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Who has NOBODY as an influence?
- Thread starter NickInMesa
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afromoose
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Indeed. I guess it's up to the person answering the question to decide whether that particular inspiration is relevant to the work they are commenting on.
I read an interview with Wayne Shorter years ago where he talked about the difference between Influences and References.
It's been a while, but as I recall what he was getting at was simply giving different names to the musics and artists whom we are conciously influenced by (and hence might even intentionally be giving homage to) -- those would be the References -- and those musics and artists whom we are unconciously influenced by, and hence have no choice but to play the music that we do and perhaps allow other people to discover what precedents made us the musicians we are -- those would be the Influences.
As others have said here already, nobody has no Influences.
It's been a while, but as I recall what he was getting at was simply giving different names to the musics and artists whom we are conciously influenced by (and hence might even intentionally be giving homage to) -- those would be the References -- and those musics and artists whom we are unconciously influenced by, and hence have no choice but to play the music that we do and perhaps allow other people to discover what precedents made us the musicians we are -- those would be the Influences.
As others have said here already, nobody has no Influences.
...Okay...? I've seen, what, five or six people in this thread that feel "nobody" is a valid answer to the question and almost everyone else vehemently against it. While those participating here is a very small sample, my point still stands that the majority of those in this thread DO NOT feel that is what influence means, in the musical context. Emphasis on truth? What do you mean by that? If you're referring to my referencing the actual definition of influence, get a dictionary... If something has an effect on something, it is an influence. It doesn't have to be a specific kind of effect. If it has an effect (period), it is an influence. Period.
How does the definition of influence change when it is relating to music? Explain please.
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afromoose
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I don't agree that you can invalidate somebody's personal answer to a question of opinion or personal viewpoint by consensus.
I don't agree that the dictionary definition of a word can be applicable to every single context in which it is used in the real world.
When someone asks me about my influences, I try and determine if they mean specific bassists or certain styles of music/production values. If they want to know specific names, I tell them there are many, but a few notable ones are Paul McCartney, Maurice Gibb, Klaus Voorman, John Entwistle, Martin Gordon, John Lodge, Wally Allen, Ronnie Lane, Joe Long, Peter Hook, Mat Osman, and others. I basically copy and paste from my TB profile. It's one of the reasons why I like to list such things in online profiles, so I can refer back to them and copy & paste when necessary so I don't have to think about it. I make no claim to sound like any of the bassists I claim as influences, but I do incorporate a lot of the same principles/values into my playing that they did into theirs, depending on the style of music I'm doing. I like to think about my answer to the question as being something like "well if you like how [insert bass playes here] play, you'll probably like what I play."
A
afromoose
Guest
So we are free to use any meaning we choose for any word? How about this: We stick to the actual meaning of the words we use. It's far less confusing...
All the greatest bands in the 60's learned by 100% copping sounds, moves, and looks from those before them. Music would be in a better place if people could put their egos aside and learn from the folks who got it done previously.
All of Harmony is basically a study of what works and what doesn't. The blues. Even Jazz.
All of Harmony is basically a study of what works and what doesn't. The blues. Even Jazz.
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afromoose
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So we are free to use any meaning we choose for any word? How about this: We stick to the actual meaning of the words we use. It's far less confusing...
Wouldn't want you to get confused by the idea that a word may have different meanings to different people due to the way it's used in different contexts. You hold on to your dictionary.
Calebmundy
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- Apr 5, 2007
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Old Dirty Bastard got his name because he didn't sound like anything that came before him-no musical "Father" so he's a Bastard. It's true too from what I have head. I don't have a Phd in Rap history or anything, but that guy was crazy. His entire style and rhyme scheme would flip and change right in the middle of a tune.
A
afromoose
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Yeah, we know. You've made that painfully obvious.
haha...but seriously my friend, the dictionary was meant to make a solution to the problem. The "philosophy" is just there to make more problems.
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