Quote:
Originally Posted by robertn
i do believe some people actually feel this way though.
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I work in both the 'pop' and 'classical' worlds. I enjoy writing art music and music for performance by instrumentalists, but I also enjoy writing and performing music of the 'fusion' and 'metal' persuasions.
Two summers ago I was working on a project based on the seven deadly sins. A large influence of mine was Opeth. Essentially I wrote an entire album, with a lot of the material being made up spontaneously and worked a little. Eventually I wound up with a cohesive and, I feel, well done album of music.
I now mostly focus on art music, since as a comp major it is my duty to learn how to write well for each instrument. While the metal album was mostly natural talent, the stuff I'm working on now is more refined. My talent is still there, I'm just working on the material I create to make it better.
I think that is one reason 'elitists' feel like they are justified in disliking pop music; because it's easier to create and it requires less refinement.
However, this is ridiculous if one considers that it took Metallica over a year and a half straight to record
Metallica, their best selling album ever. While that sort of time-commitment is rare and usually unnecessary, it does help disparage any theory of pop musicians not putting in as much effort. I'm just pointing out that this group took an insane amount of time to make sure that what they were creating was the best possible product.
A few points I would like to outline:
*Regarding the performance of music, listen to bands such as Dragonforce and Dream Theater. These people are amazing at their instruments, and can easily recreate it on stage.
*Regarding hip-hop/rap - the genre today is largely used for clubs. While the latest "Party like a Rockstar" or "Soulja boy" has very little musical merit, it does have societal merit, which is its primary function. While I personally do not put on either of these songs to entertain myself, it is nice to play at social events. You certainly aren't going to play Schoenberg when kickin it with your friends.
*Regarding Pop music (things like Britney, Christina, Clay Aiken) - remember that these types of songs (as well as their predecessors, Mariah, Whitney Houston, etc.) are to showcase the artists themselves. Also, they do not write the songs, but there are teams behind them, creating the music. It's not so easy to write a song as catchy as "I Will Always Love You" or "Crazy". That is a talent itself, and to disregard that would be most pretentious.
And to the original poster:
I'm curious what you would consider music such as Soca, Calypso, Bata, and other world music styles. Bata, for instance, it often several drums going for an incredibly long period of time. Would you classify this as 'classical' music, or 'pop'? Certainly, it is the pop music of Africa, yet if it were performed for the radio-going crowd, they would be easily bored. Also, you may have answered this, but what do you classify Jazz? Jazz was once pop music as well.
Jan 11 2008, 6:00 PM
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