> I don't think you'll have many takers here suggesting that things were magically better 40 years ago.
Ha, fair point. I must not realize how old I am, because I was attempting to reference the music of the 1960s and 70s, not 1982, which I agree is not many people's idea of the golden year for music ("Come On Eileen" notwithstanding).
> Sophisticated tools are a bit of a trap. People tend to create in ways that their tools make easier.
No doubt. Ableton, logic, and protools have drastically altered the norms of what modern music is "supposed" to sound like (ie tuned vocals, quantized drums etc). I do wonder what the next generation of music tech will bring.