Commercial electronic music in the future

[Bunnyboy]

Lets ask the Guardian shall we...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/musi ... 16,00.html

w00t!!11!! OMG!!!!!11!! IT IS TEH L33T!!11!!!

[snooky]

but how artistcally intereting would it be?

Everyone and their dogs uses some presets or other..I for one hate it when I hear a sound I recognise...takes the insperation out of the tune...be original and this becomes a non issue!

[Bunnyboy]

but how artistcally intereting would it be?

Everyone and their dogs uses some presets or other..I for one hate it when I hear a sound I recognise...takes the insperation out of the tune...be original and this becomes a non issue!

Not the point. The 13-year-olds are not going to go "god I remember when they used to use real OSCars." no, they will put on their kappa trackies and burberry caps, hurry to the shops, buy the singles, and then do it again next week

[donkey tugger]

Hellllllloooo laydeez, do you like my new wig?

[tetraplan]

For all the advanced sofware we have at our disposal today, I get the impression that most commercial tunes these days involves two instances of Synth1, something that goes boom and a female singer with a random European accent.

Groet, Erik

[snooky]

Well then, then there's only one solution...Lock up all teh kidz untill they know better and start appriciating real music...

[Bunnyboy]

For all the advanced sofware we have at our disposal today, I get the impression that most commercial tunes these days involves two instances of Synth1, something that goes boom and a female singer with a random European accent.

Groet, Erik

Hmm, my task for tomorrow is....

[paul minot]

Hellos

This is kinda of a follow on from my experimental music Vs messing around (21st century style) post

This is to do with the "electronic music develops in structure and design with the development of the software/hardware" debate.

This is mostly to do with commercial electronic music as stuff like autechre and the AFX will be doing their own thing forever (I forsee Autechre developing mind-meld-music devices and the twin starting to use tin pots only ).

Anyway. Hosts, synths, effects are getting more and more complex. Things like the "8-bar First Contact" preset on the Z3ta+ are amazing. That preset can act as the basis for an entire tune

Also with synths like Z3ta+, Rhino, Absynth, Crystal and the like, the patches have so much depth, timbres and overwhelming content.
By playing just one note (never mind chords ) a beautiful/rhythmic/harsh/dancy sound can be created.

Anyway the point I am getting at, is that I think that commercial electronic music will get more and more simplistic in the writing as the sounds used will become more and more complex. A case of music writing itself?
Why spend time creating chord structres when the presets do it for you? Or if you are a twiddler, just create the biggest patch possible and play the same note throughout the tune

(Note: this is not a dig at the use of presets -presets are ace and help me a lot for many reasons)

Conversely, with the wider proliferation and availability of these synth, as well as SuperCollider, PD, Max/MSP etc, the Bedroom musician/Serious avant-garde artist fine line will become more and more blurred

So, what do you all think

[yeah, this post is elitest, but the music i am talking about - and you know the styles! - is not really music, IMHO, but a product]

My feelings EXACTLY! That's why last birthday when I was buying myself a new synth plug, I opted for Oddity instead of one of the additive synths. I was very impressed with the sounds, but couldn't figure out how to incorporate them into tunes in my head. I would play a preset, tweak it into some other sound that was equally complex but "original", but the sound pretty much dictated the rest of the composition. By getting the Oddity, I have to tame an essential feral electronic beast into musicality. Makes even twee tunes sound raw. Cool!

I think that we are likely heading into some degree of "sound fatigue", where the novelty of complex sounds will induce yawns, and people will long for songs and words. That's why the guitar is still quite popular, and repeatedly resurges--it's a noisemaker, but innately personal.

I think that the future focus of independent electronic music will shift to the use of the computer STUDIO rather than the synths--e.g. manipulation of voice, instruments, etc., a la Todd and Eno, and like Beck did on Odelay. I think the DAW is GROSSLY underutilized by electronic musicians nowadays--people are emulating established studio practices, rather than inventing their own. Simon and Garfunkel recorded the rhythm track of "Cecilia" by beating it out on a piano bench. How many allegedly "cutting edge" DAW users try anything that weird?

