What do you look for in music?

[Hard Truth]

Let's talk music instead of vegetables. Let's avoid discussing genres and discuss the characteristics of the music you like best. Do you look for catchy melodies, innovative techniques, strong rhythms, deep lyrics, passionate performance,..... etc?

 

I'll wait to throw in my two cents.

[UstadKhanAli]

Compelling melodies, textures, and grooves and something that imparts some really strong emotional reaction/mood on my part.

[halljams]

Vegetables and music have a lot in common sister!

 

But to answer your question, there is only one, maybe two, maybe three things that count.

1st and least important is that the sounds translate in a digestible way, meaning timing and pitch are in the ball park, like pretty much in the ball park playing the game i mean, the better they are the better imo.

 

2nd the lyrics have to be smart and original or at least very honest telling a good story coupled with a singer who understands the importance of how EACH word and phrase is sung.

 

3rd an most important is that the door to the great unknown source of spirit has been opened by one or more members, or the band collectively, and there is some of that {censored} flowing through and in the music, I'm talking the chill factor stuff.

If that is the case i don't give 2 {censored}s what the singer is singing or if the guitars are in tune or what, anyone who knows how to open that door and let that stuff flow has found the true meaning of music, to be a medium for that spirit to reach the audience and GIVE something to the listener by sacrificing your life to learn how to open that door.

There are no words and no words are needed.

[rasputin1963]

It's no secret I am a big fan of Burt Bacharach.

 

 

Why?

 

Let me make a bold claim first: in the mid-1960's, he laid down a gauntlet that has never been picked up by any subsequent songwriters. I will go out on a limb even, and say that pop songwriting has been de-evolving since his heyday of biggest contributions (say, 1963--1971)

 

What did he do?

 

He created pop songs which:

 

 

change tonal and modal centers two, three or four or more times over the course of the song, employing all the Greek modes at one time or another, as well as the Blues scale;

 

frequently change metrical values over the course of the song, writing #1 hits which contained measures of 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, 5/4, 5/8, 7/8, 12/8 and other improbable meters;

 

stood pop song conventions on their heads, or re-arranged their syntax, phrase-wise...

 

Borrowed from many ethnic vernaculars, weaving them together in unexpected ways

 

Wrote melodies based upon little motives and morphemes which mutate over time and display "theme and variations" development.

 

do not have any "beating time" or "vampy" or "strummy" moments... literally the whole song, from second-to-second, is interesting (that is to say, "changing") over the course of the 3-minute record.

 

To say nothing of the fact that he wrote his own orchestral arrangements, which were precociously brilliant even by the time he was 25--30 years old.(And it didn't hurt, of course, that he was well-born, patrician, exceptionally handsome, athletic, genial, media-savvy.)

 

 

Which subsequent artistes can you name who picked up this gauntlet and continued to experiment with the possibilities he suggested?

 

Rather (and yes, I do say this with some rancor) , subsequent artistes simply assumed that tonality, more daring harmony, trickier meters, witty and canny motivic melody development, etc., were dead-in-the-water, extinct, and bore no further examination or development.

 

What are the legacies of this ignorance? Rap, New Age, T-n-A, and so-called Minimalism.

 

In Rap, the use of brutish, hulking 4/4 rhythms are made to supplant any type of cleverness or subtlety of expression...

 

In New Age, vague, directionless noodling is substituted for structure, conviction, meaning and development, and

 

T-n-A... or "tits 'n' ass": the sexual attractiveness of the performer has become all-important, to the detriment of nearly every other criterion of the song delivery, and

 

In Minimalism (such as many forms of modern electronica), slight temporal changes in sonority and timbre are presented as being the coolly chic raison d'

[violists]

a space to be

[Magpel]

Very hard to define, but of course certain qualities do come clear over time.

 

1. I am more into music than sound. I've realized this about myself--I respond to musical content almost independently of its "sonic vehicle" at times. I am trying, trying to be more of a musical sensualist who recognizes and experiences sound-as-object, but that is not my bias.

