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Composer to Composer > Public Forums > General Chat > SOUND VS. CONTENT - what's more important these days?

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Cattie
Temple University

Date Joined Mar 2007
Total Posts : 1740

Posted 9/9/2007 7:22 PM (GMT -5)

Now, both of these are important, I realize... but it seems to me as if people are gradually starting to judge music based almost solely on sound rather than content. This has been a growing trend since more 'sounds' are incorporated into music and the expectations of recording have risen. Now, a lot of good music can go sour if the quality and sound the musicians are producing is bad...

Still, I wonder: are we losing sight completely of the actual purpose of music? I mean, anybody can write a piece with one or two chords that sounds pretty dramatic... and it seems the only question of it being a great piece is if you trick the listener into thinking that there was time and heart put into the music. Now, perhaps time and heart were put into the mixing and the editing... getting the right samples and adjusting the directional output... I don't know about you, but as somebody who has listened to lots of live orchestras playing great music passionately, I'm just not convinced that music is getting ANY better.

Bern
Registered Member

Date Joined Mar 2007
Total Posts : 80

Posted 9/9/2007 7:44 PM (GMT -5)

I don't know if this applies to your post, but...personally, I do have a hard time getting pleasure listening to digital recordings at times. I do prefer to listen anolog recordings which have a certain warmth and make me feel I'm right there with the performers.

David Young
Registered Member

Date Joined May 2005
Total Posts : 65

Posted 9/9/2007 10:01 PM (GMT -5)

I would say that about 99 percent of music showcased on the internet is judged by the quality of the sound. That means that if you can use the best sound samples, and have talent in rendering the articulations, mix well, and used musical motifs that tend to sound good under those cirxxxstances, then your music is going to rate high among listeners. Having looked at a lot of music on the Sibeliusmusic website for the past 8 years (particularly when they had the rating system in place) it became very clear that the sound of the playback was all that was being judged.

It is entirely possible that a composer could write a very nice piece of music, have it played back poorly (as are most string quartets, for example) and have it considered mediocre by listeners.

David

Cattie
Temple University

Date Joined Mar 2007
Total Posts : 1740

Posted 9/10/2007 1:14 AM (GMT -5)

EXACTLY. Thank you for your observations...

Now... how do we protect the value of well-WRITTEN music?

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