SoundRegion
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Melodies in music
When you listen to modern music and also some of the submissions in the songs forum, I noticed that there's not much melody in it anymore. For instance yesterday I was listening to some of the tracks from Jean Michel Jarre's Electronica albums and it's mostly just soundscapes, which can be pleasent enough, but I miss the melodic tracks from his 70's and 80's albums. Has melody gone out of style ? Am I the only one that misses some good tunes ? Sometmes I feel like I am.
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bjornpdx
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 11:12:10
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It seems that music nowadays is all about the lyrics, vocal styling and the beat. The lyrics tell pretty much the same old story (she left me and I'm so lonely etc) and the emotion behind the story comes only from vocal delivery. There's no melody.
It's not that hard to come up with a pleasing melody (or maybe it is?) so I don't understand why it's missing in the songs I hear on the radio. Maybe melody is considered "corny" ?
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robbyk
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 12:10:01
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SoundRegion
Am I the only one that misses some good tunes ? Sometmes I feel like I am.
What a good point! I try to write solely around melody as I am hooked on the old melody meisters e.g. John Sebastian, Dan Fogelberg, Jackson Browne... Of course, nobody listens to me:)
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jamesg1213
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 12:14:26
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SoundRegion
When you listen to modern music and also some of the submissions in the songs forum, I noticed that there's not much melody in it anymore. For instance yesterday I was listening to some of the tracks from Jean Michel Jarre's Electronica albums and it's mostly just soundscapes, which can be pleasent enough, but I miss the melodic tracks from his 70's and 80's albums. Has melody gone out of style ? Am I the only one that misses some good tunes ? Sometmes I feel like I am.
That really depends on what 'modern music' you listen to. The stuff I go for is usually crammed with melody. Oceans of good music around, but you won't hear it on the radio or TV very often. Got to go looking these days.
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sharke
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 12:16:15
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There's only a few situations in which I hear top 40 pop these days - like if I go into a deli that has the radio on - but what always strikes me immediately is how so many of these tracks are, for want of a better phrase, melodically pointless. You can tell they've just reached for a really obvious chord progression and churned out the most obvious melody that comes to mind. Along with the boilerplate teenybopper lyrics they honestly remind me of nursery rhymes. I listen to them and truly wonder at the effort which goes into recording and releasing such superfluous pieces of bubble gum crap.
And then I get to wondering how it is that so many people's musical tastes don't seem to develop past age 10. It's funny how it's socially acceptable to neglect your intellectual appreciation of music. We're told that music is an entirely subjective thing and that who are you to claim that Miles Davis was more talented than Justin Bieber? Yet if you were 30 years of age and your reading material was "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and other large print picture books like it, people would worry about the state of your intellect. With literature, we're expected to move on from childhood and appreciate higher forms. With music, nobody cares if you're still listening to nursery rhymes in your 40's.
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SoundRegion
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 12:28:47
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bjornpdx
It seems that music nowadays is all about the lyrics, vocal styling and the beat. The lyrics tell pretty much the same old story (she left me and I'm so lonely etc) and the emotion behind the story comes only from vocal delivery. There's no melody.
It's not that hard to come up with a pleasing melody (or maybe it is?) so I don't understand why it's missing in the songs I hear on the radio. Maybe melody is considered "corny" ? Good description. That's exactly how I sense people are thinking sometimes. I just don't understand it.
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SoundRegion
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 12:31:23
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robbyk
SoundRegion
Am I the only one that misses some good tunes ? Sometmes I feel like I am.
What a good point!
I try to write solely around melody as I am hooked on the old melody meisters e.g. John Sebastian, Dan Fogelberg, Jackson Browne...
Of course, nobody listens to me:)
Had a listen and yes, yours do have melody.
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SoundRegion
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 12:33:03
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jamesg1213
SoundRegion
When you listen to modern music and also some of the submissions in the songs forum, I noticed that there's not much melody in it anymore. For instance yesterday I was listening to some of the tracks from Jean Michel Jarre's Electronica albums and it's mostly just soundscapes, which can be pleasent enough, but I miss the melodic tracks from his 70's and 80's albums. Has melody gone out of style ? Am I the only one that misses some good tunes ? Sometmes I feel like I am.
That really depends on what 'modern music' you listen to. The stuff I go for is usually crammed with melody. Oceans of good music around, but you won't hear it on the radio or TV very often. Got to go looking these days.
Good point. I guess I listen mostly to the radio these days. Musically I miss the eighties.