 

2. I think I can kind of distill what I like from what I make--and not always in self-affirmative ways. The music I make tends to have surpluses of melodic and harmonic invention (for rock at least), tends toward a certain level of intricacy (less so in recent years) and tends to be very eventful structurally, i.e., busy. I like all these things--they are kind of my aesthetic, even-- as long as there is also a gestalt--a rooted singularity and totality to the elements, and when my tunes don't have that, I know I've missed the mark and have given given my vanity reign.

 

So, complexity, yes, but grounded, wholeseome complexity...not "sneakers in the dryer" prog complexity, please...joking joking...I believe Prog is every bit as capable as punk of producing pre-verbal, visceral thrill

 

3. To me the whole idea of emotion in music is critical but problematic. I don't believe that people "pour" specific emotions into music. I believe music is its own emotional language, with no direct correspondence the standard emotional alphabet. Maybe some day I'll try to figure this out at length but not here. So, yes, I "do" music in part for emotion, but I find that aspect of it very difficult to explain.

 

4. oh, I like soul and honesty and authenticity, but these are not styles.

 

5. I'd say from birth to now, the qualities I have prized most in music have been imagination, invention, and delicacy. Is it surprising that I am the son of a musician who's heroes were Bach and Bill Evans?

 

If I haven't been self-indulgent enough here, please let me know and I'll come back and try harder. Thx.

[Lee Knight]

I read this right as the sleep was clearing from my eyes this morning logging into work. It's a big question so I put it off for 3 hours. Reading Ras's and Magpel's posts... uh, what they said. And Ken's? You bet. So what do I look for? In my words?

 

There's a moment, it happens more readily when we're kids I think, there's that moment when you hear a combination of a melody unfolding, still promising more, and that melody is made all the more substantial by it's harmonic support. What came before it and what it promises. That unexpected chord that transforms that single note or phrase. That... is supported by a rhythm that makes the tune more of a spear than a song, that's cutting through your heart. It hurts. And it's the most wonderful hurt I know bar none. If all of the above are married to a lyric that hits a part of your experience in a certain way...

 

The first time I heard Walk On the Wild Side. An odd choice perhaps, but it fits here still. I had to have been 9? I had no gay inclinations and yet the idea, that I didn't quite understand, was mind blowing. In a song? He's f*cking with my little mind all the way from New York?

 

Or the above mentioned Bacharach. "One less bell to answer." Wait, what does she mean? She's happy? No... she's not. All of that in that single phrase because of that wonderful combination of elements.

 

Or Carly singing "Anticipation......" and I was anticipating something.

 

"Why... do... birds... suddenly appear?" I think my first crush must been for Karen. How could I not fall for her? With that...

 

 

That's the stuff I look for in music. It's all pop, and I have many musical loves beyond pop, but something about great pop's ability to grab my heart and squeeze.

 

Something Justin and Fergie just can't seem to manage.

[Billster]

Root vegetables, coconut rice, and bacon.

 

I'm a fan of harmonic/melodic interplay that goes somewhere and creates different moods by shifting the relationships of those elements. For example a repeated melody with altered chords for each repeat, or static chords, with melodic variations.

[Jeff da Weasel]

Well Dick, it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

[veracohr]

What I look for in music is completely esoteric. It just needs to be something I can relate to. Music that I like typically brings back memories, initiates thoughts, or, most commonly for me, brings up some sort of nebulous "feeling". My life is so music-focused that I relate almost everything to music, and in turn music relates to me.

[blue2blue]

 

What do you look for in music?

 

 

Dark blues, some maroons and deep reds, purple, dark shades of green with flashes of flaxen brown. And, just occasionally, a splash of sunny yellow or a dab of daisy white...

[surfmaster]

simplicity.

[Jeff da Weasel]

simplicity.

 

Oooh, I have some music to sell you then. I'm as simple as could be.

[seahorse]

Something catchy. That's about it.

[Raymar]

That's a tough one for me to call, its usually a matter of I know it when I hear it. Lyrics are optional to me because the bulk of what I listen to is instrumental, although I heard an interesting line from David Byrne the other day that went "There are no Russians, there are no Yanks, only corporate criminals moving tanks". Now can you ask for more than that?

