re:Let's get this party started.....

[splittter]

just in the interests of evening things up I think some of the stuff you guys would probably call dance music is absolutely fucking fantastic ... but that that guy calling you bigots was total tool ... i think you're a bit daft for liking what you like ... you think I'm a bit daft for liking what I like ... and the world moves on ... imagine if everyone loved the same thing ... we'd all be listening to the fucking stereophonics ... ugggghhhhhh

[Armynel]

[s]Unregisted User Dj Balloon wrote on 00:21, 21st Nov 2002:[i]
"If someone was to start a house-techno-electro night in St. Andrews for students, would anyone go?"

Bigotry always pisses me off, even in music Condemning a whole genre of music, i.e. dance, seems a completely bizarre move. Four years ago I used to say that the only types of music I disliked were folk and country.

I love Folk and Country!
Thank goodness they have got folk nights in The Central

[splittter]

[s]Decadence wrote on 14:44, 21st Nov 2002:

It doesn't take much musical skill or knowledge to punch some parameters into a computer or synth and come out with some manufactured noise...

I mean if it was that easy, people would be doing it in their bedrooms...

Oh, waitasec...

D.


I guess you can care about musicianship, or you can care about the music ... the noise itself ... personally I like things cause of the way they sound ... who cares how it was made.

Personally I think bringing music making into the realms where purely physical talent or access to education no longer matters is a great thing ... sure it probably increases the amount of crap being made, but only cause it increases the amount of music being made overall ... and to put together a great track using samples and drum machines is no less a talent than being able to play an instrument well ... just different.

Surely its a great thing that more and more people now have access to tools that make producing professional sounding music easier ... look what the advent of affordable guitars and amps did for music from the fifties onwards ... smash the systems of control etc etc ...

[Dj Balloon]

Ok, Decadence, you raise some interesting and valid points. Without being offensive too! Admittedly, a lot of dance music is not made by musicians - however, the same could be said for rock music. Rock and jazz were formed out of improvisation by the musically untrained - typically the poor and working classes. But this does not mean it is by any means "bad" music. For the same reason, there are many decent novel writers who are not "trained" writers.

Furthermore, many dance artists are classically trained. One half of Groove Armada - so to speak - began playing in a brass band before eventually winning UK's young jazz musician of the year.

Many progressive types of dance music do use their own instruments. Nonetheless, not doing so does not qualify it as not being music - unless you would rule out Hip Hop for the same reason.

I studied music for a while and would argue that any muppet can write a dance track just as any muppet can put together a rock/pop song. What makes good music is inspiration, texture and organisation. There is a hell of a lot of shit dance music, as with any genre. But dance music is just as valid and well put together as any other field of music.

Dance music often starts in the bedroom. Rock music in the garage. And I wasn't being serious about the bigotry thing;)

[The_Farwall]

[s]Jiang wrote on 16:49, 21st Nov 2002:
Hmmm. Farwall, I think the person that needs to grow up is you, not me. You're taking this far too personally. What do you do? Spend half of your time posting on this website? My message to you: GET A LIFE


I'm sorry, it must have been my lack of an education that lead to me taking the phrase "thou art an uneducated idiot" personally. Must have been the way you directed it specifically at me that made me think you wanted me to take it personally. Silly me.

[hr]
Happiness is like wetting yourself. Everyone can see the signs but only those close to you feel the warmth.

[James Baster]

[s]Unregisted User Dj Balloon wrote on 15:37, 21st Nov 2002:
And I wasn't being serious about the bigotry thing;)

Oh gods. I really hate people who do the "I'm going to say something contraversial then when I'm attacked say I was only joking". Dont fucking say it if your going to back out of it 5 mins later!!

I was going to post saying I'm kinda with you on some of your points. But never mind.


[hr]
[s]Its nice to be able to blaspheme. It takes a very special and strong-minded kind of atheist to jump up and down with their hand clasped under their other armpit and shout 'Oh, random-flucuations-in-the-space-time-continuum!' or 'Aaargh, primitive-and-out-moded-concept on a crutch!' - Terry Pratchet, Men at arms[/s]

[Dj Balloon]

James. Thanks for accepting that some of my points were valid. I'm not backing down from what I said. Look at my original post where I used the word bigots and you will see I made it clear that I wasn't being serious. E.G. the use of the

It is amusing that others find me to be "pathetic", a "bigot" and a "tool" for expressing my opinions. No-one has disproved them yet though. Cheers for the respect from fellow dancefans and having sampled quality dance music throughout the world, I do think we are missing out here in St Andrews. There's no way I'm going to Dundee...

[The Kaiser]

Woo hoo! Accusations of bigotry and childishness, pickiness over grammar and spelling, general mud-slinging... a proper Sinner bitching thread again. I was wondering what had happened to them!

