Posts Tagged prejudice

I’m certain I’m committing an unpardonable sin of prejudice, but if a car mechanic said he was a composer, then I’d turn and run to have my rotors and pads done at another shop.

[Sound effects: car speeding off into the distance]

I confess, in my prejudiced mind there’s just too much of a gap between the never-vary-from-the-book approach for a safe brake job and the never-the-same approach for good composing. And, alas, I don’t believe doses of sensitivity training or cultural immersion will cure me of this partiality.

Imagine this: either the tech does great brake jobs but has a shallow portfolio of tunes, or he can wow me with how well he tinkers and fiddles and experiments – which means he’s not coming near my brakes.

[Sound effects: a crowd murmurs in agreement]

Of course, I’m using the mechanic merely as an emblem. They’re good with their hands and have every potential to be fine players (shades of the Gill character in Runaway Bride) and I’m certain there are gifted composers with oil-stained fingers. It’s the mindset I’m getting at that can invade any race, creed, or color of collar: a world view that forces the square peg that yields success in exacting industries into the round hole of music. Sort of, “We have this formula that has worked wonders in pushing microwave ovens. And now we’re moving to bring the same success to the recorded music industry.”

[Sound effects: a dramatic trumpet-section sting here.]

Given that repeatedly doing things the same way saves lives if you do brakes (and very commendable), but a killer if you do music (so should be avoided), then why is predictability in popular music so rampant these days? Makes you wonder…perhaps the besieged record labels could turn things around if they’d open a few brake shops.

[Sound effects: a car horn followed by a cha-ching.]