Pop Stars and Vocaloids
Writing Prompt: What is more important, the final musical product you enjoy, or a sense of authenticity that the artists you listen to have a meaningful and genuine role in the music they perform? Does it matter whether or not an artist is "real" or whether they really can perform the music that they record? Or, if music moves you, is it unimportant whether or not the source of that music is "genuine" because the music evokes a genuine feeling for you?
More than ever before, music technology aids musicians both in the studio and during live performance. While the excerpt from Before the Music Dies showed studio pitch correction, high-end artists now can employ pitch correction technology on stage in real time. In some instances, live performances are instead a combination of pre-recorded material and live stage action that gives the appearance of live performance. Artists often work so hard on their performance shows that it is nearly impossible to sing during the demanding dancing or stage action, resulting in artists opting to "lip-sync" to a recording of themselves during their live performances. DJs regularly make "new" music experiences simply by recombining preexisting sound rather than playing an instrument. Others simply activate sounds at specific times from their laptop computer over grooves made of digital samples rather than played live by musicians. Finally, the case of vocaloids moves to a completely new realm, where non-existent singers may sing and concertize through the creativity of a composer using vocaloid software and other digital technology. Is all this an evolution to a better, modern music production or a technological crutch used by artists who have not developed enough true musical ability? Does it even matter?
Essay Assignment: After having watched the excerpt from Before the Music Dies with its songwriting hit experiment mini-lecture and lecture about and performance of Miku Hatsune, this journal assignment asks you to consider the position of the technology in the future of music and music performance. While many were startled by the "appearance" of the late rapper Tupac Shakur at the Coachella music festival in April 2012, this technology had been used for a few years in Japan (and a similar though less developed technology used by virtual bands such as the Gorillaz). This journal assignment asks you to consider the following questions (you may answer any one or ones you choose):
Does it matter to you if the artists you enjoy are actually able to perform live? Does it matter if your favorite artist uses technology that make the final music product as perfect as he or she wants? Do artists have a responsibility to use whatever tools are available to provide their listeners with the best product possible for increasingly costly live concerts? Is the rise of vocaloid technology a positive or negative development and why? Would you pay to see vocaloid performance "live?" Do you Music 345: World Music in Contemporary Life think there will be a rush of dead celebrity hologram collaborations (think hologram Elvis performing with Kurt Cobain or Michael Jackson dances during a Jimi Hendrix guitar solo)? Are vocaloid holograms a technological extension of music making or a further distancing of the public from actual music performance (and is this a negative development)? Are vocaloids a corporate scam (they own the software and character while other people make the product for them and they profit) or a democratization of music creation for anyone who can afford the technology (and dedicated fans can contribute to the art they enjoy)?