Ignorant ramblings on music (part 2)

Ignorant ramblings, this title is needed to show that I have no formal knowledge of music, I don't understand music theory, I do not play an instrument, I can't remix a song, and I sing terribly. I do listen to a decent amount of music though, I have tastes that evolved over time, yet I still listen to a more synthetic, electronic style of music. While EDM is made for dancing I have come to appreciate it and genera that it helped create much like any other music. Particularly more mellow music still has a base line and some synthetic sounds like ambient, or tropical.

Naturally if there is no vocals then melodies have to be complex enough to hold the interest, and there is plenty of opportunity for intricate melodies, there is a wide range of sample sounds and ways to modify them when using a computer. If there are vocals they can be used as a centerpiece of a song or as another instrument similar to a Capella singer where the tone (sorry i don't know the proper terminology here) is used as an instrument. There are songs that certainly have harsh sounds with in them too, but not discord. Any harsh sound is really a foil to a melody, a good artist can and will use uncommon and uncomfortable sounds to contrast to their melodies and make a new sound. It demands attention. Vocals can also be used to contrast a more chaotic melody to calm vocals. More over this is reflection of modern life, the sweet songs of birds and rush of streams is becoming less and less common, they are replaced with traffic, garbage trucks, alarm clocks, and the occasional blender. The world might not be gentle on ears but there is beauty in taking a chaotic sound and giving it a melody. It's embracing reality, and has traces of more classical music in it. It should be no surprise that EDM is maturing in this time period. 

Admittedly most of these point are vague, so there are songs that prove these points for me. For example Scary monsters and nice sprites by Skrillex, excellently uses vocals as a instrument that grabs attention but there are no words. There is a great variety of sounds within the song but a similar style through out, a ever constant building and lowering pattern. Any spoken words are warped to exaggerate their meaning. Songs like Phat Brahms, by Steve Aoki and Flashbach by Savant are reinterpretations pieces done by classical composers. Toothless Hawkins (and his robot jazz band) by Varien and Razihel has this really cool abomination of jazz and dub step. Crave you Adventure Club Remix by Flight Facilities has a fantastic singer offset by dub step. Levels by Avicii is magical. Kygo makes fantastic relaxed electronic music. Even if you don't like these styles, listening to them can help you appreciate how music is still growing and evolving.

Actually some of the most prominent artists in these genera are skilled piano players Kygo and Nicky Romero. This is valuable to them because it helps them find melodies that can but used in there produced music, and kind of shows the over lap with classical of skills necessary to make this kind of music. I say this because it is not an unreasonable assumption that the average person appreciates classical music more than anything made on a computer, but people still use these chaotic sounds to make music. Reggie Watts is an incredible beat boxer, singer, comedian, and sociomusicologist. Sociomusicology, grossly simplified, is the study of how music impacts society. This man is capable and intelligent, I recommend watching his ted X talk where he offsets comedy with chaotic beat boxing. While it is by no means angelic, Reggie Watts still uses beat boxing s a form of communication.
Isn't that the goal of music in the most pure sense to be able to connect to others. Maybe by listening to a bit of music an emotion is conveyed that can not be expressed in words, a connection is made in appreciating a quirky melody. Really I set out to defend electronic music that is a big part of him life, but rather I find that I don't care what others think about it. I found my own way to appreciate music and that is a beautiful think.

Also this is titled ramblings, but is probably my most coherent blog post. I should title my next blog The Cow goes Moo so I can figure out time travel.