Rephlex which aspects of electronic muc do you tend to focus on / appeals to you most?si

[Guest Helper ET]

when listening, do find your concentration repeatably leaning towards one aspect of the music compared to another? also, do you find that you favor a certain aspect of the music over another? for example, i tend to focus on the compositional side of things most often. production is another thing i always find myself listening to. this is also related to how some people focus mainly on the production alone, and electronic music is of course hot on production

 

its strange to start classifying elements of electronic music, but for sake of discussion lets break them down simply

 

-musical composition

-beats

-production

-song structure

-structural dynamics (long, exaggerated "break downs" and "build ups")

-instruments

-textures

-tricks & hooks (all he fanciness)

 

ok, so those are some of the basic parts of electronic music. now, i find myself usually always listening to the composition of the song, how well its written. if a song sucks this way, i dont care how technically impossible the beats are, or how old, analog, modified, and expensive the synths are, if the writing sucks, so does the music, period. this is different than some people, for example, people who seem obsessed with beats, and need them to be mangled, fast, and fucked up. then theres the "EKT" group, who dont seem to care much about the composition, or the beats, so much, they focus on high quality music production. i remember reading an accomplished and successful EKTer say that he values the production of music about half as much as the music itself, what a freak...

 

so this is where my main question comes in.....which of the aforementioned elements of music, do you think most electronic music listeners place their focus on, and favor more? and then secondly, which do you focus on and favor yourself?

 

now of course this all changed when including the genre thing in all this. obviously DnB is going to be more rhythmically listened to than say ambient. what im talking about is just plain, old, and simple, electronic music, in the general style of rephlex / planet mu / top "IDM" artists

 

i like my music to be well rounded in all of these areas, and generally dislike music which has an over concentration in one specific area such as beats or what have you

 

one more thing ill add to this, is that i notice a lot of electronic music sounding very "impressive". not so much that its written by a genius, but almost that the artist tries to sound as big, fat, loud, compressed, hi quality, and sleek sounding as he can, that usually isnt written very well, but cleans my clock production wise. i swear lots of top electronic

artists are just using different combinations of templates, presets and construction kits. i bring this up, because i notice this to be another important element of electronic music, that im not sure many listeners are even aware of, they just know they like it, and they dont exactly know why

 

i hope this all makes sense to you

 

[YEK]

i like music that gets me in the zone, let's my mind wander... it doesn't have to be slow and it doesn't have to be ambient. it's usually repetitive to a degree but not so much that it's dance....

[chim]

as a synaesthete, the taste response is generally what sticks out to me most.. i'm mostly into the texture, the general impression, this is what creates the tastes and colors. in my mind every sound and instrument becomes a voice that has a story to tell rather than being man-made. music is mostly a way to stimulate thought, to explore my imagination.. the music is "just" the springboard for that journey. the importance of production in this context is a joke, it's such an objective quality in what i feel is an intensely subjective experience.

 

i swear lots of top electronic

artists are just using different combinations of templates, presets and construction kits.

 

this is what you get when one type of production is overvalued, everybody sounds the same and the music is quite shallow. I always appreciate a passionately crafted piece, but there absolutely has to be substance underneath that polish.

 

i'm completely oblivious to sound structure, don't like maths in music. i've always had a thing for composition, harmonies and melodies and greatly appreciate novel progressions and unique melodies. but they shouldn't be meandering or random. i prefer steady beats, organic sounds, imaginative and colorful themes. i like music that takes you somewhere.. not elevator music. make it as weird as you like, just don't let it be boring.

[Guest Sprigg]

I find that production is definitely the last aspect of music that I pay attention to. I don't care if it's warm or analog or digital and cold or whatever-- Good music is good music.

I find that when I first listen to something, I'll pay more attention to the beats, and then as I get familiar with the song I listen 'up' through the song to the top-end, the higher pitches, then on the third or fourth playthrough I'll end up listening to the 'middle' of the music, the stuff that's more subtle.

 

I think that overall I listen to how everything interplays-- counterpoint and dynamics and such, textures and moods-- more than anything though.

[SCONES TO DIE FOR]

I tend to be drawn to melodies and chords and the general vibe. It's good if the song goes somewhere and actually makes me feel something. Complexity isn't too important to me personally.

 

Production is a plus, but I think most people would rather listen to well written music - even if it isn't produced particularly well - rather than the other way around.

[chassis]

Take it all in baby. Its all about the modulation of chords melodies and beats. Sometimes samples.

[chenGOD]

 

 

i'm completely oblivious to sound structure, don't like maths in music. i've always had a thing for composition, harmonies and melodies and greatly appreciate novel progressions and unique melodies. but they shouldn't be meandering or random. i prefer steady beats, organic sounds, imaginative and colorful themes. i like music that takes you somewhere.. not elevator music. make it as weird as you like, just don't let it be boring.

 

Music is math though. Harmonies? math all up in those bitches. The sounds produced by bits of electronic kit, fed through DSP, transcoded as an MP3/FLAC whatever...all thanks to math.

Rhythms - math

Counterpoint - math

time signatures - math

 

http://mathtourist.blogspot.com/2008/09/fractal-in-bachs-cello-suite.html

[Mellow U]

I hate electronic muck, it does nothing for me.

[Guest jim]

Well apart from production in the sense of mastering I think all the elements you mentioned are subcategories of composition. Choosing the right sounds/ textures to reflect an idea play a large part in how well the idea in your mind is transmitted to the audience. I suppose it's orchestration with electronics.

 

But perhaps you're talking about composition in the sense of organising pitches. In which case I agree.

