I don’t really like music anymore. Maybe I’m getting old and blasé? Maybe it’s just a phase? Almost any new music seem like old news to me. It’s all tried and tested formulas, tired melodies and harmonies, conservative use of rhythms and instrumentations. This is not a lamentation about pop or commercial music in specific, but more about me being seemingly unable to enjoy music. There are exceptions. Off course there are. I can think of a few very great performers or – to put it more precisely - interpreters of an existing stylistic expression that I occasionally enjoy. And some of the very experimental stuff is listenable too, though mostly as an ear opener to new approaches, i.e. when listening as a musician.
I’m not defending yesteryears music either. Just because it’s old doesn’t make it more interesting to listen to. Music that was truly original 40 odd years ago doesn’t have the same effect today. The original formulas and ideas have been copied, used and misused so much that the originals is hard to listen to today without bias. The same goes for the giants of compositional (“classic”) music. If you can listen to Bach or Mozart without the filters and distortion of the countless copycats you’re truly blessed. I’ve turned to obscure figures like Harry Partch, to name one I’ve studied recently. And although his life and philosophy are extremely interesting and inspirational, I must confess that his actual music isn’t that good. The same goes for a lot of the alternative crowd.
So what to do? Besides making music (for) myself, I’m listening more and more to the music in the surroundings. Right now I’m listening to the music in the quite office space I’m working in right now. The funky rhythm of a determined programmer pounding away on the keyboard etc. In a few ours I’ll be enjoying the music of the afternoon traffic as I drive home. Pretentious? Probably is, but right now it works for me.
Sorry for ranting.
[rant] Music is boring
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- KVRAF
- 1955 posts since 5 Sep, 2003 from Denmark
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- KVRian
- 534 posts since 18 Mar, 2002 from france
blah
Last edited by splattabreakz on Thu Apr 04, 2013 3:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
galaxy rayyys! powerful.
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- KVRAF
- 3588 posts since 13 May, 2004 from montreal
@respirator: I agree.
And no, it's not pretentious. If anything music is pretentious. Best not to take any of it too seriously.
And no, it's not pretentious. If anything music is pretentious. Best not to take any of it too seriously.
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- something special
- 8630 posts since 16 Mar, 2002 from Birmingham, Alabama
interesting thoughts. I'm a bit jaded myself, but what I'd really like to do is reinstall cubase 5.1 and write a f**king pop song in psychedelic Beatles style and I won't care that it's already been done.
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- KVRAF
- 4960 posts since 21 Oct, 2003 from UK
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- KVRAF
- 7217 posts since 21 Aug, 2004 from Trondheim, Norway
I get those funks every now and then, and often it's the most unexpected stuff that brings back my love for music. If you're anything like me, the reason youre getting into such a state is that you consume about a zillion times more music than anyone you know, and you're beginning to "get" everything too fast and miss playing the same LP to bits like you did when you were young... No?
I advice you to take it easy, don't stress it. Do something else. Suddenly one day something comes and kicks you in the face again and you're off on another adventure. And like I said, it's not always what you expect. Once, after many years of almost exclusively listening to serious 'classical' music, I was pulled straight back into the world of electric guitars and drums and aggressive energy again by a Tomahawk CD.
Another time a funk like yours was ended by Bjørk's Debut CD. It's the unexpected. After Harry Partch where do you go? Nancarrow for more polyrhythmic exstravaganza? Sallinen for more melancholy dissonance? Or AC/DC for more pussy?
Stay with us, there, mate. You'll see the light again.
I advice you to take it easy, don't stress it. Do something else. Suddenly one day something comes and kicks you in the face again and you're off on another adventure. And like I said, it's not always what you expect. Once, after many years of almost exclusively listening to serious 'classical' music, I was pulled straight back into the world of electric guitars and drums and aggressive energy again by a Tomahawk CD.
Another time a funk like yours was ended by Bjørk's Debut CD. It's the unexpected. After Harry Partch where do you go? Nancarrow for more polyrhythmic exstravaganza? Sallinen for more melancholy dissonance? Or AC/DC for more pussy?
