Guitars being mass produced
As many people know I am a big fan of music. I love to talk and mingle with fans of music as we have an appreciation of each other's love of fine music.
But I have most of my adult life heard the term "music was better years ago" from many people.
OK I do agree bands back in the day were very good and also incredibly talented and individual. But why come out with such a bold statement that pretty much wipes any music made after a certain point as being inferior?
Take a popular band like the Beatles, a hugely influential and praised band. To compare them with a band today and say they are way better is just ignorant and factually wrong. Much of the time people say that with no evidence or even any real understanding of music.
After the introduction of the Fender and Gibson guitars to the world, modern music changed and done it very fast. Everyone could then buy a mass produced guitar and learn to play via books and professional lessons. The 78 rpm record was a huge hit and enabled people to hear more music than ever before. No longer limited to the radio people could now experiment and evolve modern music in a really fast way.
Bands in the 50s and 60s were making music that had never been made due to the introduction of personal amplifiers and also when playing gigs the artist could use a PA to fill the room with music. No longer just a noise in the corner of a pub but a full on experience.
Music has and always will evolve it is up to the individual to listen and get it. Nothing wrong with disliking something but don't say that it is not as good as years ago if you never listen to new music.
Bands have been getting better and this is due to many things. One is as stated the mass manufacture of instruments. Made cheap and in high quality in places like Korea and China people can now buy an acoustic guitar for £30. Before the factories it was made by a skilled craftsman and you were charged a premium for this. Same as drums and even onto the components that make up the band like amps, PA and microphones.
Also the ease people can learn the music; I have done the old trick of playing an LP and slowing it down with your finger so you can hear better what is being played. To learn is made easier with books, magazines and the internet.
Again to get new music is so easy now, you don't have to trail record shops to buy expensive imports. The internet has it all, cheap and fast and also free. My Space has bands hosted with a live stream of the recorded music (So no chance of saying you can't hear new music). Cd and cassette tapes are easily copied and exchanged with bands demos and compilation albums favorite by many to spread the new bands and artists.
Live shows are now a normal thing to attend and more so new band nights. In the 50s and 60s bands did not have the chance to play a tour like you can now due to a lack of music venues and problems with logistics. It is so easy to see bands now and it is common place to do this with other bands on the line up so get in early as you may see the next big thing playing a 20 min set with no sound check. Fuck you even get a free CD at many gigs these days.
Recording techniques have changed as well, albums in the 70s were made on two or four track recording studios. Now it is pretty much as many as you want. Stereo was the big thing and it was great and still is but bands now have to record the music to go out on different formats and in digital where the band really has to sound good as mistakes can be heard very easily (As are mixing mistakes). Back in the day recording was so easy, play as a band and isolate one player for recording. Some albums were recorded and mixed in a few days. Now it is a big task, technology does make it harder due to more complex equipment and set up. Studio time for an album can be months for many artists.
Music was good years ago but it does get better and more experimental. I would never listen to new music if it was just all the same all the time.
