Take the dreaded transpose button on many keyboards. I think that companies had novice players in mind when they made them. Eventually, you would grow to be able to play in all keys, and the need for the transpose buttons will go away. The problem is, you have people that are too impatient and lazy to go through the process of learning to play in all 12 keys. They are playing in situations that they aren't ready to handle (If you can't play the songs in the keys that are required for the gig, YOU AREN'T READY TO PLAY THAT GIG). And ego tells them that they can get by with this.
Autotune is another 'advancement' that had a completely productive purpose. I believe that it was to allow an otherwise good take to not be marred by the occasional 'pitchiness' of an otherwise good singer. But again, impatience takes hold. Instead of a potential singer (if you can't sing in tune, YOU ARE NOT A SINGER) taking the time to get lessons and go through the process of learning their instrument. They run to the nearest 'producer' (I won't go into that right now) to record a CD. The finished product may or may not come out good. But when this potential singer goes to sing live, all of the flaws that were fixed in the studio come back to bite everyone listening in the eardrum.
One day in recording school, The instructor had a copy of one of the tracks to Marvin Gaye's 'What's Goin On'. He was able to solo every piece in the band and the vocals. When the lead vocal was soloed, there was a purity and precision to them. This is something that only comes from spending time learning what you are doing. Marvin Gaye was a huge talent that came up in a time when mediocrity didn't get very far. Excellence was required in the studio. If you couldn't do it quickly and without much in the way of mistakes, then you were probably not even going to be near a studio. Now, everyone, myself included, has a studio in their house. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I find that practicing in a studio environment and recording myself makes me a better player. The studio has a way of magnifying mistakes that you might not notice in another environment. I have a saying: If it's not clean in the studio, it's not clean anywhere. There is no such thing as studio clean and live clean. There is just clean and sloppy. Live situations have a way of masking some of the sloppiness. But trust me, the sloppiness is still there.
If you are one of the many musicians that has a studio, use it as a practice tool. Don't just fix problems later. Take the time to record yourself right. Work to lay down a track in one take. Listen to the subtle nuances in your playing. If they aren't there, work on developing them. Owning a studio, even if it's just going out and getting an M Box, can make you a much better player. I find that I hear more detail in my playing, also known as mistakes. This makes me work to be as clean as possible. This helps me when I go to lay down tracks at someone else's studio.
Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that we need to go back to the days where we record straight to wax. I am a tech head. But I think that there is a work ethic that came from previous eras that we need to embrace today. If we take the innovations of today. And the abilities that are afforded by them. And put them with the need to be excellent in our craft that was required in days gone by. I think we will be surprised by the creative things that come along. You don't get progress by making things easier and resting at that. You get progress by continuing to press along almost as if things were just as difficult as before. Keep the standards high and you can go further. If the standards are lower, you get the garbage that we have been getting as 'artists'.
