from Yahama. "Just put in a melody and lyrics and your virtual singer will sing for you." Vocaloid still requires a cooperative live singer to train the system, but there are research papers which indicate that autom…
Yeah and that sounds absolutely horrible.
Re: The slow death of the electric guitar
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
??? Jack White John Mayer Are they on the list?
They're famous, and they play guitar, but they aren't famous for their guitar playing "fell in love with a girl" is an awesome song but not so challenging to play: https://youtu.be/95HRZ2SLMJk
Contrast with this though: https://youtu.be/mto7vBtabEU?t=24s
Seeing Jack White play live with the White Stripes was one of the greatest musical experiences of my life. Part of the beauty of their style is that it is built on very simple fundamentals - literally an enumerated set of rules - which form a platform on top of which Jack White can experiment with incredible virtuoso stuff (the best of which is obviously observed in the live performances).
You are 100% spot on though that Jack White isn't famous for this. In their popular singles really only the basic song frameworks, and not so much of the experimental stuff, are exposed. I think it might be some mixture of intentional artistic obscurity, and fitting to the 'radio market' for economic reasons, but either way if you're not familiar with them I really suggest giving all the albums (and some of the live shows e.g. Live Under Blackpool Lights) a deep listen through - really quite incredible stuff :-)