4 ms·

I hope I don’t sound jaded but am I the only one who finds this a bit boring and lacking what music should not? I’m in my 40s and dabbled myself with music maki

I hope I don’t sound jaded but am I the only one who finds this a bit boring and lacking what music should not? I’m in my 40s and dabbled myself with music making and jamming electronic instruments with others and when I see a clean instruction led process that has no room for human touch, may it be mistake that blends it naturally or unpredictibility it somehow appears dull. Im sure this will get downvoted in perpetuity but I got something off my chest.

siftyy 4y ago
I think there's room for both types in the ever expanding genre of electronic music. Perhaps its a little too open ended to call all types of noise music… but why should music be constrained to something appealing to listen to?
lethologica 4y ago
I found the soundtrack to be really fitting with the tone of the movie. Maybe it’s a metaphor for Mark Zuckerberg.
- selectodude 4y ago
  That makes sense as Trent Reznor is a fucking genius.
- EdwardDiego 4y ago
  The Hall of the Mountain King version for the rowing race was top notch.
cutler 4y ago
Agreed. If you compare this stuff with, for example, John Foxx's "Metatmatic" or Bowie's "Low" the human touch makes all the difference. Great electronic musicians leave an impression but this stuff just leaves me empty. I don't think sound engineering can be classed as creative music.
- vcanales 4y ago
  > I don't think sound engineering can be classed as creative music. Yes, let's gatekeep what can or cannot be classified as "creative".
- senko 4y ago
  "You have technicians here making noise. They're not artists because nobody can play the guitar!" (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs3ocG5yW88 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs3ocG5yW88)
squeaky-clean 4y ago
> and when I see a clean instruction led process that has no room for human touch, may it be mistake that blends it naturally or unpredictibility it somehow appears dull. I'll be honest I'm not 100% sure what you're criticizing here, do you mean the article giving a step-by-step guide on how to replicate the soundtrack? Or is something about the soundtrack itself a clean instruction led process with no room for human touch? If you mean the steps of how to recreate the original songs, I half agree. Replication doesn't make for a super interesting piece to share. But it is a great way to learn how to make electronic music. A guitarist or pianist practices by learning existing music right? Much of electronic music is in the sound production and "covering" an existing track is just as good a practice as learning your favorite guitar solo. If you mean the music itself is dull because it's software and sequencer driven well I'd say there's still plenty of human elements in the composition and I'd bet plenty of human knob-twiddling. But also consider it's a movie soundtrack so it's not really supposed to steal the foreground, and it's a movie that centers around programming and a main character with terrible social skills, so the robotic sequencing is probably very intentional. Check out the album "Ghosts I-IV" which includes these same 2 dudes and the rest of the NiN bandmates and was used as a placeholder score for the movie if you want to hear something with a similar vibe but far more "organic" sounding.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
ghostpepper 4y ago
> Im sure this will get downvoted in perpetuity Why would you assume that?
afro88 4y ago
