From daniel Sent Sat, Oct 18th 1997, 10:22
From daniel Sent Sat, Oct 18th 1997, 10:22
So I have been reading all these posts about formula music and deciding
whether to comment or not. But then it occurred to me that at least we
are discussing music.
Formulas do exist. They exist in all facets of music. Even
classical has a formula. Occasionally someone will break from the crowd
and do something different. Does formula make it bad? No, a song can be
formula and still be quite good as long as they make it their own. This
can be achieved in many ways. Through the use of odd sounds or a peculiar
arrangement of said formula. A lot of us out there want the creation of
music to be complicated and to be highly innovative. We believe it cannot
be good with out these factors. I would agree that innovation is
important if not essential to having a lasting piece of music. However,
complicated music is another story. I do not know how many of you have
actually sat down with a drum machine/synthesizer but, I can tell you some
things are extremely easy to do. Synth sweeps are a cinch and for those
odd sounds a twist of a knob can do wonders. So does this mean anyone can
make SAW II? NO. Behind it all is the artist. It is the artist who
makes it great. The artist who pours their spirit into the
piece and who arranges the patterns in a certain way. That is all
music really is, the arrangement of patterns. But in the end it is the
artist who makes it great. If you as an artist don't have that certain
spark then no matter what you do and what you copy (or what formula you
follow) it will never be great.
So where am I going with all this? To reiterate formulas are the
basis of music of any sort and when an artist relies on said formula the
music becomes dull. That is they do not make the formula their own.
IMHO electronica right now is suffering from that. To many people are
following a formula and not making the formula their own. Perhaps I am
not exposed to the proper artists. All I know is recently I have tended
more towards jazz than IDM. The innovation in jazz is extreme. Some IDM
artists sill amaze me. Namely black dog, les jeameux <sp?>, jega and a
few others. One IDM label that has my attention is emissions audio
output. The artists on there follow a formula to a degree. But they
aren't afraid to take chances. Use odd sounds, odd beats etc. A good
example is The 2 lone swordsman. They are brilliant in how they apply
their insight to downtempo, techno and house. Blue and being do things
in a similar manner. That is they make the formula their own. Another
label to look into is Plug Research. The stuff they are putting out is
very experimental and taking chances.
Perhaps this is to much over analyzing. Perhaps I should drop the
needle onto a piece of wax and groove.
just my two cents
n.p. Jan Hanford - vespers <real audio transmission>; quite nice.