Philosophical: Technicality does not equate good music

[donkey tugger]

There ye go, remember reading this a bit back;

https://www.musicradar.com/news/eddie-v ... solo-story

[jamcat]

Why do these crap websites like music radar constantly crash and reload? It makes it near impossible to read an entire article. Do they do it on purpose to extract more clicks from their pop-ups?

After about 20 reloads and scrolling back to where I left off, I was able to complete the article.

[sssyntax]

Hi there, some people really like technical music for various reasons, which is great.
Problems can start if the appreciation of technical ability curdles in to an elitist mind set.
I believe that technical music has its valuable place and while it has its merits, so does most music.
It is just is just one facet on a very large diamond.
That does not make it better than other music any more than a formula one car is the best kind of car because it is sophisticated and goes really fast.

[swilow11]

Tend to agree that technicality often comes with a cost to feeling, but not always and it's not always a bad thing. I like stuff like French black metal band Deathspell Omega- highly technical, dissonant, odd structures, but with a genuine feeling of chaos and darkness. OTOH, some tech death metal stuff just leaves me cold.

I mainly produce "forest" psytrance which is atmospheric but mainly focused on tasty sound design and timbre as opposed to emotion. As someone who is strongly drawn to melody, I find this style very challenging because I have to move past my instinct to inject melody and focus instead on textures and production. It challenging and heaps of fun.

[Greenstorm33]

The only objective criterion for "good" music is that it succeeds at whatever it's supposed to do. If you make extremely technical death metal that's admired by your fellow metal musicians, it's good music. If you make a pop song and it becomes the 10th most popular song in the world, it's good music. If you make something for yourself that you love, it's good music.

Subjectively, anything goes. There are people whose definition of good music is instrumental virtuosity. There are people whose definition of good music is music that has great groove. There are people whose definition of good music is music with complex sound design. Like what you like and don't worry about what other people are listening to.

[mjolnir]

I really miss some of the good technical music of the 90s and early 2000s.
I can't find much music that pleases me much anymore.

There's parts of Kpop that are really impressive both technically and musically, but they often mess it up with dumb DISCO throwbacks and some wierd fakey hip hop gangsta hype. But otherwise Kpop is surprisingly fresh a lot of the time to my ears. But I really crave some the 90s electronic hits that YouTube doesn't ever feature.

[Lerian]

The deeper you go into any topic, the more details you notice, and if you are active into that topic, the more details you need to infuse to feel that your creation is not boring. That's why some buy expensive FX, when a free version would do 99.95% the same thing - and when put in song, they would sound exactly the same to the listener, even on high end speakers.

Everyone drifts away into technicalities if they won't explicitly follow a guideline. Writers, painters, designers, directors, they all do it one way or another. And the technicalities ARE interesting, at least to the artists who make them. Otherwise the inside critic would not want to even release it, because its not interesting enough. This also applies to consuming. The more you expose yourself to complex music/food/art/etc, the more complex music/etc you seem to be able to enjoy. That's why the concept of "acquired taste" exists.

Anecdotal funny thing: almost all people that I know of who are listening to IDM, are also musicians themselves or graphical artists who also play with sound. To me its proof that its all about training - the same way any musician trains their ears, or MMA fighters their muscles and kicks.

As for the venetian snares and the breakcore vibe, there are good songs and boring songs too, all depends on one's mood, where they come from, what they had before, what drugs they're on, etc. There is emotional content in there, and there's groove, regardless of the technical "show off", which I don't perceive as such. Sure, its not that emotional and entertaining as Igorrr, but still there. What you call "show off", to him could be just a regular monday.

[planetearth]

Why do these crap websites like music radar constantly crash and reload? It makes it near impossible to read an entire article. Do they do it on purpose to extract more clicks from their pop-ups?

After about 20 reloads and scrolling back to where I left off, I was able to complete the article.

Out of curiosity, are you trying to read the article on an iPhone? I've found that Music Radar's site constantly crashes any iPhone/iPad browser except for Safari, and only when an ad blocker (like uBlock Origin) is used. Then it's smooth sailing.

I'm not opposed to letting Music Radar get some revenue from me visiting the site and scrolling past ads for things I'll never buy anyway. But something about the way the ads are implemented on the site causes more problems than the articles are usually worth.

Steve

[_leras]

So I don't think it depends on the genre, but just execution in general. I think most music sounds better without removing "right imperfections". The same with classical. There's more character in a mid-level player with some pitch off-sets and all compared to the elite player that only does perfect takes. But certainly sometimes the imperfections are too much, sometimes they're too less.

Yeah, but when you get the elite player that can impart feel and emotion then it's not really close.

That said I do think that there's something about hearing people playing at the edge of their ability that can be pretty special to hear, when there's feeling imparted but also you can feel that the musician is really trying hard and pushing themselves.

I do think it's possible to have both technicality and emotion.

[vurt]

see - the shaggs, naive musicians (sisters, made to play by their father, but with no musical training, other than dad had heard pop music on the radio) who put together a record within weeks of buying cheap instruments, it Sat in a box unreleased for years, now it's a cult classic, protopunk/noise/grunge album, lauded by many!

[planetearth]

So I don't think it depends on the genre, but just execution in general. I think most music sounds better without removing "right imperfections". The same with classical. There's more character in a mid-level player with some pitch off-sets and all compared to the elite player that only does perfect takes. But certainly sometimes the imperfections are too much, sometimes they're too less.

Yeah, but when you get the elite player that can impart feel and emotion then it's not really close.

That said I do think that there's something about hearing people playing at the edge of their ability that can be pretty special to hear, when there's feeling imparted but also you can feel that the musician is really trying hard and pushing themselves.

I do think it's possible to have both technicality and emotion.

Indeed, it is. David Gilmour, the "Comfortably Numb" solo.

Steve

[Uncle E]

Indeed, it is. David Gilmour, the "Comfortably Numb" solo.

Yes. Pretty much every David Gilmour solo, even his stuff in the 80s. Jeff Beck, too.

[crimsonwarlock]

Jeff Beck, too.

... and Steve Hackett.

[jamcat]

Indeed, it is. David Gilmour, the "Comfortably Numb" solo.

Yes. Pretty much every David Gilmour solo, even his stuff in the 80s. Jeff Beck, too.

My favourite David Gilmour solo (and song) is High Hopes. But it’s actually a lap steel guitar.

[mjolnir]

I feel that it depends upon which instruments are being played and which genre it is. For example...
A lot of electronic music depends highly on technicality and not "performance"; that is to say, most of us aren't using synths like violins or something; and were not trying to be virtuosos. Nevertheless, we are trying to get "good sound" which usually involves a technical aesthetic. (or an aesthetic technique).