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SoundRegion
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 12:36:13
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sharke
There's only a few situations in which I hear top 40 pop these days - like if I go into a deli that has the radio on - but what always strikes me immediately is how so many of these tracks are, for want of a better phrase, melodically pointless. You can tell they've just reached for a really obvious chord progression and churned out the most obvious melody that comes to mind. Along with the boilerplate teenybopper lyrics they honestly remind me of nursery rhymes. I listen to them and truly wonder at the effort which goes into recording and releasing such superfluous pieces of bubble gum crap.
And then I get to wondering how it is that so many people's musical tastes don't seem to develop past age 10. It's funny how it's socially acceptable to neglect your intellectual appreciation of music. We're told that music is an entirely subjective thing and that who are you to claim that Miles Davis was more talented than Justin Bieber? Yet if you were 30 years of age and your reading material was "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and other large print picture books like it, people would worry about the state of your intellect. With literature, we're expected to move on from childhood and appreciate higher forms. With music, nobody cares if you're still listening to nursery rhymes in your 40's.
That true, but I you go by the music critics the music that's considered "fine art", is often music that has more emphasis on the lyrics, than melody.
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bapu
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 12:50:55
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Does this melody I'm singing sound flat a lifeless?
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michaelhanson
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 14:03:57
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bapu
Does this melody I'm singing sound flat a lifeless?
All of your melodies are in Am....no?
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craigb
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 14:09:32
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Melody was banned from here for being all over the place and repeating herself.
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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jamesg1213
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 14:19:29
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This could be an interesting thread (rare as hen's teeth), if it's allowed to be. Seems like the OP needs some melodic stuff to listen to. Who's going to start him off?
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bapu
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 14:57:22
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jamesg1213
This could be an interesting thread (rare as hen's teeth), if it's allowed to be. Seems like the OP needs some melodic stuff to listen to. Who's going to start him off?
Anything original Daryk sings in the Forum Monkeys?
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jamesg1213
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 17:06:57
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bapu
jamesg1213
This could be an interesting thread (rare as hen's teeth), if it's allowed to be. Seems like the OP needs some melodic stuff to listen to. Who's going to start him off?
Anything original Daryk sings in the Forum Monkeys?
Yes, all good.
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eph221
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 17:21:05
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That's because everyone does yoga and so all the melodies are fashioned like the sound of a buddhist singing bowl. You WILL be assimilated!
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craigb
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/28 17:50:17
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I prefer strawberry yoga and I don't need to worry about getting imilated. 
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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bapu
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/29 11:22:46
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Daryl Strawberry does yoga and craigb prefers it.
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BobF
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/29 11:38:35
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eph221
That's because everyone does yoga and so all the melodies are fashioned like the sound of a buddhist singing bowl. You WILL be assimilated!
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ampfixer
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/29 12:17:45
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Back to the OP. I also like the melody in a song to be the focus. That's why I think Dave Gilmour is such a great player. His guitar work is all about the melody. Can I continue to listen to the same Pink Floyd and Genesis albums forever? Not much fun considering they were memorized 30 years ago. For this old silver back, music is a bit of a wasteland these days.
I don't usually care for the beat oriented stuff but that has changed recently. I picked up the latest album by Sia because I wanted to force myself to listen to anything modern, and she has the most amazing vocal hooks and melodies. I think of it as pop music for those that want a bit more depth.
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jamesg1213
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/29 12:42:08
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ampfixer
Can I continue to listen to the same Pink Floyd and Genesis albums forever? Not much fun considering they were memorized 30 years ago.
No need, there are many modern bands doing stuff in that vein, some in my opinion superior to the old classics.
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Shambler
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/29 12:50:37
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Maybe it is because melody is the hardest part to do, to be original takes the highest talent and that does not come along every day.
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slartabartfast
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/29 13:16:51
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I expect the relative insignificance of melody in popular music is largely due to two main recent influences. The first is rap, which in its purest sense is amelodic. Having captured the popular attention and the need of a new generation to establish a unique musical voice, in no small part in order to annoy their parents, the big contemporary music investment is in the beat uber alles direction. The second, influence can be tracked right to the doorstep of our beloved DAW's, which provide a really easy way to do loop based composition, as well as explore sonic textures that tend to dominate over melodic content. If you conceptualize making music as connecting a bunch of different colored legos, you naturally have to use what is in your toy box quite differently than if you start with a glob of amorphous modeling clay--your results all tend to have right angles rather than flowing lines.
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BobF
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/29 15:02:11
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I've been trying to listen to EDM and modern radio/XM stations while in the car lately. I'm still doing it, but not much has really grabbed me.
