Dr_Rez

First off let me say I dont mean any slight towards them, as it takes a wealth of knowledge and skill to create elaborate soundscapes. I say this because Im curious if people would consider them a musician or a producer.

Now To clarify I realize their is a huge overlap in bands like Air in which live instrumentals are recorded and used in unison with electronic accompaniment. I am speaking in this post of strictly computer generated music with no help from analog instruments.

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Janszoon

I say yes. If you create music, you are a musician.

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Howard the Duck

sure

if you merely program music with no basic idea of music theory, it'll be crap

i did that before with the Commodore Amiga

keep in mind that some producers don't know how to play or compose music but are technicians only in making how the music sounds

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moserw

Definitely yes.

Listened to a lot of electronica & synthpop in the early 90s.

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mr dave

After a good 15 years of flip flopping on this very issue... I'm still on fence and leaning back on the 'no' side of things. It really depends on where you draw the line. Air is a perfect example of that blur between both camps.

Then you've got a pair like Autechre who (at least at some point in the past) created their music exclusively by using/creating mathematical formulas they'd then dump into their own homebrewed software and hope for the best.

I think Billy Corgan said it best back in the day (paraphrased) - If you can't play your new song on an acoustic instrument you don't actually have much of anything.

Yes, there's a certain je ne sais quoi with great electronic performers who can transform their laptop into something else. But ultimately a laptop is not an instrument, it doesn't create so much as replicate. If push comes to shove and there's a technological apocalypse in the near future how many of those 'musicians' and producers who work exclusively with DAWs and the like would actually be able to pick up an instrument and entertain their peers? Plotting a series of notes in a tracker is not at all the same as playing that same series of notes on a piano, nor does it actually make the individual a musician in my ears.

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FETCHER.

This, exactly this.

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Rubato

Nor is a sheet of paper and a pen a musical instrument but composers have been using them for years to compose music, music is composed in your head, not on your instrument. Performance is very much a part of musicianship but not a requirement of a musician.

mr dave

I actually deleted a comment about composers in my original reply. I don't consider someone who solely composes without an ability to perform to be a musician.

Though... most composers sit at a PIANO when they write, and I'm pretty sure pianos have always been considered instruments.

Also 'performance is part of musicianship but not required of a musician'? WHAT?!?!?!?! While I agree performance -for commercial gain- is not a requirement of being a musician you'd better believe the ability to perform is a fundamental part of being a musician. If you can't perform your music without needing to hit a button on a machine to make it play - YOU CAN'T PERFORM MUSIC!

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Rubato

Some composers find that when using an instrument to write music your muscle memory tends to stunt your creativity, some feel an instrument is needed for more technical passages that can be hard to imagine. My point is an instrument shouldn't be needed to compose.

The ability to perform is a fundamental part of being a performer, Musician is a collective term for performers, composers and directors, certainly it would be very rare that a composer or a director hasn't picked up an instrument, or a performer hasn't attempted to write their own tune at some point, after all I'd assume they have enough interest in music to pursue something in those areas, but they are all still very separate parts of the music trade.

steve0211

I am not sure why this is even a question. Essentially you are wondering if a certain segment of people that create music are musicians. Based on that question, one could ask if music creators of ANY genre are musicians.

Whether or not one is considered a musician should be entirely up to the individual. It should have nothing to do with the genre they work in.