KVR Audio

A.M. Gold · Post by **A.M. Gold** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:14 am

As far as contrast, more vs. less melody, harder vs. softer beats, etc., that sounds fine to me, but how much contrast is there really in the DJ dominated dance scene of today?

A.M. Gold · Post by **A.M. Gold** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:24 am

ZenPunkHippy wrote:Ignoring the 4 to the floor beat and the filter sweeps, there is plenty of melody in this track ...

Thanks, Andy.

Well, as I said, I didn't start this thread to argue about the definition of melody but (strictly to my ears) this just isn't what I call melody. I heard essentially a 2 or 3 note bass riff that spanned the entirety of the piece and then I heard very brief little accents in the upper range (little riffs, I guess is what I would call them), and then I heard some pretty simple chord pads. Other than that it was all 4/4 based drums.

I didn't think it was bad, just not melodic. This sounded like typical trance to me but I'm not educated enough on the genre breakdowns to know if that's an accurate label for it.

ZenPunkHippy · Post by **ZenPunkHippy** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:28 am

A.M. Gold wrote:Melodically, this doesn't sound anything like any kind of trance I've ever heard, but maybe someone can show me some contrary examples (this was one of his biggest hits and it is uptempo which means people were definitely dancing to it)

That is a classic track, no doubt about it. The thing is, at the time I bet there was plenty of dross that hasn't stood the test of time.

We may need to wait 50 years to judge todays music. In the mean time we're kinda forced to listen to a lot of crap - and it's particularly bad now as we have powerful commercial forces vying for out attention at every step, forcing music down our throats with cross-licensing deals to promote burgers and cars.

Peace,
Andy.

A.M. Gold · Post by **A.M. Gold** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:35 am

ZenPunkHippy wrote:
A.M. Gold wrote:Melodically, this doesn't sound anything like any kind of trance I've ever heard, but maybe someone can show me some contrary examples (this was one of his biggest hits and it is uptempo which means people were definitely dancing to it)
That is a classic track, no doubt about it. The thing is, at the time I bet there was plenty of dross that hasn't stood the test of time.

We may need to wait 50 years to judge todays music. In the mean time we're kinda forced to listen to a lot of crap - and it's particularly bad now as we have powerful commercial forces vying for out attention at every step, forcing music down our throats with cross-licensing deals to promote burgers and cars.

Peace,
Andy.

True, but they've been doing that for decades. Michael Jackson caught his hair on fire making a Pepsi commercial.

I could accept that that may have been the beginning of the end (i.e. the second half of the 80's) of much of the integrity of pop music (and by extension dance music), but it wasn't the sole assassin.

I still maintain that DJ's got a hold of Abelton and that was like a stake in the heart of melody and composition at the forefront of dance music.

Here's another example of something lots of people danced to at one time (and these guys could really write a song):

ZenPunkHippy · Post by **ZenPunkHippy** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:41 am

OK, one of the key things that might be missing here ... it's non-obvious when listening on a pair of headphones or speakers at home.

BASS IS AWESOME!

Listening to ridiculously loud bass of any form be it dubstep or trance is IMO pure joy. But it's best experience at very high volume, with a large group of like minded people.

Don't get me wrong, I love all music and absolutely respect the songs you've posted - it's in a league of it's own in many ways, and will likely never be repeated. But I also love modern music for what it is: a lot of fun, and incredibly social / people oriented when experienced at the right event - and no amount of melody can replace that aspect of it.

Peace,
Andy.

Lerian · Post by **Lerian** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:41 am

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:44 am

kbaccki wrote:
A.M. Gold wrote:Here is another well known melodic (IMO) dance song:
That to me is a 3 chord pop song...

But a deliciously catchy 3 chord pop song. I like to turn the dance floor with that at the end of a house set. It just screams, "oh yeah, he's done now."

Aiynzahev · Post by **Aiynzahev** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:44 am

ZenPunkHippy · Post by **ZenPunkHippy** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:50 am

This track by Axis of Awesome (the guys who performed "4 Chords") sums up modern club music very well

Brilliant!

A.M. Gold · Post by **A.M. Gold** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:58 am

Hey, I can certainly relate to the sonic power of simple bass and drums parts, but as a composer (I'm 44 BTW) I personally need more than that to engage me for very long. I guess in a club with a couple drinks in me it might be a different story.

But I'm of the firm opinion that people danced to very melodic music in the past so, unless our collective DNA very abruptly morphed into something different than it was 30+ years ago, there is no barrier in the human brain to responding to upbeat melodic music with the desire to dance. At a personal level, I find strong combinations of rhythm and melody actually make me want to move my body even more than just strong rhythm and sonic power.

This isn't "typical" dance music, but I think it falls in the category of Latin dance, and it was the most successful single of the entire decade of the 2000's:

Lerian · Post by **Lerian** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 3:01 am

ZenPunkHippy wrote:This track by Axis of Awesome (the guys who performed "4 Chords") sums up modern club music very well

Brilliant!

+1

A.M. Gold · Post by **A.M. Gold** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 3:05 am

Lerian wrote:
ZenPunkHippy wrote:This track by Axis of Awesome (the guys who performed "4 Chords") sums up modern club music very well

Brilliant!
+1

Agreed, very funny. Good parody.

Bronto Scorpio · Post by **Bronto Scorpio** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 3:05 am

AstralExistence · Post by **AstralExistence** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 3:41 am

A.M. Gold wrote:Hey, I can certainly relate to the sonic power of simple bass and drums parts, but as a composer (I'm 44 BTW) I personally need more than that to engage me for very long. I guess in a club with a couple drinks in me it might be a different story.

But I'm of the firm opinion that people danced to very melodic music in the past so, unless our collective DNA very abruptly morphed into something different than it was 30+ years ago, there is no barrier in the human brain to responding to upbeat melodic music with the desire to dance. At a personal level, I find strong combinations of rhythm and melody actually make me want to move my body even more than just strong rhythm and sonic power.

This isn't "typical" dance music, but I think it falls in the category of Latin dance, and it was the most successful single of the entire decade of the 2000's:

man i cant stand her voice! but the absolute worse pro singing voice i ever heard was macy grey

A.M. Gold · Post by **A.M. Gold** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 4:30 am

It's her dancing I can't deal with. Her voice is quirky but I like it. I love the song.

Show me some melody in modern electronic music.