Why does modern electronic dance music sound like...

[Acid Mitch]

That's narrow minded BS. I'm a drummer. Are you telling me I'm not making music when I do a drum solo, because you can't whistle what I'm playing?
.

Drummers aren't musicians, they just hit things.
There's tons of music that doesn't get whistled.

[Acid Mitch]

I know this sounds radical, but no-one's going to remember any of those EDM songs in a few years from now, whereas Mozart, Bach, the Beatles, Abba and a lot of other real artists will be listened to even in a hundred years from now.

There's a lot of music from all times that no one remembers.
And how do you know the aim is to make something lasting ? Some things are made for the moment.

To cut it short: If you can remember and whistle a tune, it's music. If not, it's simply (electronic) noise.

So the stuff made on acoustic instruments that can't be (or doesn't get) whistled is electronic noise ?

[hibidy]

Silly

[ZenPunkHippy]

Remember when you were a kid and the THX sound came on at the cinema? And you really, really wanted it to go on forever ... or longer than a minute, because it sounds freakin' awesome?

You can do that now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKbviqsfFIo

NOTE: this is not my kind of party / festival / event. The point is that it's not just about the beats. As always in these debates, the tracks are being taken out of context, criticised for something they are not and never were meant to be

[Teezdalien]

Because it's not music. As simple as that. Music is defined by harmonies and melodies which people can (or should be able to) memorize, sing along with, or whistle. If you can't memorize a tune, or if you can't even whistle the melody of an EDM song because there is no melody in there, it's not music.



To cut it short: If you can remember and whistle a tune, it's music. If not, it's simply (electronic) noise.

This is an incredibly myopic way of defining what music actually is.

[paterpeter]

Drummers aren't musicians, they just hit things.

You have no idea how often I hear that

[arkmabat]

good drumming makes or breaks a song imo

[Acid Mitch]

You have no idea how often I hear that

The old ones are the best, not like those disposable modern jokes that no one remembers.
You don't even have to be a comedian to tell them.

[Gamma-UT]

To cut it short: If you can remember and whistle a tune, it's music. If not, it's simply (electronic) noise.

If you whistle "the tune" to a Palestrina motet, you've missed the point.

[Kriminal]

I'm a drummer.

what are you doing on a music forum?

[Kriminal]

good drumming makes or breaks a song imo

No, good drumming makes a song, bad drumming breaks it. Hence drum machines.

[arkmabat]

You got me... haha.

But seriously, there's multiple drummers on this forum. No reason why we can't be open to more than heavy rock music. Learning to appreciate all the aspects of music.

[MFXxx]

Drummers aren't musicians, they just hit things.

You have no idea how often I hear that

...and that's why the drummer, always get;s the Laydeees

If you go way back to the roots of music it's tribal and it's purely beats followed by woodwind along with chanting!!!

[Nokenoku]

Of course this new kind of cheapish EDM is still music ...

But it's the wrong music.

[ariston]

I don't really get why this is so important. Thing is, we here (or most of us here, I'd wager) LOVE music. We take time and actually LISTEN to it. We discover new things, develop a deeper understanding and appreciation, and, naturally, we have certain standards that have developed over time.

(I said this before somewhere else, but I remember a study done in Germany in the early 90s that revealed the average number of times a CD gets listened to: 2 point something. Yes madam and sir, that's TWICE. How many times have you listened to Led Zeppelin II? Or the Richard D. James album? Or Mozart's Requiem? Can you imagine only listening to that shit twice? In your entire life? )

It may be hard to contemplate or even *gasp* understand, but we are in the minority. To most people, music is at best a pleasant backdrop for their lives. This is neither here nor there, these folks merely have other priorities - it doesn't make them bad, or dumb, or both. To them, music is a utility, and it provides a certain function. Most EDM is functional music in this sense. It's not meant to survive the ages, it's not meant to provide intellectual stimulation, it's to get people dancing. And it obviously works for a lot of people. So what? A lot of classical music is pure fluff composed for aristocrat gatherings. Fluff has its place in the grand scheme of things as well as the weighty stuff.