[soundwave]

i prefer innovative sound mashing with unusual arrangement although the latter isnt too important other than mixing what sounds work well together yet brings something on its own merit e.g. autechre or BoC

 

i also have a soft spot for shit that puts me in 'the zone' normally the kind of stuff i would listen to alone which is more often minamalist soundscapey shit like inoue, namlook, gas or biosphere

[J3FF3R00]

All of the above and none of the above.

 

 

I like this song.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTxdVaZR2Jw

[Candiru]

Before I got into electronic music it was like I was listening to music solely for the melody, chords, and texture. I definitely missed a lot of the subtleties in the production, dynamics. Now I'm into percussion and BEATS so much more because it's forced into your attention with a lot of music popular on this forum.

 

So after my first braindance binge of enlightenment, I went back and listened to stuff like The Mars Volta and Radiohead and it was so much more rewarding. I pick up on things in music I missed before that are the main attraction of braindance/whathaveyou.

[Dan C]

Facial hair

[Guest drukqs]

I just like the way electronic makes me feel, there's really no other explanation. I like the complexities and subtleties also, but not as much as just sitting down and spacing off with some AFX.

 

Sometimes I have a deep emotional connection to a song, but it's rare. Most times it just makes me feel nostalgic or weightless. Also, driving with Aphex Twin or Squarepusher is like heaven. I love the way my car's movements can enhance certain aspects of the song.

[l1fef0rm]

i tend to focus on how much it sounds like aphex twin.

 

...or AW-TEK-ER.

[Guest Blanket Fort Collapse]

The wheelchairs

[Guest ryanmcallister]

 

 

i'm completely oblivious to sound structure, don't like maths in music. i've always had a thing for composition, harmonies and melodies and greatly appreciate novel progressions and unique melodies. but they shouldn't be meandering or random. i prefer steady beats, organic sounds, imaginative and colorful themes. i like music that takes you somewhere.. not elevator music. make it as weird as you like, just don't let it be boring.

 

Music is math though. Harmonies? math all up in those bitches. The sounds produced by bits of electronic kit, fed through DSP, transcoded as an MP3/FLAC whatever...all thanks to math.

Rhythms - math

Counterpoint - math

time signatures - math

 

http://mathtourist.blogspot.com/2008/09/fractal-in-bachs-cello-suite.html

i understand where you are coming from with this, but i tend to hate that philosophy "everything is math". i actually prefer to think of it backwards: "math is everything". math is only a set of rules and theories to try to explain the workings of the universe, so really, math is music. math is the scenery outside. math is the way your brain works. etc, etc, etc.

[soundwave]

"mathematics is the language of nature" it's just a matter of picking out the elements that appeal to you and combining them in an interesting form that will appeal to others

the right technology will allow you to do this although intuitive thought is just if not more so effective

[chassis]

I just like the way electronic makes me feel, there's really no other explanation. I like the complexities and subtleties also, but not as much as just sitting down and spacing off with some AFX.

 

Sometimes I have a deep emotional connection to a song, but it's rare. Most times it just makes me feel nostalgic or weightless. Also, driving with Aphex Twin or Squarepusher is like heaven. I love the way my car's movements can enhance certain aspects of the song.

 

 

lol serious post in ET thread

[kaini]

i like the 'boop' and 'bleep' bits, but i don't like the 'beep' bits.

[chenGOD]

 

 

i'm completely oblivious to sound structure, don't like maths in music. i've always had a thing for composition, harmonies and melodies and greatly appreciate novel progressions and unique melodies. but they shouldn't be meandering or random. i prefer steady beats, organic sounds, imaginative and colorful themes. i like music that takes you somewhere.. not elevator music. make it as weird as you like, just don't let it be boring.

 

Music is math though. Harmonies? math all up in those bitches. The sounds produced by bits of electronic kit, fed through DSP, transcoded as an MP3/FLAC whatever...all thanks to math.

Rhythms - math

Counterpoint - math

time signatures - math

 

http://mathtourist.blogspot.com/2008/09/fractal-in-bachs-cello-suite.html

i understand where you are coming from with this, but i tend to hate that philosophy "everything is math". i actually prefer to think of it backwards: "math is everything". math is only a set of rules and theories to try to explain the workings of the universe, so really, math is music. math is the scenery outside. math is the way your brain works. etc, etc, etc.

I don't understand how you're trying to differentiate these two statements:

1) Math is the scenery outside.

2) The scenery outside is math.

 

I should state that I am terrible at maths, the algebra that I have to do for my econ classes makes me want to curl up into a ball and smoke opium. When I say "music is math", I'm merely stating that math is behind a lot of music, whether consciously or not. Like the fibonacci sequence in the intervals which make up a sequence of harmonics. Now obviously part of what makes great music is being able to apply those mathematical relationships in aesthetically pleasing ways. But to me when someone says "I don't like music in maths" (especially in reference to electornic music, my god) it's showing some willful ignorance.

 

And here's an interesting paper which shows exactly why it's important to choose the relationships in an aesthetically pleasing manner:

http://www.ist.rit.edu/~jab/Fibo98/

[Guest Ranky Redlof]

the music was there before the mathies said aha look this is fibonnaci its all maths!

i think that is what he meant or something

[acidphakist]

You guys are missing the subtle message contained in et's post: his production is muddy and unlistenable, and therefore music with high production value obviously is attempting to cover a lack of ingenuity.

[chenGOD]

the music was there before the mathies said aha look this is fibonnaci its all maths!

i think that is what he meant or something

 

Just because one cannot see behind the curtain, doesn't mean the wizard isn't there.

[QBLA]

Texture Soundscapes and Beats Yall! Melodies was never important to me although some are nice!