[Dixielandjazz] Fake stuff

[Bill Gunter]

Listmates,

Dave Richoux, responding to my "sampled oboe" posting wrote:

>Bill's message about fake oboe concerts reminded me of something . . .

I don't recall saying anything about "FAKE" oboes.  A sampled oboe sound, or 
any sampled sound for that matter, is an accurate reproduction of the 
soundwaves created by the original source.

With MIDI technology one can create an original solo involving all of the 
parameters of a musical note (time of occurrence, length of note, tambre, 
pitch, and dynamics).

Say I play a piano solo on my keyboard in real time. While doing this I also 
send the digital information to a computer which stores all of the 
parameters mentioned above in a file. Say that I later program the computer 
to play the file back over the same sound system as the original 
performance.  In this case there is no (none) difference between my original 
performance and the computer's performance.

If the two are indistinguishable, in what capacity is the re-created 
performance "Fake?"

It's like the "fake" Christmas Tree.  It's really not a fake. It is a real 
"Christmas" tree.  I will agree that it is a fake tree, but it is a real 
CHRISTMAS tree.

In the same way, a midi performance may be played on a fake instrument (one 
way of looking at a computer), but it is a real performance.

The definition of the word "fake" is getting a bit blurred these days what 
with midi technology, Hollywood special effects, plastic surgery, and 
photoshop graphics.  Sometimes the "fakes" are even better than the 
"originals."

Go figure!

Respectfully submitted,
Bill "the real McCoy" Gunter