There's room for both in the process. I like these kinds of articles, videos etc. Love finding out how unique sounda and feelings are made. I regularly have sessions where I attempt to recreate sounds or full songs too. Great learning tool! But, you also need to jam and be creative. Too much technical learning without creativity and you make boring stuff. Too much creativity without technical learning and you find it difficult to express yourself.
steve_taylor 4y ago
> when I see a clean instruction led process that has no room for human touch, may it be mistake that blends it naturally or unpredictibility it somehow appears dull. My understanding of this article is that it’s a detailed study of a composition the author likes.
EmilyHughes 4y ago
No, that track sounds like random presets thrown together. If it were uploaded by a nobody to soundcloud nobody would care about it. I think it's fair to compare this track to techno, because that what it tries to sound like. If you listen to some cutting edge techno/minimal music you will easily find more atmospheric, nuanced and better produced songs than this. Just my opinion.
- calsy 4y ago
  Sure its an opinion, but just saying it's random presents without proof of that and that it's easier to find more atmospheric, nuanced and better produced songs without providing any is rather meaningless. What is minimal about it? Clearly there are quite a number of layered tracks combining synth and tradition instruments intended for a soundtrack to a movie. The only thing techno about it is the beat.
  - EmilyHughes 4y ago
    I was just exaggerating with the presets but I think it's nothing special. Never seen the movie so maybe it fits the atmosphere but just on it's own its a bit bland. Extrawelt - 8000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMDrGTZ6uEA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMDrGTZ6uEA Minilogue - The Leopard (Extrawelt Remix): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnTg4vzli5s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnTg4vzli5s
    - calsy 4y ago
      What makes this cutting edge, easy to find music from 2011 more interesting? I get it, opinions.
    - bigbluedots 4y ago
      Those are totally dull, sorry...
- senko 4y ago
  > nobody would care about it. Not true. I had no idea who produced it when I heard it in the movie, and I liked it so much I played the whole album on repeat for days while working (coding). > you will easily find more atmospheric, nuanced and better produced songs than this. C'mon, you can't leave us hanging. Throw a few recommendations here! I listen to techno but I usually don't like minimal, I find it too boring (prefer old school psy trance and goa myself, that should tell you direction I lean to). I really liked the SN soundtrack tho.
sixstringtheory 4y ago
I can see where you're coming from if this is a piece of music made to stand in its own right, but you gotta remember it was composed to complement what you are seeing onscreen and the dialogue that is part of a larger story. It's not supposed to be the star of the experience, but support for it. If Broken was the soundtrack to the movie, it would suck, as much as I love that album.
zaplin 4y ago
To respond I'm gonna quote an artist* I recently interviewed on my synths & artists newsletter > "The fact that synthesizer music is a machine-human interaction allows you to think less about elements that you'd generally focus 100% on when you perform a "traditional" instrument. For instance, with synthesizers you have the luxury of focusing solely on expression without worrying about note execution." *Elan Dare on the [G.A.S. Newsletter](https://gasnewsletter.beehiiv.com/ https://gasnewsletter.beehiiv.com/)
EdwardDiego 4y ago
Taste is subjective :)
- mkaic 4y ago
  And good taste like mine, even more so! :P

