Plugs: Raccoons and other Mutants
Thursday, May 26th, 2005 at 12:57 pmThe legal plug:
It seems Doug “Bush Free Zone” Bradley used a CC Mixter fourstones track in his latest video blog entries about raccoons. All of a sudden I love Georgia.
The boot plug:
Mutant Pop’s Radio Clash show just featured the fourstones “Mort Sahl vs. Toots Maytal” mash-up.
What’s crazy/funny about these two particular tracks is that my guitar playing in “Funky Dunky” as used by Doug is a complete and total rip-off of the guitar playing in “Funky Kingston” as used in the Toots mash-up.
So how is copyright protecting that “creation”? That “IP”? I listened to the record (er, a lot) and did everything I could to make my playing sound like that record. I totally built “Funky Dunky” on top of previous works like “Kingston” and we all accept that in order for me to create something “new” it’s ok for me to steal from Toots. (…and don’t tell me Toots wasn’t listening and stealing just as much from Otis Redding… and on and on…) For doing this I’m a disciplined musician.
I also created something new in the Mort Sahl mash-up. Of course for that I’m a federal criminal.
And please don’t tell me there’s something different going on. The creative process I used in both cases was exactly the same. I stole from the original to create something new. So the technology changed, so what. If I would have had a sampler in 1979 I would have used it. As it is all I had was a record player, guitar and amp. And really, really bad acne.
June 8th, 2005 at 8:35 am
We (my fellow musicians and I) have been talking about this for years, ever since the first Mirage: Is learning something note for note, then replicating it (as in the oral Blues tradition FE) the same as taking a sample and putting it into a track?
Could we discuss this here Victor? Is there a discussion? Most musicians my (and yours I think) age would say NO. I still don’t know myself, though I do it on an almost daily basis.
One thing I DO know though that really bugs me is the lifting/appropriating of things that were created in a certain context, and maybe only had value (or a “right” value??) in that context..and then splattered all over something that had nothing to do with the original. An example from the non musical world that comes to mind is the Joker symbol from SW Native American culture being used to sell Rancho Deluxe Burritos at the local junk food chain outlet..though OF COURSE OF COURSE there’s great post mo irony there the joker and all..but yow..
So I know you lifted that riddim playing..and in FahnkyDahnky, it seems appropriate..as a cataloged expression..it fit in the track..propelled it..you, as a musician knew it would etc..but there is a big discussion here..and this would be a fine place to have it, no?
June 8th, 2005 at 9:51 am
probably not, because I close down comments after a short period to avoid the spam bots that come around once a month.
There have been some interesting discussions on exactly this on a board I admin:
http://ccmixter.org/forum/viewtopic.php?forum=1&showtopic=2697
(I’m both ‘victor’ and ‘admin’ in the discussion)
I’m on the road with sporatic net access for the next week but feel free to make an account and fire up the discussion, I’ll be happy to participate when I’m online.