Embracing the changes in the music world

[madbass6]

Your input here is essential!!!!!



I started playing music in the 70s. Every decade both music and the industry have changed. This past decade I think it's changed the most. I'm not sure all the ways it has, but some of that change can be depressing - so I thought I'd start a thread where we might collectively be able to identify what's different, what sucks, what's great, and how we might be able to embrace it all.

I'll start with what's bugging me most. While I don't believe R&R is yet dead, it definitely moved to Florida. And its on life support. I work in a HS, and I'm gigging more than I ever have in my life to big crowds of people in their 20s and 30s. I don't see anybody anymore that's into R&R, wants to play guitar or bass, or is even the least bit interested in what the band is doing when we're performing. And we're good. There are no Led Zeppelin or Van Halens any more, no STP, no Greenday. There are no more rockstars. Nothing to inspire kids to pick up a guitar. All the best clubs in NYC are gone and forgotten. Carvin is closing (or closed). GC is rumored to be struggling. OK, I'm bumming myself out...

The good news is it's prime time to reinvent music. The Beatles did what they did in the 60s - somebody (maybe you or me) has their work cut out for them come the 20s! I always wondered what it would be like being the first person to become a pop star in his 70s or 80s . I've still got some time to work at that . We have access since the new millennium to take things entirely into our own hands. We don't need record companies, producers, recording studios, huge bank accounts, or even musicians anymore to produce, market and sell our own music. People under 20 may take that for granted, but I sure don't. With fewer and fewer people strapping on guitars, we also (those of us who stay in the game) have more and more opportunity. At 56 yrs old, I just started making the most money I ever have in my entire life with music.

Bottom line, there is lots for us to keep our heads up about. I'd love to get a discussion going. Dump yer garbage and complaints, and tell us what's great about it all too.

Unfortunately times have changed! Now a days any kid with a decent mac/decent computer gadgets a decent mic a loop machine and knows how to rime a word or two is considered a monster producer or musician! Unfortunately theres No appreciation or respect to the real talent/ musicians that paid there dues to be the best on what they do! studying,practicing, investing on real gear! Such as real guitars,basses,pianos,horns,lessons etc. Hopefully those days you've mentioned will come back some day!

 

[Perrygoround]

Well, I think that the fact that nowadays lots of kids (and no-so-kids-anymore) can get decent computer gadgets, mics, instruments and recording their ideas at home, with more than decent quality at affordable budgets, is the best thing of this new era.
Then, if there is a lack of good ideas or musical knowledge out there, well, that is a different argument. But I believe that there are tons of talented people out there.
The real pity is that access to industry-level is so much restricted nowadays. It is almost impossible for talented people nowadays to go into a recording studio, lock themselves for three months with a really talented producers, great engineers and maybe some help for polishing their compositions. Therefore we are not seeing those massive masterpieces like we saw yesterdays.
But for this very reason, the capability of recording with good quality under a tight budget should be much more appreciated.

 

[Stumbo]

...We're meeting with a new group of guys that want to dust off their chops for 70s and 80s covers. In talking with guitarist before meeting him I person, they already embrace the "just for fun" goal though some of these guys have a heavy gigging history. Take 2 in my next post.

Cool! Start your own thread/journal with pics so we can follow along. TB is bass players social medium. Let's be social.

 

[Pocket4]

I did not get a call back after the first meeting jam. That was a relief. I'm not used to being the odd man out and I really felt that way. The only item on the regret side is the shedding I would need to do to cop some new techniques, but the retro rock cover thing doesn't really resonate with me.

 

[JW56789]

I've simply recognized the fact that the times (and the world back then) have moved on, and I am now just like my parents who wondered why the Big Bands went away. That was then, and this is now. Live long enough . . . . . and this happens. This is now a completely different world, the ship has sailed and is not coming back. This is as it should be, but doesn't mean I don't miss it when I let myself. But it's over, dead and buried, as far as the music that made want to do music. It's somebody else's turn, as it should be.

 

[Jazz Ad]

Thanks to the liberty offered by computers, the music created these days is often very creative, like it came out of nowhere.
It is what happens if you let guys with talent and culture run amok with tools.

Take this song for example, it was written and recorded by an 18yo boy, very successful these days.
It's electro, americana, easy listening and world music at the same time Music that fits its time.

 

[fhm555]

The hot thing here is neo soul.

 

[Badwater]

Music will always evolve. And with the rapid evolution of technology in the past 20 years. Music in all forms had become global, and more diverse than ever. Example, back in the 70s, the mainstream music was: Funk, Country, Rock, Disco, Soul, and Pop. Today, those names have evolved into a lot of different genres.

But no matter how music evolves, you'll always find the core elements of what makes great music in all great music from the past up to the present. That core DNA is the composition elements where melodic notes match the lyrics, and if done right, grabs the listener and instills the emotional aspects of what the musicians (band) is communicating. And if done well, can change the listeners emotional/pshycological state. And that's what makes music great. It's the GESTALT of elements like the Blues, R&B grooves, and Hip Hop lyrical creations that instill emotion into the composition. The sum of the parts is greater than the whole. And no one part on it's own is bigger than the whole.

You may or may not like all types of music, but if you can pick out the elements that make all the great music great. You'll know how to identify why some music rises above the rest, and becomes great music.

Myself, I like music of all styles/genres and appreciate the diversity of music evolution and what it offers. But, in today's massive music platform where anyone can put up a song, I find it more difficult to filter through tons of music before I find the artists that has the it factor, and can write or perform music that is really innovative and good at the same time. Nevertheless, great music is out there, and we have more music resources than ever to find them.

That's my take on the evolution of music.