siftyy 4y ago

I think there's room for both types in the ever expanding genre of electronic music. Perhaps its a little too open ended to call all types of noise music… but why should music be constrained to something appealing to listen to?

lethologica 4y ago

I found the soundtrack to be really fitting with the tone of the movie. Maybe it’s a metaphor for Mark Zuckerberg.

selectodude 4y ago
That makes sense as Trent Reznor is a fucking genius.
EdwardDiego 4y ago
The Hall of the Mountain King version for the rowing race was top notch.

cutler 4y ago

Agreed. If you compare this stuff with, for example, John Foxx's "Metatmatic" or Bowie's "Low" the human touch makes all the difference. Great electronic musicians leave an impression but this stuff just leaves me empty. I don't think sound engineering can be classed as creative music.

vcanales 4y ago
> I don't think sound engineering can be classed as creative music. Yes, let's gatekeep what can or cannot be classified as "creative".
senko 4y ago
"You have technicians here making noise. They're not artists because nobody can play the guitar!" (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs3ocG5yW88 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs3ocG5yW88)

squeaky-clean 4y ago

> and when I see a clean instruction led process that has no room for human touch, may it be mistake that blends it naturally or unpredictibility it somehow appears dull. I'll be honest I'm not 100% sure what you're criticizing here, do you mean the article giving a step-by-step guide on how to replicate the soundtrack? Or is something about the soundtrack itself a clean instruction led process with no room for human touch? If you mean the steps of how to recreate the original songs, I half agree. Replication doesn't make for a super interesting piece to share. But it is a great way to learn how to make electronic music. A guitarist or pianist practices by learning existing music right? Much of electronic music is in the sound production and "covering" an existing track is just as good a practice as learning your favorite guitar solo. If you mean the music itself is dull because it's software and sequencer driven well I'd say there's still plenty of human elements in the composition and I'd bet plenty of human knob-twiddling. But also consider it's a movie soundtrack so it's not really supposed to steal the foreground, and it's a movie that centers around programming and a main character with terrible social skills, so the robotic sequencing is probably very intentional. Check out the album "Ghosts I-IV" which includes these same 2 dudes and the rest of the NiN bandmates and was used as a placeholder score for the movie if you want to hear something with a similar vibe but far more "organic" sounding.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

ghostpepper 4y ago

> Im sure this will get downvoted in perpetuity Why would you assume that?

afro88 4y ago

There's room for both in the process. I like these kinds of articles, videos etc. Love finding out how unique sounda and feelings are made. I regularly have sessions where I attempt to recreate sounds or full songs too. Great learning tool! But, you also need to jam and be creative. Too much technical learning without creativity and you make boring stuff. Too much creativity without technical learning and you find it difficult to express yourself.

steve_taylor 4y ago

> when I see a clean instruction led process that has no room for human touch, may it be mistake that blends it naturally or unpredictibility it somehow appears dull. My understanding of this article is that it’s a detailed study of a composition the author likes.

EmilyHughes 4y ago

No, that track sounds like random presets thrown together. If it were uploaded by a nobody to soundcloud nobody would care about it. I think it's fair to compare this track to techno, because that what it tries to sound like. If you listen to some cutting edge techno/minimal music you will easily find more atmospheric, nuanced and better produced songs than this. Just my opinion.

calsy 4y ago
Sure its an opinion, but just saying it's random presents without proof of that and that it's easier to find more atmospheric, nuanced and better produced songs without providing any is rather meaningless. What is minimal about it? Clearly there are quite a number of layered tracks combining synth and tradition instruments intended for a soundtrack to a movie. The only thing techno about it is the beat.
- EmilyHughes 4y ago
  I was just exaggerating with the presets but I think it's nothing special. Never seen the movie so maybe it fits the atmosphere but just on it's own its a bit bland. Extrawelt - 8000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMDrGTZ6uEA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMDrGTZ6uEA Minilogue - The Leopard (Extrawelt Remix): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnTg4vzli5s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnTg4vzli5s
  - calsy 4y ago
    What makes this cutting edge, easy to find music from 2011 more interesting? I get it, opinions.
  - bigbluedots 4y ago
    Those are totally dull, sorry...
senko 4y ago
> nobody would care about it. Not true. I had no idea who produced it when I heard it in the movie, and I liked it so much I played the whole album on repeat for days while working (coding). > you will easily find more atmospheric, nuanced and better produced songs than this. C'mon, you can't leave us hanging. Throw a few recommendations here! I listen to techno but I usually don't like minimal, I find it too boring (prefer old school psy trance and goa myself, that should tell you direction I lean to). I really liked the SN soundtrack tho.

sixstringtheory 4y ago

I can see where you're coming from if this is a piece of music made to stand in its own right, but you gotta remember it was composed to complement what you are seeing onscreen and the dialogue that is part of a larger story. It's not supposed to be the star of the experience, but support for it. If Broken was the soundtrack to the movie, it would suck, as much as I love that album.

zaplin 4y ago

To respond I'm gonna quote an artist* I recently interviewed on my synths & artists newsletter > "The fact that synthesizer music is a machine-human interaction allows you to think less about elements that you'd generally focus 100% on when you perform a "traditional" instrument. For instance, with synthesizers you have the luxury of focusing solely on expression without worrying about note execution." *Elan Dare on the [G.A.S. Newsletter](https://gasnewsletter.beehiiv.com/ https://gasnewsletter.beehiiv.com/)

EdwardDiego 4y ago

Taste is subjective :)

mkaic 4y ago
And good taste like mine, even more so! :P