Maurice's Musical Musings
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The trouble with titles
As a Second Life performer, I am the new kid on the block. I've only been playing shows for a few weeks and as such I still make all the rookie mistakes. I've done an entire show with my guitar on my back. I've played through a set without asking people to tip the venue. I've forgotten to get my avatar off the stage after I was done playing and just stood there like an idiot as I carried on a conversation in public chat while the next person was waiting to play. All the things you'd expect from a newbie.
Likewise as a musician I am a newbie. Even though I've been interested in the guitar for a long time I've only really played for the last couple of years and I never thought about singing until now.
Yet, people still refer to me as a musician or as a performer. This never sits really well with me. I do love the music, and I love to play for an audience... so by the simplest definition a musician and a peformer is what I am. So why do I have a problem with it? I didn't really know what it was until I was reading Stella Silvansky's profile on twitter (@Silvansky) and I read something she wrote. She said:
Likewise as a musician I am a newbie. Even though I've been interested in the guitar for a long time I've only really played for the last couple of years and I never thought about singing until now.
Yet, people still refer to me as a musician or as a performer. This never sits really well with me. I do love the music, and I love to play for an audience... so by the simplest definition a musician and a peformer is what I am. So why do I have a problem with it? I didn't really know what it was until I was reading Stella Silvansky's profile on twitter (@Silvansky) and I read something she wrote. She said:
...sometimes I even pretend to write poetry (I say "pretend" because it feels pretentious to actually admit I do when I'm really not that great at it).
I realized after reading this that this is what my problem was with being called a musician. When I am referred to as a musician, I almost feel like it is a slap in the face to the real musicians of Second Life. Those who have spent years training their voices and working their instruments. Those who have written countless songs, played real life gigs, and worked most of their lives to become the extremely talented performers that they are. To allow myself the same title I'd give to great song writers like Carmel Daines, Shannon Oherlihy, Strum Diesel, or PM Bookmite... master performers like Montian Gilruth, Grace McDunnough, or Frogg and Jaycatt... people who have worked most of their lives to make it in music like TerryLynn Melody (who is about to release what promises to be a fantastic CD)... feels pretentious and wrong.
Last night at a PM Bookmite concert, PM gave me a shoutout and said that I had been peforming in RL for years but was just now starting in SL. This couldn't be further from the truth, but because I had been called a "musician" this was the impression he had. So how does one rectify this? The problem with a title is it doesn't tell the real story... it gives people impressions and preconceptions that I don't feel I can live up to right now. Yet, if I decline to be called a musician people see this as defeatist or as a dis on myself which is also not my intention. So how does a new musician rectify this? How do I promote myself without giving false impressions or putting myself up on the same pedestal as the "real" musicans and performers of Second Life?
posted by Maurice at 9:03 AM
1 Comments:
Every one of us has made rookie mistakes early on in our performances. Some of us still goof up years later. The actual fact that you are playing music and performing make you a musician and a performer. You can define yourself but how you are perceived by others will always be subjective. As for the pedestal, well, I'm not a fan of heights, and I don't feel we should be put on a pedestal. We are artists pursuing our craft, and Second Life is a wonderful arena for sharing it worldwide.
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