Some times I think I've lived too long...'cuz I really don't get it!

[Prana Ferox]

Theater has been popular for at last 3,000 years, does not make it music.

Where does this leave musicals and opera?

I've heard enough modern jazz I'd describe as 'bloops and scranks' but I wouldn't banish it from the musical realm. And to be frank I've heard weirder still.

 

[Xulonn]

If you're a baby boomer, younger generations of musicians haven't shown you anything you haven't heard before, so respectfully, I don't get why you're so puzzled.

LOL - I was born five years before the beginning of the baby boomer generation, which began after the end of WWII. And my "puzzlement" was pretty much "tongue in cheek", which like satire, can be easily overlooked. Here is the number one song from the year I was born:

And this was the number one song the year I started 1st Grade:

The number two song the year I started high school - the transition to rock and roll was just beginning:

And finally, my favorite Top 40 song when I graduated from high school in 1960 - rock and roll was rising rapidly:

 

[MZKM]

I never heard of Billie Eilish before this thread, and have no interest in ever listening to her again.

I assume you will then not be going out to department stores or casual restaurants In the future (ignoring the current virus situation). The first time I ever heard her was while eating at a Chipotle.

 

[xykreinov]

Thank you for posting this. Made my implicit understanding of why I don't like lots of modern music and very much like lots of video game music, especially those somewhat obscure of the latter (in a sense) like Zun's works, more explicit.
I don't like Billie Eilish's music or her "decreepy" genre . Seems to be purposefully appealing to an alarmingly growing crowd of young self-diagnosers with learned helplessness. Reminds me of the "lofi" fad. LTCorbis made a nice video on that: https://ia803009.us.archive.org/4/i...Pyb4Z-tZPs) [20180712] (613s) [1920x1080].mp4

 

[Doodski]

LOL - I was born five years before the beginning of the baby boomer generation, which began after the end of WWII. And my "puzzlement" was pretty much "tongue in cheek", which like satire, can be easily overlooked. Here is the number one song from the year I was born:

And this was the number one song the year I started 1st Grade:

The number two song the year I started high school - the transition to rock and roll was just beginning:

And finally, my favorite Top 40 song when I graduated from high school in 1960 - rock and roll was rising rapidly:

All common songs we used to jive to at the local dances we held in the community for the youth of my day. I'm somewhere around maybe 24 years younger. Times had not changed all that much at the time.

 

[gikigill]

If rap isnt music, then Jazz is just an excuse to get the notes wrong

 

[Doodski]

If rap isnt music, then Jazz is just an excuse to get the notes wrong

I think not all rap isn't music just some rap. Some of it is poetry to a bass beat.

 

[Xulonn]

I never heard of Billie Eilish before this thread, and have no interest in ever listening to her again.

My interest is not in her music as much as her influence on modern youth culture - as well as her reflection of it.

 

[StevenEleven]

Here’s some more of that damn rap stuff. Those yutes are out of control. Just listen to this loser. Heaven help us. Someone should put the fear of God into to this guy.

Oh yeah, never mind, he‘s dead now.

 

[hyperplanar]

If you're a baby boomer, younger generations of musicians haven't shown you anything you haven't heard before, so respectfully, I don't get why you're so puzzled.

What about the developments in electronic music? There’s new synthesizers and effect plugins coming out every year that can be used to make sounds people haven’t heard before.

 

[Doodski]

Here’s some more of that damn rap stuff. Those yutes are out of control. Just listen to this loser. Heaven help us. Someone should put the fear of God into to this guy.

Oh yeah, never mind, he‘s dead now.

More poetry done with a backbeat.

 

[RayDunzl]

What about the developments in electronic music? There’s new synthesizers and effect plugins coming out every year that can be used to make sounds people haven’t heard before.

Those are tools.

It's what you build with them that matters more, to me.

 

[xykreinov]

Those are tools.

It's what you build with them that matters more, to me.

I really like the backing beat and bass-line of Bad Guy; it does use sounds I've never heard before. But, like you said, fancy tools alone can't magically make good music. I'd rather listen to any improvisation by my composer friend on the ancient out of tune practice piano with a bag clip replacing one of the keys in high school than this "decreepy" stuff.
Well, to be fair, I'd rather listen to it than a lot of stuff. This guy's good : P

 

[solderdude]

I always thought one cannot aurgue about taste ?
Are there any objective measurements/numbers that can show music is 'good' ? (not talking about recording quality)

 

[Wombat]

Thank you for posting this. Made my implicit understanding of why I don't like lots of modern music and very much like lots of video game music, especially those somewhat obscure of the latter (in a sense) like Zun's works, more explicit.
I don't like Billie Eilish's music or her "decreepy" genre . Seems to be purposefully appealing to an alarmingly growing crowd of young self-diagnosers with learned helplessness. Reminds me of the "lofi" fad. LTCorbis made a nice video on that: https://ia803009.us.archive.org/4/i...Pyb4Z-tZPs) [20180712] (613s) [1920x1080].mp4

I listened to an interview with her and she stated that she likes messing with peoples minds. Pretty immature.

 

[Wombat]

I think not all rap isn't music just some rap. Some of it is poetry to a bass beat.

Agree. Some have added overtones or undertones of conventional music. The poetry, or mostly rhyming banter, is still dominant or it wouldn't be rap.

 

[xykreinov]

Agree. Some have added overtones or undertones of conventional music. The poetry, or mostly rhyming banter, is still dominant or it wouldn't be rap.

My main problem with most rap is how meaningless or uninteresting the lyrics are. I'm cool with some nice poetry to a beat, but so much of the time it's just ego stroking, elementary moralizing, or corporate boot-licking to a beat. That's lame.

 

[Eetu]

I think not all rap isn't music just some rap. Some of it is poetry to a bass beat.

You have the right to not like it but the fact that rap emphasizes rhythm over melody does not make it less music. From Wikipedia:

"Music is an art form, and cultural activity, whose medium is sound. General definitions of music include common elements such as pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping; there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces (such as songs without instrumental accompaniment) and pieces that combine singing and instruments."

This is basic stuff guys..

 

[Doodski]

emphasizes rhythm over melody

I never thought of it this way before.. you changed my ideas in a better way.

 

[RayDunzl]

You have the right to not like it but the fact that rap emphasizes rhythm over melody does not make it less music.

Let's ask an expert!

"What is music? Anything can be music, but it doesn't become music until someone wills it to be music, and the audience listening to it decides to perceive it as music.

Most people can't deal with that abstraction -- or don't want to. " - F.Z.

This is basic stuff guys..