Is rhythm not emphasized enough today in music?

[scorpionldr]

I've been wondering lately what could be improved with music overall, and it seems like all musics (barring rap/jazz) all follow a stock tempo and stock set of rhythms. Anyone else feel like music today is suffering because of it?

[santucci218]

who is to say that we cant have music like that? there is a TON of music that doesnt follow a specific easy rhythm and tempo. Its just like, evil would not exist without good. So, I argue that ****ty music must exist in order to have technical "good" music. If everything was good, then it would just be average.

[scorpionldr]

I don't know though, I keep on looking back into history, and I'm like "we came from BACH, the father of musical invention, to Tina Turner, Kanye West, Fallout Boy, and The Jonas Brothers. ***?"

It'd be nice to hear an instrumental melody line in modern music for once these days, too, rather than just voice. And maybe something other than quarter notes and eighth notes..

[4bpauly]

interesting question... don't know the answer

but "barring rap"?

rap has probably the most recognizable and least strayed from rhythmic patterns out there.

other than that, i would be interested to hear what others have to say.

[santucci218]

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

I don't know though, I keep on looking back into history, and I'm like "we came from BACH, the father of musical invention, to Tina Turner, Kanye West, Fallout Boy, and The Jonas Brothers. ***?"

It'd be nice to hear an instrumental melody line in modern music for once these days, too, rather than just voice. And maybe something other than quarter notes and eighth notes..

Then it's your fault for not looking harder for better music.

Contemporary bands that have tons of crazy stuff going on

Protest The Hero
Dream Theater
Symphony X
Sikth
Between The Buried and Me
Estradasphere
The Fall of Troy
Joe Satriani
Steve Vai
Justin King
Paul Gilbert
Porcupine Tree
Ron Jarzombek
Blotted Science


And thats just me getting started. Anyways, contemporary music isnt just music thats on MTV and the radio, so start looking.

[sarcastro83]

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

I don't know though, I keep on looking back into history, and I'm like "we came from BACH, the father of musical invention, to Tina Turner, Kanye West, Fallout Boy, and The Jonas Brothers. ***?"

It'd be nice to hear an instrumental melody line in modern music for once these days, too, rather than just voice. And maybe something other than quarter notes and eighth notes..

None of the above artists are even remotely alike... well... maybe Fallout Boy and The Jonas Brothers and that's pushing it... not trying to offend, but I think that music is just simply too massive an entity for the initial statement to hold any weight...

[Otso]

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

I don't know though, I keep on looking back into history, and I'm like "we came from BACH, the father of musical invention, to Tina Turner, Kanye West, Fallout Boy, and The Jonas Brothers. ***?"

I'd consider rock and other forms of popular music to be more connected with a folkmusic-like tradition, rather than the same tradition of musical invention that J.S.Bach and his predecessors and successors present.

[Pilgrim]

Try a little jazz. Lots of different rhythms and interesting thongs going on there.

[dave64o]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

Try a little jazz. Lots of different rhythms and interesting thongs going on there.

I'm sure the average jazzer would look rather interesting in a thong, though I really don't think I want to see it to find out.





But back on topic ... As others have said, there's an awful lot of great music with all kinds of musically interesting things going on in it. And it's easy to find too - check ANYWHERE but on the radio and the popular music charts.

[P. Aaron]

Originally Posted by dave64o

I'm sure the average jazzer would look rather interesting in a thong, though I really don't think I want to see it to find out.

But back on topic ... As others have said, there's an awful lot of great music with all kinds of musically interesting things going on in it. And it's easy to find too - check ANYWHERE but on the radio and the popular music charts.

There are plenty of bands & music out there that is refreshing, retro, modern, or just plain inventive. What would be refreshing is to see FM radio (or AM) play a wider range of those artists' tunes.

I also tire of the tonal-rythymic trends that pop music producers and execs latch onto and beat to death. But then again, radio stations, whatever's left of recording studios & the bean counters are looking at paying next month's bills based on what they know sells today. DJ's have little say in the programming.

Dudes in thongs, whether they be Jazz players or not...that's just plain wrong.

