We are all mechanics. Fact.

ICBM

hugbot said:

I had this conversation the other day with a music student friend of mine.

We were at a club and he was complaining about all the music being 'simple' and I was like. Yeah, but, people are dancing to it aren't they.

A good engineer will tell you that any machine should be just complex enough to do the job it was designed for and no more - if it's more complex than that it increases the failure rate for no benefit.

Music is the same.

mudslide73

cj73;911160" said:

Yes, I'm even worse at concerts….spoils it for me sometimes

I agree but when a gig completely blows me away despite this - it's even better when you know how the tricks are done.

lloyd

Thankfully I can turn it on and off. I will and can analyse every last beat and note but I'm equally happy to sit back zone out and enjoy a song for what it's worth.

Gassage

hugbot said:

I had this conversation the other day with a music student friend of mine.

We were at a club and he was complaining about all the music being 'simple' and I was like. Yeah, but, people are dancing to it aren't they.

I think musicians fall into that trap a lot, if something works it works. Writing a 'basic' pop song that gets people in the gut and the dancing feet is harder than it appears on the surface.

The kind of 'music that guitarists like' is usually utter wank really.

Exhibit A: Katy Perry
Exhibit B: Frank Zappa.

Je repose ma valise.

Gassage

rsvmark said:

Good observation @gassage

Sometimes a good song is just a good song. End of. I use the 'hair test'..... Sometimes a song or a performance just makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and you get goose bumps..... You cannot help it. It just is. Further analysis is pointless

I write: Grand Central has inspired a festival of shopping this winter, with events that put a smile on all the kids faces.
He writes: Grand Central used 40 million tons of poured concrete and can deal with a footfall of in excess of 30k per hour.

Which is more important to Mr J Public?

RaymondLin

I don't do that, the dissecting.

hugbot

Gassage;911259" said:

hugbot said:

I had this conversation the other day with a music student friend of mine.



We were at a club and he was complaining about all the music being 'simple' and I was like. Yeah, but, people are dancing to it aren't they.



I think musicians fall into that trap a lot, if something works it works. Writing a 'basic' pop song that gets people in the gut and the dancing feet is harder than it appears on the surface.



The kind of 'music that guitarists like' is usually utter wank really.





Exhibit A: Katy Perry

Exhibit B: Frank Zappa.



Je repose ma valise.

Katy perry's biggest hits are written by max Martin, who is the writer with the third highest record of number 1 hits to his name right behind lennon and McCartney. As far as great songwriters go he's up there, his genre just happens to be a kitschy one.

MatthewShreddery

For me, it usually depends how complicated the music is.

If I'm listening to something with intricate arrangement, time signature changes, complex harmony etc I might begin trying to 'work it out' as I listen to it.

If what I'm listening to is more simple then I tend to just listen and enjoy.

Gassage

hugbot said:

Gassage;911259" said:

hugbot said:

I had this conversation the other day with a music student friend of mine.



We were at a club and he was complaining about all the music being 'simple' and I was like. Yeah, but, people are dancing to it aren't they.



I think musicians fall into that trap a lot, if something works it works. Writing a 'basic' pop song that gets people in the gut and the dancing feet is harder than it appears on the surface.



The kind of 'music that guitarists like' is usually utter wank really.





Exhibit A: Katy Perry

Exhibit B: Frank Zappa.



Je repose ma valise.

Katy perry's biggest hits are written by max Martin, who is the writer with the third highest record of number 1 hits to his name right behind lennon and McCartney. As far as great songwriters go he's up there, his genre just happens to be a kitschy one.

I was agreeing with you actually.

hugbot

Ah I see. I've been obsessed with Martin at the moment, it's bizarre to think about, probably the most successful living songwriter but no ones actually heard him sing.

Gassage

Re Martin, Sia was also very much like that for a long time.

Gassage

A swfit (see what I did there) look at Martin's credits put a lot of artists songwriting claims to shame!

Amazing catalogue.

EricTheWeary

Years and years ago I read an interview with Neil Murray who said something to the effect that he couldn't enjoy listening to music for pleasure because he would always analyse what he was listening to. I thought that was an interesting point and have carefully avoided being a skilled musician since so I can still go dancing. In yer face Murray... \m/

chillidoggy

Katy Perry is well hot.

Gassage

chillidoggy said:

Katy Perry is well hot.

Clearly you did your best impression of a plastic bag whilst writing that post.

chillidoggy

Gassage said:

chillidoggy said:

Katy Perry is well hot.

Clearly you did your best impression of a plastic bag whilst writing that post.

You sayin' I'm only worth 5p?

Phil_aka_Pip

I have always had a tendency to analyse music: it's construction, and it's execution. To those who say that doing so denies me the appreciation of it at it's face value, I'd say first that no it doesn't, second that it adds to the pleasure of being able to take good music at face value, and third that inability to analyse limits the hearer to just taking it at face value.

I have much sympathy for Sir Thomas Beecham, who said: "The English know little about music, but they do like the noise that it makes"