ENVELOPE FILTER
May 1, 2005 12:00 PM
LETTER OF THE MONTH
REACHIN' FOR THE STARS
I've been an MC since I was 5 years old. Back then, I started trying to freestyle because of my uncle. He was always feeding me hip-hop, listening to mainly East Coast rap. He told me, “Go ahead, freestyle.” I tried, but I didn't know until he showed me that you gotta rhyme and be talking about something, not just yelling about whooping someone's ass. So I started trying to rhyme and figure out rap. Soon, I began writing poetry; then, I discovered that poetry was hip-hop. With an understanding of that, I began to start rapping, becoming an MC.
I been rapping ever since, and everywhere I go, people give me love. My goal, not my dream, is to be a signed artist. I say goal because it's only a matter of time. People tell me, “You're going to be a star one day.” And I tell them, “Yo, I was born a star — I'ma be famous one day.” After seeing people respond, I know if you have heart, people have love. Although I don't have money and I'm living paycheck to paycheck — working all day just so me, my mom and sister can have a home and something to eat — I know I'll be there one day.
Dennis Thornton II
Vista, Calif.
For sending in the “Letter of the Month,” Dennis Thornton II receives the E-mu Proteus X ($199.95) desktop sound module. If you send in the most inspired letter next month — or simply the one that we like the best — you will win one, too. It's as simple as sending an e-mail to us at remixeditorial@primediabusiness.com. Please include your full mailing address.
CRAPPY REFERENCE
Call me picky, but I was a bit perplexed and a wee frightened by the Deep Dish “Craptastic Mixing References” (“Sound Economy,” March 2005) sidebar that states: “Some producers assume that they must have the best monitors, car stereos and home theater systems to reference their mixes on. In many cases, however, the opposite is true.” You go on to say that Ali Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi monitor on NS10s.
If the NS10s are an industry standard, doesn't that put them up in “the best” status? I kept waiting to see how “just the opposite is true.” Deep Dish obviously uses the best system to reference their mixes, just like all producers. The “best” system for monitoring and testing mixes is the one that works for the individual — period. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a zillion different ones being used by a zillion different producers who all think that they have the best process worked out. Maybe you should have said “most expensive.”
Brian Hutchison
Seattle
Brian — You're picky, but we get your point. The Deep Dish guys are not big fans of the NS10s, so they are kind of “craptastic” to them, but they still use the monitors as one perspective for their mixes. — The Editors
ICON STATUS
I liked the short Burroughs piece (“Respect,” March 2005). However, I disagree with the author that “Burroughs is arguably more important as a pop-culture icon than as a literary innovator.” I think that this judgment is premature and that Burroughs' influence in the arts is so pervasive that it cannot be underestimated.
Brother Jack Musick
Lawrence, Kan.
MILES-LONG DEBATE
I am responding to Mike ILL's “A Little History” (“Envelope Filter,” March 2005). I agree that the most important thing in music is the communication between artist and listener. Yet discussion of legitimacy in music remains a valid topic. Would Chopin be who we know him as without the piano? Would Herbie Hancock be the forward thinker we know him as without the electronic element afforded to him via synthesizers? The very DJ profession that we adore is based off of a person playing sets of music created by another person.
Miles Davis heard stuff being played by another musician, was inspired and took that inspiration to the world. The artist who has an idea in his head and hears someone else play it will do his best to cop it or replicate it. Miles heard stuff coming from another cat and ran with it. I hear an awesome bossa nova beat from Thievery Corporation and find myself red-eyed in front of Acid, trying to do what they did. We cop just as Miles copped — he just didn't have an iMac.
Josh Conti (aka Voxpre)
Winter Park, Fla.
Y'all can be all up in arms if you want over somebody comparing a knob twister to Miles Davis, but his music doesn't really speak to me. It was incredibly innovative in its day, but, now, most of it just seems like wallpaper. A lot of it has no staying power, just bombast and played emotion and the ever-present jazzy clichés (granted, he invented most of them). It's a silly debate. All of us can tap into the same deep rivers he found; he had no exclusive license.
Sheldon Drake
Baltimore, Md.
CREATIVE POTENTIAL
Thank you for printing all these letters on royalties and copyright laws. I feel that music should be used by the musician like paints to a painter and elements to a chemist; all artists must be free to create and express themselves, to transform something that is already beautiful into something different and just as moving or to elaborate on someone else's theme.
DJ Onyx
Grass Valley, Calif.
ANOTHER CONVERT
I spent 10 years working as an engineer/producer for local Detroit-area musicians. I fell into the niche of “studio elite” who somehow thought that studio engineers were better and more sophisticated than mix engineers and DJs — boy, was I wrong! Your magazine sure helped open my eyes!
I bought some of the music mentioned in the magazine, went up to the local music store to check out some of the equipment in the ads and checked out a couple local DJs and was amazed by their technical prowess. The only thing that I could liken it to was my experience with a board that freaked out all of the time. It forced me to think quick and change up the settings on the fly to create a seamless recording. That experience never compared to the speed and dexterity I've seen from live-mix DJs.
Eric Kilgore
via e-mail
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