Bob -- Angels are crying because truth has died ...Illegitimi non carborundum --Studio One Pro / i7-6700@3.80GHZ, 32GB Win 10 Pro x64 Roland FA06, LX61+, Fishman Tripleplay, FaderPort, US-16x08 + ARC2.5/Event PS8s Waves Gold/IKM Max/Nomad Factory IS3/K11U
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MandolinPicker
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/29 19:43:39
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☄ Helpfulby Mitch_I 2016/05/30 12:15:47
The fact that there is a decrease in the appreciation of music should not come as a surprise to anyone. We have removed music (and the other arts) from our schools. If you are not taught about the various types and styles of music when you are young, why would you have any idea of the various differences (or be able to discriminate) when you get older. For me, I have loved bluegrass for the musician's involved and the skill they show, plus its connection to the roots of American music. I also enjoy rock of the 70s, country of the 80s, and big band of the 40s. I like Bach and Beethoven, Rogers and Hammerstein, and John Phillips Sousa. I have been drawn to Celtic music and believe one of the best Celtic groups around is 'Orthodox Celts' from Bosnia, Serbia. But this is no accident. I had teachers in school (elementary through high) who gave us an appreciation for all styles of music. The vocal chorus groups sang and the band played a wide variety of music. You just don't see this anymore. And the few big companies who control the music industry have no financial reason to want to change the status quo.
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webbs hill studio
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/29 21:05:35
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sharke. With literature, we're expected to move on from childhood and appreciate higher forms. With music, nobody cares if you're still listening to nursery rhymes in your 40's.
well said-lets not forget vocals-contemporary metal especially-I appreciate the mechanics but when the cookie monster starts singing it cracks me up...
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craigb
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/29 22:48:12
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webbs hill studio
sharke. With literature, we're expected to move on from childhood and appreciate higher forms. With music, nobody cares if you're still listening to nursery rhymes in your 40's.
well said-lets not forget vocals-contemporary metal especially-I appreciate the mechanics but when the cookie monster starts singing it cracks me up...
I've always called it "puking into the microphone" and, typically, it ruins for me what is otherwise a really good song.
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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Moshkito
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/30 11:35:24
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SoundRegion
When you listen to modern music and also some of the submissions in the songs forum, I noticed that there's not much melody in it anymore. ...
I sometimes think that 20th century music, was about the "anti-melody" thing and concept, but the part of music that is easiest to listen to and enjoy, is always the "melody", and it is the first thing that most rock music, and popular music goes for. In my estimation, it defines the limit of the range in the music, when all one can stick to is the melody, as there is a lot more that can be happening in the piece itself, and you can even go way back to Mozart, and I like to specially point out Stravinsky ... some might not find "melody" in there, but in the end, it's just a "different" kind of melody. Music is about the coordination and compilation of sounds, and sometimes it would seem rather ludicrous to have an orchestra with 75 instruments and they are all playing the exact same thing, which in fact, they mostly are not. Rock music in the past 50 to 60 years, has been, for the most part, extremely repetitive and commercially minded, and not willing, or capable of checking out something else ... and pretty soon, someone is going to say about Miles Davis ... where's the melody? ... it's not a "theme" that lasts 30 seconds that you can hum ... it's a whole piece that can last ... 30 minutes, an hour ... a lifetime. Hopefully this helps ... I like extending things and experimentation, but that means that there are other modes of music to be invented ... not the same ones to be redone differently, is how I look at it.
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jamesg1213
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/30 12:12:28
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Moshkito
SoundRegion
When you listen to modern music and also some of the submissions in the songs forum, I noticed that there's not much melody in it anymore. ...
I sometimes think that 20th century music, was about the "anti-melody" thing and concept, but the part of music that is easiest to listen to and enjoy, is always the "melody", and it is the first thing that most rock music, and popular music goes for.
I think the exact opposite is true Pedro, most rock and pop music is about the 'beat' or the 'groove' or the 'riff' with melody tacked on afterwards. There is no limit at all with melody, it can be as simple or as complex as the writer wants it to be.
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eph221
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Re: Melodies in music
2016/05/30 14:52:56
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There hasn't been a new paradigm since rap (destroyed music :) over 30 years ago. Revenue peaked for record companies around the turn of the century (16 years ago) and we've been mired in egalitarian, millenial pablum for way too long. The baby boomers need to teach these younger generations how to rock and loike soon! Before the old farts are all gone! Truly, truly it's the neo-liberal egalitarian stuff that has perverted everything from poly ticks to cooking (pbs is 90% cooking shows now thought you'd like to know). Though fascism is decidedly not desired in power structures in music it does very well I must say. There's IS a difference between good and bad. The public just needs to be told what it is!!!
Sorry to be so cynical, but it's feckin true!
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