Discussion of the Week #1 (2011/11/13)

[Champ213 1858]

Welcome dear MH users to the introduction of a new feature!

The Discussion of the Week!

How it works:

- Each sunday a staff member will start a thread with a new music-related question. They can range from broad to specific, but they are usually more in-depth than just asking for your favourite band.

- The discussion will be featured as announcement on the front page to get as many people involved as possible.

- People should put some effort into their posts, ie. not just write a few words and leave, or quote a sentence from a previous poster without adding anything to it. At least 2-3 well-worded sentences are not too much to ask.

- Other than that it's just like a normal discussion: you can discuss posts made by other users, but try to stay on topic and, of course, be civil.

The thread will stay open even after the week has passed, so the discussion can continue, but it will be replaced in the announcement center by the next featured question.

(Btw: you can also submit questions for the Discussion of the Week by sending them to any staff member.)

Got it? Then let's start with the first weekly question:

Are you more attracted to music that emphasizes technicality and instrumental proficiency or music that puts more emphasis on soul and accessibility?

Go!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

For me, soul/feeling/accessability/whatever you call it comes first. Usually if there's some catchy melody or hook and some extra special "something" (that I can't describe really xD), that's enough for me to like a song. Or maybe something extra about it, like evoking a memory or feeling of nostalgia, I'm usually partial to that kind of music. Of course, technicality is nice too, when (and only when) it intensifies that cool atmosphere of the song and turns it "supercool". Those instances that make you go "wow!"

So all in all, my priority is soul/accessability, but I don't completely discard technicality either when it is employed in reasonable amounts.

edit: for example, one of my favorite Japanese guitarists is Imai Hisashi. I think he really shines at catchy song composition, but I don't feel that he would be able to do excessively technical things on his guitar. BUT he's got creativity and a cool/weird way of approaching guitarplay (he tends to improvise and make interesting noises/effects a lot) and a kind of trademark sound and coolness that I just cannot not like his music.

[Yasupon 18]

Are you more attracted to music that emphasizes technicality and instrumental proficiency or music that puts more emphasis on soul and accessibility?

For me I'd have to go with the latter. I don't really care how talented the band is although it's a plus of course, but if the music sounds good to me that's good enough. Not every talented musician makes good music. Of course there are a lot of shitty acts out there who play from the heart but just sound bad anyway due to immense lack of talent. It really just depends on the group.

For me, soul/feeling/accessability/whatever you call it comes first. Usually if there's some catchy melody or hook and some extra special "something" (that I can't describe really xD), that's enough for me to like a song. Or maybe something extra about it, like evoking a memory or feeling of nostalgia, I'm usually partial to that kind of music. Of course, technicality is nice too, when (and only when) it intensifies that cool atmosphere of the song and turns it "supercool". Those instances that make you go "wow!"

This is pretty much exactly how I feel. I agree with this post completely!

An example, but you can feel free to disagree is the band Born. Although the members are more talented now than they were in the past. I enjoy them more as RENNY AMY than I do as Born, in general. I just really like the way they sounded because they weren't afraid to sound however they felt like. They just had, in my opinion, a more raw and impervious sound with lots of shouting, screaming, squeeling, whimpering, and many other strange noises all over the place that Ryouga wouldn't dare do anymore. The band sounded just plain crazy!

Although Born is a great band, and I do enjoy them quite a lot, I just think that they currently sound more cliche, and less daring. Do they have less emotion or "soul" now than they used to? I don't know, nor do I have the right to say rather they do or don't.

[evilcoconut 109]

Both, but I think I lean towards talent/technicality most of the time. I usually look for artists to have both though. It's why I'm rarely attracted to faddish stuff because I feel it lacks pretty much everything except accessibility. Something has to catch my ear, whether it's instrumental talent or compositional talent.

[Zeus 7997]

Are you more attracted to music that emphasizes technicality and instrumental proficiency or music that puts more emphasis on soul and accessibility?

A: I need both. In order to make good music a band needs equal parts inspiration and skill. If a band is technically exquisite but there is no soul behind the music and no motivation in their playing it makes any potentially great album suck. A good example of this would be Versailles' third album Holy Grail. From a technical standpoint the album is great. From an accessible standpoint, the album is trash. The album lacks inspiration and motivation - the band seems bored playing the music and that makes me as a listener bored to listen to it. No matter how technically proficient Hizaki's 8th guitar solo in Faith and Decision is, the lack of feeling in any of the songs reduces it from "wow this sounds amazing" to "wow this sounds amazing...ly boring".

