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I don't think it's just a fashion thing. There is a real outcome of this: the music is simpler and less interesting. Modulation isn't the only missing ingredien

by adamc 4y ago

I don't think it's just a fashion thing. There is a real outcome of this: the music is simpler and less interesting. Modulation isn't the only missing ingredient, though. Quantization and click tracks and pitch-correction and sampling have all combined to reduce the variation in songs. Part of it is driven by the need to make production cheaper (since music is less profitable now), so it's hard to say if it will come back.

hammock 4y ago
Pitch correction is harder to do live, if there are key changes, since you can set your auto tuner to a specific key Also, key changes present some increased difficulty (not insurmountable of course) in live performance on certain instruments like guitars. And the fact is (at least frontman) music artists are getting less talented at their instruments on average
- ghostpepper 4y ago
  Having never performed live I'm just guessing, but theoretically changing keys on autotune should be as simple as pressing a single button at the correct point in the song, no? Conceivably it could even be programmed in with everything else
  - hammock 4y ago
    Yes it is programmed for, e.g. Taylor Swift shows. For us regular guys there's a separate autotune box for each voice and it's sometimes not as simple as pressing one button.
crazygringo 4y ago
> the music is simpler and less interesting If you listen to top 40 only, then maybe. (Although a lot of top-40 music back in the 70's was pretty bad too. We only continue to listen to the cream of the crop from back then, not the average radio station song.) But if you're listening to top 40 music these days, well that's your fault. Outside of it, there's never been more complexity and variety and interest and genre-mixing in the history of music than today. You're not stuck with the radio, you've got Spotify and the stuff you can find outside of the mainstream is amazing.

by adamc 4y ago

hammock 4y ago

Pitch correction is harder to do live, if there are key changes, since you can set your auto tuner to a specific key Also, key changes present some increased difficulty (not insurmountable of course) in live performance on certain instruments like guitars. And the fact is (at least frontman) music artists are getting less talented at their instruments on average

ghostpepper 4y ago
Having never performed live I'm just guessing, but theoretically changing keys on autotune should be as simple as pressing a single button at the correct point in the song, no? Conceivably it could even be programmed in with everything else
- hammock 4y ago
  Yes it is programmed for, e.g. Taylor Swift shows. For us regular guys there's a separate autotune box for each voice and it's sometimes not as simple as pressing one button.

crazygringo 4y ago

> the music is simpler and less interesting If you listen to top 40 only, then maybe. (Although a lot of top-40 music back in the 70's was pretty bad too. We only continue to listen to the cream of the crop from back then, not the average radio station song.) But if you're listening to top 40 music these days, well that's your fault. Outside of it, there's never been more complexity and variety and interest and genre-mixing in the history of music than today. You're not stuck with the radio, you've got Spotify and the stuff you can find outside of the mainstream is amazing.