ooh, things are getting a little toasty in here, hey?
I would have to say that, given absolutely *ideal* conditions, in terms of rehearsal time (read: budget), players abilities and attitudes, and a host of other factors, there's probably no situation in which I wouldn't ultimately choose "live" over sampled. I mean, if Ensemble Modern suddenly wanted to record a few of my works, I'd be over the moon! However, meeting these conditions is simply not a day-to-day possibility. Not for me, and not for anyone. The musical and financial resources simply do not exist. So there's a pragmatic side to all of this which is impossible to ignore.
Also, there's the question of process, which DG is getting at in his last post. If I sit down at my (slightly flakey but improving) little VI "farm" and start bashing around ideas, there is direct experience involved. As I continue to compose, I'm hearing and responding in a very direct and almost instantaneous way. In this sense, my "virtual" orchestra is actually more "real" than anything I could auralize and transcribe to a pencil score. Obviously there are those who will argue against this, but I think the ground is pretty stable under that statement. The simple reason is that, if I auralize a passage of music, for a given instrument or ensemble, and transcribe that auralization to paper, I'm still imagining it with a certain performance in mind. And that performance is absolutely personal, absolutely "virtual"; I may never, in all my days, hear a performance like it. (In fact, it may not even be possible for me to hear a performance quite like it, since it's at least partly informed by many mental structures quite foreign to phsyical hearing... but that's another thread.) This is why I agree with DG that there are works that simply *will* sound better in their sample-based realizations, than in live performance... though the word "better" is, of course, slippery ineed! But it would be a mistake, IMHO, to suggest that this is because the work is poorly composed, or poorly orchestrated. It is simply informed by an entirely different process, and I don't think there's any way to completely divorce the product from the process through which it was formed.
Lately I often find myself concerned that my concert music is becoming too dependent on my studio setup. But my setup is now intimately tied to my compositional process, so I try to understand it and refine as much as possible. As long as I have some awareness that the manner in which I'm working is a primary influence on the work I produce, then I retain some hope of keeping a relatively clear head about what my music is all about. But I do sometimes miss the idealized world of pencil and paper composing... Perhaps someday I will find my way back to it.
btw, I realize that got a bit off topic, but I think it's sort of relevant... no?
J.
I would have to say that, given absolutely *ideal* conditions, in terms of rehearsal time (read: budget), players abilities and attitudes, and a host of other factors, there's probably no situation in which I wouldn't ultimately choose "live" over sampled. I mean, if Ensemble Modern suddenly wanted to record a few of my works, I'd be over the moon! However, meeting these conditions is simply not a day-to-day possibility. Not for me, and not for anyone. The musical and financial resources simply do not exist. So there's a pragmatic side to all of this which is impossible to ignore.
Also, there's the question of process, which DG is getting at in his last post. If I sit down at my (slightly flakey but improving) little VI "farm" and start bashing around ideas, there is direct experience involved. As I continue to compose, I'm hearing and responding in a very direct and almost instantaneous way. In this sense, my "virtual" orchestra is actually more "real" than anything I could auralize and transcribe to a pencil score. Obviously there are those who will argue against this, but I think the ground is pretty stable under that statement. The simple reason is that, if I auralize a passage of music, for a given instrument or ensemble, and transcribe that auralization to paper, I'm still imagining it with a certain performance in mind. And that performance is absolutely personal, absolutely "virtual"; I may never, in all my days, hear a performance like it. (In fact, it may not even be possible for me to hear a performance quite like it, since it's at least partly informed by many mental structures quite foreign to phsyical hearing... but that's another thread.) This is why I agree with DG that there are works that simply *will* sound better in their sample-based realizations, than in live performance... though the word "better" is, of course, slippery ineed! But it would be a mistake, IMHO, to suggest that this is because the work is poorly composed, or poorly orchestrated. It is simply informed by an entirely different process, and I don't think there's any way to completely divorce the product from the process through which it was formed.
Lately I often find myself concerned that my concert music is becoming too dependent on my studio setup. But my setup is now intimately tied to my compositional process, so I try to understand it and refine as much as possible. As long as I have some awareness that the manner in which I'm working is a primary influence on the work I produce, then I retain some hope of keeping a relatively clear head about what my music is all about. But I do sometimes miss the idealized world of pencil and paper composing... Perhaps someday I will find my way back to it.
btw, I realize that got a bit off topic, but I think it's sort of relevant... no?
J.