[scorpionldr]

Originally Posted by dave64o

But back on topic ... As others have said, there's an awful lot of great music with all kinds of musically interesting things going on in it. And it's easy to find too - check ANYWHERE but on the radio and the popular music charts.

its a good point, but in the initial posting of names my point was to try and draw an artist from every big genre.

As for avoiding radio...if music isn't worthy of getting play on the radio, isn't it sort of just going to waste based on the fact that it becomes music for a private niche of people?

[santucci218]

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

its a good point, but in the initial posting of names my point was to try and draw an artist from every big genre.

As for avoiding radio...if music isn't worthy of getting play on the radio, isn't it sort of just going to waste based on the fact that it becomes music for a private niche of people?

Not all music was made for money, believe it or not.

[scorpionldr]

Originally Posted by santucci218

Not all music was made for money, believe it or not.

For one, people have to make a living, even in music. Second, I've never seen a chart listing corresponding amounts of dollars in relation to certain rhythmic dictations of note. Nor have I seen that certain notes/rhythms are applicable only to certain genres, as most of the list you provided were metal groups. Musics may adopt traits in writing style, but by no means are they actual RULES.

[lemur821]

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

I don't know though, I keep on looking back into history, and I'm like "we came from BACH, the father of musical invention, to Tina Turner, Kanye West, Fallout Boy, and The Jonas Brothers. ***?"

Because there wasn't any bad music at all in Bach's day, right? And there isn't even one living composer who will be considered good 250 years from now.

[santucci218]

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

For one, people have to make a living, even in music. Second, I've never seen a chart listing corresponding amounts of dollars in relation to certain rhythmic dictations of note. Nor have I seen that certain notes/rhythms are applicable only to certain genres, as most of the list you provided were metal groups. Musics may adopt traits in writing style, but by no means are they actual RULES.

Not all of them were metal. Anyways, there are tons of poor musicians who dont care about money. You just need to open your ears.

[uethanian]

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

I've been wondering lately what could be improved with music overall, and it seems like all musics (barring rap/jazz) all follow a stock tempo and stock set of rhythms. Anyone else feel like music today is suffering because of it?

most of the rhythms used today have been in use for thousands of years. people instinctively respond well to simple, repeating patterns, and for that reason beats based on counts of 2 or 3 are most common (actually, any musically relevant beat can be broken down into units of 2 and 3, but that's not my point).

tempo? most really fast music is wanking, and most really slow music is better off without a defined tempo at all, or it gets uncomfortable. humans can only play/process tempo's and rhythms up to a limit, so what's the point? do what sounds good.

it is pitch, not rhythm, that could vastly improve music. here's a quote from Stravinsky:

Q:Is any musical element still susceptible to radical exploitation and development?
A: "Yes: pitch. I even risk a prediction that pitch will comprise the main difference between the 'music of the future' and our music"

even a man who dedicated his life to the composition of western music would admit that pitch is the next frontier. there are hundreds of musically relevant intervals that we could use, but choose not to. dissatisfied with music? study some music history and theory, and you'll see there is room aplenty for improvement.

[baalroo]

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

its a good point, but in the initial posting of names my point was to try and draw an artist from every big genre.

As for avoiding radio...if music isn't worthy of getting play on the radio, isn't it sort of just going to waste based on the fact that it becomes music for a private niche of people?

What are you talking about? How does radio play dictate worth?

[scorpionldr]

Originally Posted by lemur821

Because there wasn't any bad music at all in Bach's day, right? And there isn't even one living composer who will be considered good 250 years from now.

lol IT WAS TOO SOFT TO CAUSE TROUBLE!!!

[scorpionldr]

Originally Posted by baalroo

What are you talking about? How does radio play dictate worth?

it's said that the things that you surround yourself with, one of those things being radio, will influence you.

What I'm talking about is the matter of WHY is it so hard to write music that isn't just the same 4 or 5 notes in rehashed orders and note values (a great deal of music is straight eighths on a verse of 2 or 3 notes followed by choruses utilizing half notes) when we A: have a musical alphabet of 12 notes, and B: have been studying music worldwide for HUNDREDS of years.

[Jezz8me]

Try Math Rock and Mathcore, The main charecteristics of theese genres are expreimental and differing time signatures and rythms.