And the beat goes on... (and I hate that)- music lovers check in

[Marc]

I have a gripe (ok several, but one in particular) with modern popular music. I find I can draw a very distinct line between music I find tolerable and even enjoyable and music I found completely intolerable- enter ther percussion section.

I'm talking about one very common drum/rhythm pattern in particular which employs the bass drum on the down beat and the unmuffled snare on the third beat (always in common time, of course). And not just for a phrase, or a verse... for the whole freaking piece.

D, being the resident bang on things with sticks expert, can maybe tell us the name for that particular beat (if it has one).

I find myself being less and less willing to listen to music that uses that same beat, over and over. I want to listen to interesting music. I think the rhythm section should interact with the rest of the voices. Good music arrangements and voices should overlap, intertwine, interweave and compliment each other, they shouldn't be stacked like layers.

If there's one repetitve rhythm line the whole song, it quickly becomes all I can focus on. It stands out and begins to sound louder than the rest of the music. When I'm listening to music critically, I can force myself to pick out parts, but the music should be written such that I can step back and listen to it as a single waveform, as a whole, my focus being driven by the intent of the composer.

Probably why I dislike a lot of electronic music (trance in particular). I just can't take the repetition (no offense to Steve and hardline....)

Who's with me? yay

 

[mondeo]

DMC's not the only percussionist here.

It actually doesn't bother me all that much, I just don't think much of the drummers. There's a decent number of bands that are good except for the drummer. In most cases, the drums jut fade into the background anyways.

 

[Marc]

Who are the other percussionists?

 

[riverc0il]

Coming from a breakbeat DJ perspective, my least favorite repetetive beat pattern is the infamous "1 a3" bass beat. Gah, just kill me.

I love drum beats that screw with the mind, especially in mixed time. When I really have to exert a mental effort to determine the time signature but I still seem to pick a rhythm that I move my body to even though I know it isn't the "real" "beat".

With all the stuff I DJ... I felt two components really pulled at my selections. The big part was always the beat, very percussive and off beat. The other component was a certain atmosphere, but that was always second. If the beat wasn't there, it didn't move the body or the mind. It all started with the drums. But that is dance music, specifically the non-"4-to-the-floor" variety which has its place and can have interesting elements but never can achieve the diverse rhythms in broken beat tunes.

For the record, Trance is one of my least favorite of the dance genres so no offense taken. House has its time and its place tho..... sometimes you WANT that beat driven into your skull to the point you feel it instead of hear it.

With rock... I don't know. I have loved hearing Tool develop as a band. Their percussionist knocks my socks off and I love it. But what I really look for in rock music is breaking the typical arrangement pattern. That is what drives me nuts... the pop rock forumla. Music by standard arrangement. That drives me nuts with dance music too.... most songs ALWAYS gotta have the 108 beatless breakdown atmospheric buildup. F THAT!!! That works for your peak hour ONLY. GAHHHH. But nearly every dance track does it cuz producers of electronic music have no freaking imagination (for the most part) and think their track actually DESERVES to have a "give the dancers a break" track. Gimme a break, lol. Beats beats beats beats.

Hmmm... not sure where I am going with this. Probably going to bed with it... somewhat tired right now Any ways... I concur I guess is what I am saying.

 

[hardline]

your right most of the stuff on the radio is garbage. there is very little reall hiphop being played anymore. reall hiphop was about good beats and good lyrics. when playing hiphop/top 40 i try to mix the current stuff with the older stuff(da la, tribe, older ll, beatnuts, ect) but this is the stuff that keeps the kiddies in the bars so you gota play what the want and what keeps the place packed. i hate paper airplanes at this point. the shit that i absolutly hate is reggaton its like the hiphop bastard son of drum and bass. slowers speeds with 808 kicks and constantly down pitching snares drums.

trance and progressive house get boring real quick when i am playing house i like to play the funkier variety that samples lots of old original funk and such.

may favorite genre of music is downtempo. it encompases hiphop, triphop, broken beat, funk, neuvo jazz and anything that can't be shoehorned into any other genre. one of the greates skills of a dj in the genre is being able to program music over a extended period of time and to be able to go up and down in bpms.

the thing that i am know for as a dj is playing things that are not expected. like play a 8 or 16 measure loop from a rock sone and throwin a hiphop vocal over it or finding a remix that does more of the same. i also play everthing in the course of the night and am able to keep the 21 to 40 age group all happy.

but the current state of popular music is quite sad and the music you might be thinking of is called reggaton.

that being said i started out as sax player then started as a clasically trained jazz drummer who ended up playing in funk bands and doing studio work so i have a pretty diverse musicall background. djing is great for getting the ladies.

 

[riverc0il]

hardline... you demonstrate why you still have a gig and I don't. When the club scene dried up everywhere, the only formats that would pull in the heads were top40, rap, and 80s. I never compromised on artistic direction so I am done unless some underground revolution comes back around. The people that enjoyed good electronic music just stopped showing up. Got too old perhaps and the next generation of kids never got hooked into it. The downtempo stuff is awesome. I did a mix of that on a radio show I used to do and loved that stuff. You can make a run at that with the lounge scene explosion. Not sure if lounges are still the thing, they were when I was down in Boston as clubs faded, consolidated, etc. Where did all this reggaton come from any ways? LOL.

 

[andyzee]

Nothing like the good ole days:



I like this one gonna miss the Bush comedy show :

 

[hardline]

hardline... you demonstrate why you still have a gig and I don't. When the club scene dried up everywhere, the only formats that would pull in the heads were top40, rap, and 80s. I never compromised on artistic direction so I am done unless some underground revolution comes back around. The people that enjoyed good electronic music just stopped showing up. Got too old perhaps and the next generation of kids never got hooked into it. The downtempo stuff is awesome. I did a mix of that on a radio show I used to do and loved that stuff. You can make a run at that with the lounge scene explosion. Not sure if lounges are still the thing, they were when I was down in Boston as clubs faded, consolidated, etc. Where did all this reggaton come from any ways? LOL.

the only reason i started with the top 100 shit is because i got a little into scratching so i still can have fun. i still occasionally do flyin gigs and play house. the hayday for dance music in the states was the 90's with the combination of raves and clubs it was fun. i still sliip in some new house there is some of the best i eer heard comming out of calli. we are actually going to do a big house night once a month here in nyc.

the lounge/downtempo stuff is really for the older more sophisticated crowd. there are few places that do nights. so it is a viable genre. one of the resons we have been so successfull is we play such a broad spectrum of music. we start djing at 6 on fridays and we keep it packed from then to close. so from 6 to 10 i get to play all the cool downtempo stuff then we start bringing it up. pluss its great that you only have to bring your controle records and a hard drive and plug in.

reggaton is just some strange ass shit. personally i think some guys got high up in harlem heard some jungle then went into the studio to cut a track. i ate the shit but love watching the girls asses bounch to it.

what was the point of this thread again.

we should trade some of our mixes for shits and giggles.