Stay with us, there, mate. You'll see the light again.
Rakkervoksen
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- KVRian
- 534 posts since 18 Mar, 2002 from france
blah
Last edited by splattabreakz on Thu Apr 04, 2013 3:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
galaxy rayyys! powerful.
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- KVRAF
- 3158 posts since 2 Jul, 2005 from Stuck in the closet
You just summed me up perfectly.Hovmod wrote:If you're anything like me, the reason youre getting into such a state is that you consume about a zillion times more music than anyone you know, and you're beginning to "get" everything too fast and miss playing the same LP to bits like you did when you were young... No?
It's strange. Right now I'm that way too, and whenever I get into these moods, I seem to be drawn to really amateurish-sounding music.
Mizutaphile.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 1955 posts since 5 Sep, 2003 from Denmark
Two good advices came out of this: A sports car and AC/DC (Back in Black even). Then it needs to be summer...
On a serious note: I think the field recording and all the other experimental/alternative scenes are very interesting and inspirational - even beautiful sometimes, but they're demanding and not really enjoyable. So when I stated that I didn't really like music, I probably meant that I don't really enjoy music.
And to all who read this as a statement of sadness or regret or some other negative state of mind: It's not. I'm truly happy - and enjoy making music more than ever. I'm even working on a pop-electronica project with a singer (not that different from this: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... sc&start=0 ). And I enjoy good live music immensely – if it’s not too loud and the sound quality is good (I am getting old)! But recorded music is just plain boring to me. I rather listen to talk radio. Or just the surrounding noise. I think I’m more in a musical mode than ever before, but none of the available, recorded music seem to do anything for me at this time. Go figure.
On a serious note: I think the field recording and all the other experimental/alternative scenes are very interesting and inspirational - even beautiful sometimes, but they're demanding and not really enjoyable. So when I stated that I didn't really like music, I probably meant that I don't really enjoy music.
And to all who read this as a statement of sadness or regret or some other negative state of mind: It's not. I'm truly happy - and enjoy making music more than ever. I'm even working on a pop-electronica project with a singer (not that different from this: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... sc&start=0 ). And I enjoy good live music immensely – if it’s not too loud and the sound quality is good (I am getting old)! But recorded music is just plain boring to me. I rather listen to talk radio. Or just the surrounding noise. I think I’m more in a musical mode than ever before, but none of the available, recorded music seem to do anything for me at this time. Go figure.
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- Rad Grandad
- 38041 posts since 6 Sep, 2003 from Downeast Maine
no offense, but what a sad and misguided thread...I'm sorry it isn't music that's got you down...it's this thing called life. You might just as well get use to it. But the "it isn't me, it's music that sucks" attitude is a cop out imo.
A couple weeks ago I was real frustrated because life was getting in the way of my music ( http://audioshots.com/auditorium/viewtopic.php?t=2869 ) ...now that clearer heads prevail read my resolution
...it's a big world, enjoy what it has to offer...
BTW my page at spe3ds is for folks just like us...stop by...
A couple weeks ago I was real frustrated because life was getting in the way of my music ( http://audioshots.com/auditorium/viewtopic.php?t=2869 ) ...now that clearer heads prevail read my resolution
Music got you down? (it does me sometimes too)...do something else for a while...well if anyone reads this I figured out what to do...make better use of my time and stop blaming everyday life for my lack of production...
...it's a big world, enjoy what it has to offer...BTW my page at spe3ds is for folks just like us...stop by...
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.
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- KVRAF
- 6596 posts since 21 Jun, 2004 from Secret Underground Hideout
i've heard some artists here and at the auditorium that have restored my faith
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 1955 posts since 5 Sep, 2003 from Denmark
I'm not down! Please read what I wrote... I'm up. Bouncing. Happy. Wondering.Hink wrote:no offense, but what a sad and misguided thread...I'm sorry it isn't music that's got you down...it's this thing called life.