[macha]

maybe we are getting to the point where producers are in fact software consumers and that music software is the new interactive product that will take over part of the market for conventional records. maybe that is why peter gabriel thinks that his interactive "noodle" remixing website is the future.
for us dedicated electronic music producers it is now the time to invent new styles of music instead of confirming to already existing genres. the true artist does not think of marketing and related issues.

[endmusik]

I just have to say, as I head off to mail a ton of cd's out to pre-orderers and to some record labels, that the wretch is the future of commercial electronic music

ok, that's my mandatory smartass comment for the month of october - tune in in november to see what crazy shit I spout!

[WillieJenkins]

I'm with macha in a way.

I think a real artist concerned with making music has some kind of idea in their minds what they want to accomplish, and (this is my own stream of thought here) will use as much or as few tools as they feel to get the job done.

I dont' think using presets is necc. such a bad thing. Sound designers create presets to be used in songs. Whether or not we use them is up to the individual artist I think.

One thing I think we overstate here (in the electronic music world, especially here at kvr) is the need for DIY everything. For example, if you really want to explore layered textures of synths, over a generic drumbeat, I don't think theres anything wrong with using some drum loops. Its akin to someone who writes a bebop jazz tune, you don't actually notate the drum lines, you just have a competent musician who can play in that style. Thats essentially what drum loops are.

Now, if the goal of the composer is to do everything oneself, thats fine too, but we should impose that restriction on everyone else. People make music for different reasons

[mauseoleum]

maybe that is why peter gabriel thinks that his interactive "noodle" remixing website is the future.

maybe he's been lookin at acidplanet and - yes, they have been doing those *contests* for ages.

[sdv]

Hopefully we'll all be writing commercial jingles someday to pay off our software habits!

[Steven West]

I look at all the electronic instruments now like going into a hardware store now. You got your basic shovels, garden shovels, snow shovels - some have improvements on them, some are just standard. Same with hammers, same with outlets, same with doorknobs.
Ocassionally, you may find a radical NEW tool like The Garden Weasel, or The Pocket Fisherman (if you're not old enough to remember that one - it does kinda sound perverted! ) You might really be into fishing, and leave the Garden Weasel untouched in your garage, or vice versa.

But I truely think ALL synths are becoming as standard as Gibson and Fenders on rock kids. I'm sure Eddie Van Halen doesn't give a rats ass about what Blink 182 uses, nor do they care about what Eddie uses. They got their guitars they like, and Eddies got his. Whether they're 'vintage', 'modded', or 'off the shelf' - they're just friggin' guitars!
One just slightly different than the other in tone and style. Cram it through pedals and studio racks - whose going to know? If Blink 182 tries to play a Van Halen song, they're no doubt going to sound shitty - even with the best axe and engineers to set them up. Same can be said about Eddie (though that guys SO good, he maybe able to pull it off?)

I just look for NEW sounds is all now. Whether a Swedish pop band uses a SH-5 through a Space Echo, or some techno band from Austin uses Palm Pilots and specially designed software - that's their axe!

And you rarely see improvements on a axe at a hardware store.

[SuitcaseOfLizards]

Ok, I'm going to shoot my mouth (and, possibly, other body parts) off! Run for the hills! Full disclosure: this posting powered by beer!

I'm seriously oldskool - for me, a song should express an emotion or tell a story, be it as simple as "I'm horny and drunk" to the complexities of teen existential angst. As far as I'm concerned, the tools of electronic music as of this moment - VST/i and modular sequencing environments - are just the "means to an end". Sometimes the "one finger tune" patch, suitably layered and/or buggered into incomprehensibility, does the job.. sometimes a more simple timbre works better. The concept, at least for me, is that the technology serves to deliver the message.. it isn't the message in and of itself.

Back on topic honestly, I suspect there's a hidden "conservation of complexity" going on right now (and mayhaps, has been forever). When you have simple timbres, you need to "fill" the arrangement with many of them, or complex patterns. But, when you have a single timbre that occupies a vast field of "sonic space", to keep from ending up with audio mush you must perforce limit the number of timbres and the complexity of the arrangement. So you can "sound good" (whatever THAT means) with just a single synth running an insanely complex patch, some drums, and (if you want) the obligatory female singer with some j. random accent.

Back to me beer...