DJ Tiesto. Now, I like a wide range of music and I'm not shy about saying that I like electronic music too. I'm a big fan of dance tunes and bouncy music. It's the way I get away from classical stuff every so often. But this new DJ Tiesto album features one song that should really not be heard on anything but strings.

Adagio for strings has been arranged (I sometimes say "deranged") for many different ensembles. One of my teachers frequently says something that can sum this up. "The question usually shouldn't be whether you can do it; the question is if you should do it."

Arranging this Adagio for anything besides a string choir? No. Should not be done. Even more wrong is only using a single musical phrase from the piece. Musical phrases are just like English phrases. It's not good to end a paragraph with out end the sentence or phrase. This DJ Tiesto does that. Over, and over, and over, and over. It really makes me, as a musician, want to go up to this guy and say "What were you thinking? FINISH THE PHRASE!!!"

Granted, I've played this piece a few number of times, being a string player. Also, joe-blow average man won't know the difference anyway. They'll hear the first few notes and go "WOA DUDE! That's like really emotional and stuff!" </stoner voice>

So please, if you're a DJ and you wanna re-mix something, ask a musician before you take a fragment of the melody. So we don't come and haunt you!

Posted by Justin Seal on 11/3/04; 8:12:49 PM from the dept.

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