midipoet

movementcast posted this, taken from Hawtins facebook page. There has since developed an almighty furore surrounding the post. The post has subsequently been deleted (supposedly by facebook) and Richie Hawtin has re-posted; claryfying his statement. I am not sure how much i can contribute to this debate, but here is my view;  for what it is worth.

The essence of what Hawtin says is, perhaps in all honesty, correct. However it would be foolish to degrade a musical format, even if it now faces its own inevitable demise, especially when you consider that the format in question (vinyl) was integral to the evolution of electronic music as a whole.

What we must remember, is that technology does, in most cases, make things better. Yet, even in the year 2011, a top level ‘vinyl’ dj coupled with an able efx unit, would still hold their own against ANY ‘computer’ dj - Hawtin included.

The music has progressed, as have the methods, tools and formats that enable them, but we have not yet reached the stage where a ‘computer’ dj can be comprehensively said to be better. More economical, perhaps, but not better. However, we are nearing that point, especially considering the increasing divide between the two formats.

It was foolish by Hawtin, but we all say foolish things, and to be fair, Hawtin has clarified his position. As someone on facebook has already posted, i would have liked to have been sitting next to Sven Vath when he found out what Richie said :-).