On the other hand if a band has a lot of soul but can't play their instruments to save their life, then their music sounds equally as terrible. You can want to make great music until your fingers bleed and you turn blue in the face but if you can't wrap your head around the concept of making a half-decent riff you will always be bad. You can't make good music if you can't play your instruments. Insert any indie-VK band as an example and you'll probably get very close.

[Pandabear 414]

I will always choose soul over technicality. There's needs to be emotion, passion and feeling in a song for it to be good. Technicality can emphasis this, but i don't feel its the main goal in creating music. It's more of means to an end. Average people don't listen to music to hear an 8 minute long super fast technical guitar solo that uses a complex composition. Stuff like that is only useful for music study. And though I do think you have to posses a certain amount of experience and know how in order to play what ever instrument you may choose you don't need to spend decades playing them. Hell some of the best music in the world (both modern and classical) uses the most simplest melodies and chords that any beginner could play. Even their compositions and arrangements are pretty straightforward and simple.

So yeah, I chose heart and character.

[Yasupon 18]

@Zess

I seriously couldn't have said that better! Also,

o matter how technically proficient Hizaki's 8th guitar solo in Faith and Decision is, the lack of feeling in any of the songs reduces it from "wow this sounds amazing" to "wow this sounds amazing...ly boring".

This made me laugh quite a bit.

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

Funny thing is, if you had ask me this about seven something years ago, I would have said that technical prowess is what makes music good. However, I was dumb as hell and thought that if a song didn't have a wickedly technical guitar solo or God tier musicianship it was shit music.

After finally getting out of my shell I realized two things that technical ability and skill should enhance the music and not be the focus. Otherwise you end up with what is yes technically good music but it's boring and lacks inspiration!

Even though I lean towards a focus towards emotions now, that inner elitist scumbag still thinks that the artist should still know how to play their instrument and strive to improve. If you can barely hold a note, keep a beat or play in tune no matter how much ~ s o u l ~ you put into it, it's still shit music.

Zess's articulates this better than I but I think I got my point across.

[Maiku 4]

Are you more attracted to music that emphasizes technicality and instrumental proficiency or music that puts more emphasis on soul and accessibility?

Answer: Yes.

[Marupinku 7]

Neither, really. I suppose soul and accessibility more than technicality, but I don't think either are correct. I care most about the music sounding good, having interesting compositions, etc. It could be the most basic instrumentation, but if it's applied well it can be great. I actually feel like knowing how to play the instruments is pretty much the least important aspect of making good music.

Likewise, I can appreciate a deep or emotional release, but I enjoy plenty of music that isn't. Music can be created without any attachment to it by the artist or any emotional connection, and still sound great.

[miyuu 40]

(is like asking how you make decisions in your life. do you follow more your emotions or logic xD.

i have no idea about life what i do. xD)

but about music i'll probably will sound chessy but anyway

Likewise, I can appreciate a deep or emotional release, but I enjoy plenty of music that isn't. Music can be created without any attachment to it by the artist or any emotional connection, and still sound great.

this but

of course i listen & appreciate both types too

but the songs that end up to be my most favorite and stay in my mind & heart , are the songs which i feel an emotional connection with them. this means they made me feel something.and NOT the awesome technical skills.

that's why i can prefer crappier music sometimes over a song with awesome proffesional techical skills.

and there are some people&critics who choose with technical skills that will never understand this.

[Number Girl 48]

A combination of both would be my ultimate preference, but whichever aspect prevails depends on the genre of music. For metal music, I tend to favor more emotion and soul put into it just because the genre is so fixated on technicality. With enough practice probably anyone could perform a fast guitar solo or sing in harsh pig/frog/gerbil squeals, but making it have feeling behind it and enjoyable and memorable for longer than seven minutes implies a lot more effort. That's probably one of the main reasons I prefer standard classic metal with "attitude" as opposed to delving much into the various sub genres and niches. For non-metal music, I seek a bit of proficiency to give some sustenance to the voice or melody.