To those who don't know me, I'll introduce myself. I'm a music composer/producer from the midwest. I run a production company called Gracy Studios, where I write music for films and various media. Much of my career has been spent in the background. I've seen a lot. I've done a lot. And I've managed to take a lot of notes. It's fair to say, that with the subject of music, I know what I'm talking about.
With that out of the way, I will attempt to verse you in the art of writing truly terrible music. Enjoy.
It has often been said that the popular music of today has become somewhat...."crappy".
Normally I would tend to agree, except that recently I took it upon myself to study this ..."crappy" music quite extensively. On the surface, it would seem that producers and artists are going into the studio and simply pulling down their trousers and squatting over the console. Whatever comes out is caught on tape, mixed down, eq'd and mastered, and then sent out all over the world. This scenario is far from true. The fact of the matter is.... It's much worse.
As it turns out, talent is not even a requirement in the industry anymore. Studios are now equipped with the technology to replace talent digitally. This new technology includes a device called "the magic button", a piece of equipment vital to most artists' careers. The music is carefully loaded, or "pinched off" into the recording medium, processed into audio, and the "magic button" is engaged.
The brown lump that you see on the screen is then transformed into a shiny piece of gold or platinum, depending on the fiber content. Keeping this process in mind, think of all the songs you've heard on the radio that made your toes curl up and your stomach turn. Then remember the process it went through, and realize how truly terrible it must have sounded BEFORE the "magic button." With the development of faster computers and better recording software, the technology is available to anyone with a proper diet and the ability to hover their hind-end over a computer. And with the internet increasing in size, the oportunity to have your golden nugget heard is unbelieveable. Now you are starting to see into the world of music they don't want you to know about. I'm taking a chance right now just typing these words. Sadly...if I am dead tomorrow, you will know why.........
But seriously, though.........
The arrival of new technology has enhanced the creative process of some very talented artists, but has also put those tools in the hands of many untrained, talentless individuals, who otherwise couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. Now, anyone with access to this technology can instantly create music (by it's definition) with a few keystrokes. However, just because you can hear it, and it happens to stay in tune and in time, doesn't make it music. Granted, many artists have started out in the same manner, and were able to move on and develop into very creative people . But their success was not based solely on the tools they used. In many cases, it was the lack of technology that drove them.
They studied music in its entireity, seeking out all the information they could find. They spent countless hours in libraries and record stores, rummaging through old LP's. They took the time to understand what music was really about, how it was inspired and why it was created. More importantly, they listened.
Anymore, the tendency is to take the easy route. Too many are letting technology do the work for them, simply drawing from dot to dot until the picture is finished, never learning how to draw without someone else's patterns. More people are coming into the industry without a real respect for the art, turning the business itself, moreso, into a matter of numbers, patterns, and dollar bills, not passion. And those who pour out their souls to mold emotion into their music, regardless of genre, are denied because it lacks "commercial" value. How sad. But how true.
Of course not all music has become so soulless. There is a lot of beauty to be heard, and a lot of inspiration being broadcast. I have much respect for commercial artists. They work very hard at what they do. To them I say; kudos. To the music industry I say; expect more from yourself, and give the listener more credit. They are not as narrow-minded as you think.
I leave you with this quote:
"Commercialization of the music is what brought it down." Prince