[Al]

That's just the thing, you can't disprove an opinion. Ridicule it, yes. Disprove it, no.

Anyway, it would appear that there may be a market for a "house-techno-electro night" in St Andrews. I would suggest that you speak to the people in charge at the Union. They'll be able to talk about room hire, etc. Or you could talk to some of the other music societies (apart from Rocksoc, maybe) - they might have some contacts.

[hr]"The greatest enjoyment from existence is living dangerously"

[loveridge]

Techno? That's something StrongBad talked about once.

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail45.html

[hr]IMAGE:www.boomspeed.com/loveridge/loveridge.gif

[splittter]

[s]Dj Balloon wrote on 20:29, 21st Nov 2002:
It is amusing that others find me to be "pathetic", a "bigot" and a "tool" for expressing my opinions. No-one has disproved them yet though. Cheers for the respect from fellow dancefans and having sampled quality dance music throughout the world, I do think we are missing out here in St Andrews. There's no way I'm going to Dundee...


Personally I called you a tool for saying things like

'Completely ruling out any type of music seems ill advised and uneducated.'

and then imagining a category of people, placing a few posters into it, and having a go at them ... express your opinons sure ... but if I think they're the opinions of a tool I (and others) may just say so.

[Miss Maryland]

isn't it funny that the only dance-music lover who hasn't attacked the people who hate dance music is poppa, the person who started it.

[Prophet Tenebrae]

I loathe dance music but that tune by Strong Bad was awesome, sign it up!

[loveridge]

Strongbad does rock ^^

[hr]IMAGE:www.boomspeed.com/loveridge/loveridge.gif

[Dave]

A long time ago - lets call it the mid-90s, there was a thursday evening event in the union theatre called "Eclipse". They played "choons". It was good. People actually went. It wasn't as popular as the bop, but then not everyone has taste.

Then the union, in their infinite wisdom, decided that Saturday night should be the "other big St Andrews night out" and dropped Eclipse, changed the name, and put it on Saturdays. No one went, so they decided that no one wanted dance music in St Andrews.

There may be some more to the story, but that about sums up the attitude in this town to "dance". There was a Society dedicated to dance, run by Jungle Claire, but I think it also collapsed, and then she left. So now we have occasional visits from the ministry of sound.

The simple fact is that not enough people interested in "dance" music come to St Andrews.

[Little she-bear]

[s]Unregisted User Dj Balloon wrote on 15:37, 21st Nov 2002:[i]
Admittedly, a lot of dance music is not made by musicians - however, the same could be said for rock music. Rock and jazz were formed out of improvisation by the musically untrained

Um...gotta take issue with this. You can't play jazz unless you have a very real understanding of music and how it fits together. Improvisation is more than just 'making it up as you go along'. You have to understand key, chord progression and a whole host of stylistic before you can play jazz improv. It's a very difficult skill to learn. I'm classically trained and tried to learn jazz improv a while back and just couldn't do it. I couldn't think ahead and keep up with the music, I just didn't have the skill and understanding to do it. I take my hat off to jazz musicians, they're an incredibly highly trained, skilled bunch.

[Sarah]

*Gingerly raises hand*

Yes please I would like to go to a dance music event...

*runs away scared*

[The_Farwall]

*Glares at Sarah. Pounces. Mauls*
Joking. Each to their own etc...

[hr]Happiness is like wetting yourself. Everyone can see the signs but only those close to you feel the warmth.

[Dj Balloon]

Little She-bear - Jazz is a very complex type of music definitely. What I meant was that when it first emerged it came from the poor, black areas of places like New Orleans. These folks weren't classicaly trained nor were they playing with proper instruments a lot of the time. From jazz stemmed other music like Bebop and ultimately Rock.

When I was a kid I was a choir boy (I know, I know...), before learning the clarinet and later the saxophone. I did quite a bit of jazz as I got older which was really awesome. As you say it's very difficult to improvise well but I definitely enjoyed doing so more than playing standard music. A couple of years back I tried to make some dance music. I found it easy to make something simple, but it took ages to craft something "banging". A lot of the skill comes in layering and texture. Knowing where to leave silence and where to introduce a certain instrument. This is why I find dance and rock to be similar and have similar starting points.

[dunx_02]

[s]Unregisted User Sarah wrote on 12:37, 22nd Nov 2002:
Yes please I would like to go to a dance music event...


Look no further...

http://www.revolution-edinburgh.co.uk/

http://www.applebelly.com/clubview.php?club_id=398

...and bear in mind that on the late evening Virgin trains from Leuchars to Edinburgh you are rarely expected to pay