That question reminds me of the second half of the Avengers Infinity movie where Hulk goes to get the Timestone and is told there are any multitude of potential timeline branches just by changing one thing.

I choose to believe that people will always want to play a musical instrument in music. Computers were only invented as a tool to assist or make some tasks easier not to replace people, but humankind got lost in the hurrah. The advent of analog synthesisers has to be considered too and the discovery of digital is really where it started to spiral. Great question you put forward, but I want to run away from it because the possibilities to consider and how one thing links to another are mind-boggling.

 

Last edited: Sep 22, 2021

Music develops in leaps around fads, general moods and social movements.

Who knows what it would be like.

The difference between baroque, classical, romantic and modern music are stark on a technical level but the time spans between their apexes are quite long. Things only seem to move fast in hindsight when one learn a lot of names of apex composers in succession as if they literally followed in each others footsteps on stage.

There isn't much benefit in too much whataboutisim or whatifisims unless you are using them as a jumping off point in actually creating something. It's kind of like trying to imagine what beer would taste like if it was invented by rabbits instead of humans in lieu of actually going to fridge and cracking one open to enjoy it.

 

I've struggled long and hard with the issue of piracy since the early days. It seemed perfectly legit back in the days of 8-bit computers, moving through the Atari and Amiga scene, it almost seemed like an essential part of the culture back then.
By the 90's, the internet and particularly irc, the mantra was free music for the masses.
It seemed like a great idea at the time, and the cracked software put less strain on the very underpowered with hardly any connection ports computers.
Now. well, we've discovered at lot of things in the 25-30 years since.
Everyone wants to be a rockstar, everyone thinks they're the next big thing.
We have access to all the music in the world for free but are swamped by a tsunami of bland stereotypical, homogenized, genre-ised, garbage. It's very difficult for genuine ORIGINAL talented and creative artists to be heard.And they are an endangered species to begin with!.

So overall. Well, it certainly destroyed the old industry, which being an industry has evolved and adapted. Everything from talent shows that offer a lottery ticket to fame to making all the gear required by aspiring bedroom musicians.
It helped kill & redfine music and culture.

But it's been fun along the way with all the new releases

 

Last edited: Sep 22, 2021

Or, simply put, piracy is for losers.

 

Since you belong to those less than 1% of people who do not use earbuds, you are statistically unimportant.

 

I think if piracy weren't possibly there would be even more great free plugins. A lot of people can't afford to buy VSTs so they program their own.

 

"started" not recently. But back in the late 90s for me; Emagic's Logic.

Not so much about genres with Logic, but just many, many classic albums would not exist.

 

Recording studios and the professionals would be still respected for their expertise. Just my 2 cents

 

We'd all be playing home keyboards and reading novels.

 

Im going a more poor and cheaper route:

Behringer XM8500 ($30) > Behringer UMC22 ($90) > $500 PC > 80% of Free VSTS 20% of pirated DAW and software > MP3 > Earbuds or cheap speakers.

Yeah, for poor people like me, this setup works wonderfully, its how you use the tools at the end of the day.

 

What guitar do you use?

 

My guitar is a Cort X1, got it for a good price after selling my old guitar that was a Parquer SG Style (yeah no one outside Argentina knows this brand called "Parquer")

Before that Parquer i was using a super cheap Strato style.