25 replies to this topic

[Isturite]

i got in a debate in one of my college classes with some girl that told me a drum pad was not an instrument.... i got kind of upset and asked, well would you consider a keyboard an instrument?
she says,"yes, because it's like a piano"
i told her they are "literally the same thing"... so i said "what about playing the piano with a drum pad controller???"
she says, "uhhhh"
then i say "what if i played a drum kit with a keyboard?? what then??"
still replies, "ummmmm"

[Koof]

Sorry to dig that topic out again, but I had to laugh so hard at the part about "drummers being musicians" ;-)

I think that is an interesting debate. Yes, a computer can be a music instrument, but it depends what we use or abuse it for. If it is really used to create sound in real time with an action by the user creating a sound played by the speaker then it is more or less doing what a keyboard would do. I still don't know what to think about hitting a button on your computer to make him play a lengthy, pre-recorded sample. Is it still a musical instrument then, or is it only a big mp3/wave-player? If we distinguish between these two cases, where do we draw the line?

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It would interesting to pose to a physicist - what is more real - the waves in the air created by vibrating objects, or the waves of electrical current created by exciting electrons? Is electrical energy less real than vibrational energy? Are waves themselves real at all, or just a by-product of energy transference, essentially the leftover junk of other actions?

With my little bit of physical background, I wouldn't say, that one is "more" real than the other. It's just two different things. Two different ways to transfer energy. And if the soundwaves are the "leftover junk of other actions" is rather a philosophical question, right? ;-)

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I'd be more interested to see their reaction to such a question.

:-) A BIG BROAD smile :-) Because everytime a smart question is asked everyone has the opportunity to learn something and that question clearly made me think about it!

Finally back to the question if a computer is an instrument: The answer is YES! You always can use it as part of your Percussion-Kit, next to your saucepans and wastebins ;-)

[ApacheDrums]

I think if you can make noise with it in time and in has rhythm and pitch assosiated with it then definitely. This is a clip that I've just found on you tube of a guy playing a drum machine with his fingers only. If you still think that drummers are essential then think again after you see this guy. He has a lot more compact setup than a full drum kit and can probably play a lot better than a lot of drummers out there that I've come across and is far from being a traditional kit.

Hope you dig it!

[Linda]

Anything that makes a sound can be classified as an instrument, can't it?

[hankcupcake]

Linda, on 16 May 2011 - 09:03 PM, said:

Anything that makes a sound can be classified as an instrument, can't it?

Well I wouldn't call a horse a musical instrument.

A musical instrument should be something that can be 'USED' to create music; therefore almost anything could become a musical instrument, i.e. a rock is just a rock before it is hit against another to create sound. Yes drums are an instrument watch this clip of Terry Bozzio where every one of his drums are tuned to a separate pitch with half of the chromatic and the diatonic scale and say he’s not playing an instrument.

[_jimmy_]

Anything can be an instrument. Anything that can produce a tone is an instrument, it just depends on whether someone uses it correctly - rhythmically etc -