 

Recent music I've come across I like are:

 

Classical - Symphony for Cello and Orchestra by Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976). This really caught my ear, its quiet and moody, rises up and gets loud at times, difficult to follow melodies, and its done by a chamber orchestra which tends to play more intelligently and to the point.

 

Ambient Space Electronic:

Mark Mahoney and M. Peck. I like the way these guys really get into the modular synth type stuff blending it with ambient sensibilities sometimes with almost Bill Bruford like angular rhythms avoiding the trendy techno stuff, relief!

 

Phrozen Light Whoa, extremely prolific using softsynths in a modular synth style spacemusic. Inspiring, I like!

 

Film Music: Rented Insomnia a week back with Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hillary Swank. Cool film noir shot in Alaska, nice moody orchestral ambient soundtrack.

 

Novelty: Anybody into Janet Klein?

Caught her at the Silent Movie Theater in Hollywood a couple years back, totally charming.

 

Rock: What happened to rock? I wind up listening to Classic Rock, Some jam band bits, 60's-70's oldies, and some 80's stuff.

 

Jazz: Nothing new lately has caught my ear, but then I haven't been paying enough attention. If it has guitar in it my ear is caught automatically.

 

Jazz Fusion: Waiting on some new Holdsworth stuff, don't pay enough attention to this genre.

 

Me: That reminds me - I need to get into creating more music!

 

Steve

[Rekel]

Basically, a combination of sincerity, skill and the ability to touch my heart.

[dparr]

I like surprises in music!

 

A change in key, major to minor chord changes, tempo change, anything to make the song interesting.

 

A great hook is a plus to.

 

Lyrics don't have to be very deep for me. They just need to work within the song.

[Han]

Honesty and authenticity, 'the holy fire' thing, that's all.

[Rudolf von Hagenwil]

Guess what! The belly rules the mind and I am a composing vegetable man anyway.

[Rudolf von Hagenwil]

I am a big fruit man too...

[Rudolf von Hagenwil]

... a vegetable garden looks so promising and then after all little by little it grows nothing but vegetables.

[deanmass]

I listen for creativity, something in the lyrics I can identify with, something int the music that inspires me musically or gets me humming/tapping/playing ghosts chords. In some ways, I look for something familiar, and in others, something totally foreign.

 

The best thing about being into music is the variety it offers on a never ending basis.

 

And, Rasputin, you have inspired me to find a Burt B CD and give it a listen. I had no idea....Can you suggest a starting point?

[oldman2]

I listen for creativity, something in the lyrics I can identify with, something int the music that inspires me musically or gets me humming/tapping/playing ghosts chords. In some ways, I look for something familiar, and in others, something totally foreign. The best thing about being into music is the variety it offers on a never ending basis. And, Rasputin, you have inspired me to find a Burt B CD and give it a listen. I had no idea....Can you suggest a starting point?

 

Well said. Many of the responses are on the mark. Burt B. lord long time since.... brings back good memories. There was some good music from that era.

[Magpel]

 

And, Rasputin, you have inspired me to find a Burt B CD and give it a listen. I had no idea....Can you suggest a starting point?

 

 

Stick close to the Dusty Springfield ...there's been a lot of hack work perpetrated on Burt's genius

 

There was a great Indie rock Bacharach tribute record a number of years ago--I was suprised at the agility with which these bands (most of which I had never heard) handled to complexity of the material.

 

Also, his collaboration with Elvis Costello--Painted From Memory--is a very good disc if you can handle EC's voice in crooner mode (I come and go with that myself, but the material is very strong).

[nice keetee]

Stick close to the Dusty Springfield ...there's been a lot of hack work perpetrated on Burt's genius There was a great Indie rock Bacharach tribute record a number of years ago--I was suprised at the agility with which these bands (most of which I had never heard) handled to complexity of the material. Also, his collaboration with Elvis Costello--Painted From Memory--is a very good disc if you can handle EC's voice in crooner mode (I come and go with that myself, but the material is very strong).

 

A good melody is a good melody.