by admin
1. October 2007 07:37
There's a great interview with Herbie Hancock out on Wired - http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/10/herbie-hancock-.html
Herbie is one of my favourite artists. I can't say I like all of his work, but I like a lot of it... and in many cases I like it a lot! I like looking at jazz legends and picking similarities between myself and then so I can keep deluding myself that one day I'll be able to play something like what I'd like to play (I'm a loooong way off that at the moment). In the case of Herbie I of course pick the fact that he did electrical engineering for awhile, and he obviously did it for a love of technology which led him to his later work as a synth pioneer.
Anyway, the interview's good. One point he makes which is very important for both mussos and tech people is this:
My advice is, don't depend on the technology.
The music has nothing to do with the technology.
If you're doing music, the music has to come first.
And the technology is a tool for being able to produce
the things that you feel. Not the other way around
This holds for programming too. The point is the end result, not what language or platform you use to get there. Obviously you need to choose the best tools for the job, but ultimately the focus should be on what you're actually trying to do, not insisting on using your favourite tool, or the latest fad.
The other good one is something I've noticed in my own experiences too:
Interviewer: As a young child, you had serious talent
in the classical area, and a passion for electronics early too,
later double-majoring in music and electrical engineering. My
dad is also a pianist, and he also almost went into engineering
at one point.
Herbie: (laughs) I think there's a relationship: math.
Particularly with jazz, but not necessarily only with jazz,
with classical music too. There's also a sense of exploration
that's involved with science and with music that links them together.
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