You’re a slave to your songs if you mime – Prof John Collins
Renowned ethnomusicologist and composer Professor John Collins is urging music stakeholders and authorities to encourage live performances.
The professor in a conversation with Hitz FM said government through the Ministry should come up with initiatives that will not only market live band performances but also encourage its practice amongst musicians in Ghana.
“You see one difference between Ghana and Nigeria right now is that Nigeria even though went into electronic computerized music, maintained live performance.
“You can be a musician in Nigeria, play in public, and you can live on the money. In Ghana, you can’t. The money for the live band musician is so poor.
“So one of the first things the Ghanaian government or ministry of tourism can do is to look at the remuneration for live artiste in Ghana. Because it’s very important to have live music”
Professor John Collins also stated that miming for any musician is deadly and not a creative thing to do
According to him, musicians become slaves to their songs when they mime.
“Lip-syncing or miming is a deadly thing to do. It’s a killer as far as music is concerned. It’s very difficult to create new ideas when you’re miming because a lot of your ideas as a musician, occurs on the spot when you’re singing live.
“Sometimes when you’re playing live and make a mistake, you discover it’s not a mistake but something new and creative.
“When you’re miming, you become your own slave because what you did in the recording studio, you end up repeating it like a parrot. It’s not a very creative thing to do,” he said.
