While clever, I’m not a fan of this argument as it ignores the fact that each of steps are different things requiring different skills. Putting samples together is more arranging music, while creating the notes is composing. After that, you have sound design, playing an instrument, making an instrument yourself...
Sure none of these are “cheating”, but someone somewhere has to do each of those things, and the further down the chain you go, the more “control” you get over your sound and composition. The law of diminishing returns of course hits at some point (although someone may argue that their breed of goats has a certain sound they can’t get any other way).
It’s the same thing in programming: someone chaining together libraries may eventually run into a point where there’s nothing out there that does exactly what they need. That doesn’t mean it’s not your work unless you’ve written the compiler yourself, or have your own fab in your garage, it just means you have to be aware of the degree of control you give up the higher level you go.
It doesn't sound like you are in disagreement, the parent story is just a flowery expression of the diminishing returns (control), the further you go.
As you say, the reality of it is that there are thresholds, for some where the benefit cost ratio is poor enough few will break through it from a higher level use... and then there are lower ratio thresholds in between where you will get various proportions of experienced people who want a little more control (in different directions) breaking through.
But even with those thresholds (in this case one IC vs another IC), it's arbitrary and subjective, you are just choosing to spend your time and effort in a different way.
> Putting samples together is more arranging music, while creating the notes is composing.
Really depends on what's the length of samples and how exactly are you working with them. With whole musical phrases (as used in 90s hip-hop and french house, for example), it's really more like arranging. But when you cut those very samples just a little bit shorter, and start playing MPC pads like an instrument, I'd argue you switch back to composing.
Sure none of these are “cheating”, but someone somewhere has to do each of those things, and the further down the chain you go, the more “control” you get over your sound and composition. The law of diminishing returns of course hits at some point (although someone may argue that their breed of goats has a certain sound they can’t get any other way).
It’s the same thing in programming: someone chaining together libraries may eventually run into a point where there’s nothing out there that does exactly what they need. That doesn’t mean it’s not your work unless you’ve written the compiler yourself, or have your own fab in your garage, it just means you have to be aware of the degree of control you give up the higher level you go.