Kontra Wrote:The board is also going downhill rapidly and seems to avoid any coherent or decent debate regarding music and any other worthwhile discussions.
I have to admit I've not seen much discussion of music other than nostalgia for the various branches of DnB/Jungle and the occasional person asking for pointers to examples of a particular genre. That said, here and there I've picked up a couple of things and I appreciate it. There is a lot of technical expertise on SC.
My own contributions don't exactly cover me in the glory of in-depth and insightful (as opposed to inciteful
) debate.I'm going to cover a variety of inter-related topics here. Get the coffee out.
I may put some noses out of joint as for once I'm stepping out of my usual level of harmless posting.
Plunging in...
I appreciate this is preference and taste but I've held back on posting the following thoughts primarily because I don't want to cause offense. However, losing some of the variation that makes music *exciting* is a massive loss to me.
There are two types of music that get posted on SC, with extremely little variation:
1) DnB/Jungle/SomeRandomWordSubgenreOfDnB
2) Ambient
Or combinations of above.
Many of the postings seem to be a 7 minute 'song' comprised of a sustained note / minor chord lasting most of the duration and someone having hit the randomize function on their drum machine or what sounds like a monkey thats been fed acid and given a couple of drum sticks. Perhaps chopped up someone else's drum loops under said 7 minute sustain and recycled.
Don't get me wrong, here and there are some absolute gems and it would be wrong for anyone to expect to like everything they hear on a forum 100%. But my point is that a lot of it does get a bit samey quite fast. Highlights to date of the good things that come via SC to me have been things such as the Age of Outsiders and Ronin's Battledrums. That Wiking chap, Speak, too is starting to do some nice stuff that to my mind makes it worth watching what he's up to. (I mention these as obvious positive examples. Not being mentioned here is not intended as a slight on anyone and also this is not intended to imply that my opinion is lofty and weighty).
I might be about to be massively corrected but I was led to believe that SC was more than this and actively aiming to be greater. And yet, you can't pin it down to any single post, you can't pin it on any one person, but there's a definate air of "If it ain't DnB, it ain't for SC". (Please don't go quoting the various threads in General, I'm referring to original music posted by users of this forum and this doesn't include podcasts/mixes/radioshows. I'm talking only about original music posted up for people to listen to.)
The variation and willingness to experiment, even when one might seem foolish to peers is what music should be all about - not staying in the comfort zone where you know nobody will laugh at you for trying something different.
This may sound a bit odd, but I *like* hearing all the different things that creativity has to offer, even the things I don't like. I feel it pushes me to expand my own awareness of music. I also value that for all I have made somewhat facetious comments in a previous paragraph in this post, I don't want to do anything negative to affect anyone else's creativity.
Creativity is treasure. Nothing less than absolute treasure. We are all the sum of our influences with our own personal spice thrown in.
There does however seem to be a lot of recycling going on with SC as some people live in a nostalgia trip for their favourite DnB bands/era. If thats what some want to do, there's nothing wrong with that. I didn't think that was what SC was only about this but I now have this nagging doubt. It does rather seem that the stronger personalities / keyboard heroes (PC keyboard, not music keyboard) are pushing others away.
This does worry me a bit.
I was gutted when Zno left SC. He is one of the people that has ever posted on here in my time using these forums that does not worship at the altar of Amen and isn't afraid to experiment. I do feel if I'd been around when it happened I could have gripped him warmly by the throat and calmed him down. (Ultimately we're all responsible for our own behaviour so I don't beat myself up too much
) However, as mentioned, he was far from the only guilty party. The modding itself was fine in that he absolutely crossed the line during that time. However, so did several others who did not appear to receive any penalty or hounding from certain quarters. I personally found some of the peripheral snide behaviour quite unsettling and commented on it at the time. The whole episode made me quite uneasy because whether the SC admins are willing to admit it or not, it sends a definate signal to the rest of us that use these forums.This is old ground. I wouldn't be revisiting it but it is directly on topic.
Before any keyboard heroes decide to answer with "If you don't like SC, don't use SC" then consider this: When you exclude someone, you actually exclude yourself. Personally, I would prefer to see SC flourish. There are some great peeps using these forums and I am always mindful that whatever else is said, the admins are not getting paid to run these forums.
I have seen many threads on wildly different niche music that has tickled this or that person. If I'm being honest I'm not always convinced that the poster genuinely loves that niche and might be playing an internet-cool game of "I can find more obscure music than you nyar nyar" but lets assume that the majority are genuine. Consider this then:
At time of typing I have not seen one person in the time I've been using these boards post any original music of their own that breaks out of the safety mould. That should be sending warning signals if nothing else does.
What is it about posting on SC that might make someone not want to post outre music? Some of the music is very good but subversive? No. Dangerous? No. Challenging? Not really. I think its a bit too cruel to call it suburban (but I did chuckle) but complacency in creativity is stagnation and repetition and largely that is what is posted on SC.
This is after all 'Subvert' Central, the very name implies a place for naughty people to ply their craft away from the mainstream. Nobody wants to post music if they're fairly sure it won't be well received or at least have a fighting chance of some kind of decent reception. This is the quiet death that SC has the potential to suffer. I'd prefer this didn't happen. And seriously, when's the last time you met a naughty person that was easy to manage?
There's a definate disparity between stated goal and actual intent here.
Perhaps its just my perception and I've misunderstood what SC is all about. I am happy to be corrected.
Just some food for thought.