Cymatics & "Tutorialized Creativity"

[tropen]

hey everyone,

i'm a long time lurker but i want to get more involved, and i've been thinking about the title of this post a lot lately.

today Cymatics released the Ableton projects pack, which are 30 or so Ableton projects showcasing the "in" genres of the moment (future bass, trap, dubstep)  and I couldn't help but feel like I had heard all of the sounds before, throughout my exploration of soundcloud. i've felt the same way since opening some of their previous Serum packs and listening to the sounds. i'm not for or against the use of samplepacks or presets or anything like that, and believe that these projects can be invaluable in teaching production techniques and showing how a professional sounding track would look on a DAW, and this is where the concept of "tutorialized creativity" comes in.

if a lot of producers are reverse engineering the same patches, the same projects, the same arrangements that are based on already popular music, what effect does that have on the scene as a whole?

does it increase creativity, because producers now have the learned skillsets to create the sounds in their heads, or does it reduce creativity and innovation because producers can now freely emulate the sounds of their favorite artists without putting in the hours doing it on their own?

personally, i've reverse engineered a lot of presets to learn sound design, and it made me better at it. i can now more adequately create sounds on the screen when i hear them in my head. i just don't know what the outcome of this type of producer-centric marketing will be. Cymatics created their own niche in this marketplace because like them or not, the sounds are high quality and it sounds like they spend a lot of time on their products. what incentive does an aspiring producer have to create something new when they can just plug and play? i want to believe this kind of learning opportunity will enable people to make the music they've always wanted to but the cynic in me feels like it'll just contribute to more of the same.

what are your guys thoughts?

[Marrow Machines]

it's no different than changing guitars or changing strings on guitars.

Every one will, to some extent, play the instruments differently.

I saw getter giving shit to cymantics about this. There' might be some legal reasons behind it, but they're still using the same friggin tool (ie guitars and strings analogy)

It's not really the artists sounds of the instrumentation, but it's the sound of the mix they should be complaining about (which is hardly ever the case in this point i believe).

I don't see any thing wrong with reverse engineering if it's for learning purposes.

But if they did that with out the blessing of the artists and used it to market their own brand, then that's kind of fucked.

"wanna buy something that is second hand off the real thing? then come on down and buy a sample pack or two(that we've made)!"

another point is that, it's good to learn, but eventually you'll have to take the training wheels off.

besides, patches are shared among those producers in the industry. Yet some want to get mad/call attention when ever the circle gets bigger?

I personally think folks are placing value in the wrong perspective of creativity. focusing more on the material side of things, rather than the introspection involved with life and creating in life.

[eidolon]

i agree with your last point, marrow. ive been thinking a lot about this lately. at its heart, i think this addresses a broader question of originality, beyond just sample packs.

first of all, this isn't just a thing in music, it happens in every medium. i go to school for graphic design, and my classmates complain a lot about how things like Weebly and Squarespace are supposedly killing web design. they argue that these website templates dumb down design and take clients away from "real designers," but i'm not sure i buy that 100%.
every time an art form gets pushed forward, people copy what's popular. if it wasn't future bass dudes and cymatics, it would be something else. like, how many businesses in the 1960's opted for the EXACT same Swiss-style branding? enough that Helvetica is prevalent enough to literally make a movie about it, for better and worse. or, how many producers were downloading presets to emulate Scary Monsters in 2011? a lot, but in the meantime skrillex has moved on, and that sound has gotten totally played out.
as for them literally stealing+selling sounds, they should probably get slapped with a hot lawsuit, but i think that isn't what ur talking about. there will always be others who take shortcuts, but chasing the flavor of the month only gets you so far. the more time you spend chasing someone else's 'wave', the harder and harder it gets to make your own, yknow?

tl;dr - be genuine, make music you care about, and try to inspire other people to do the same.

p.s. if u want to get more involved, come join us in the slack chat!