Yo, whaddup.
So I've had this theory on music for a while. It sounds like a bit of a fever dream, and it kinda did originate from one *coughs* but bear with me, it's just a bit of Mental Masturbation™. Yes, I'm making this a thing now. For this one, however, I'm actually going to do some research, so prepare for your minds to be blown with Truth™.
First of all, I'd like to state that I think of music as a product of collective consciousness and the evolution of the human psyche and brain ability. If you look closely enough (or listen closely enough) there seems to be some sort of pattern emerging, from music past to music present. At any one given time in modern culture there seems to be huge gaps between music taste, and this can be clearly seen by what is being played on popular media and reactions to said media. I'd also like to state that I believe one's taste in music is heavily influenced by one's exposure to said popular media in the early stages of development, however not entirely dependent on it. I'm not going to turn this into a thesis either, and I won't be covering things that may seem like anomalies due to cultural changes, such as the emergence of rap in America or other such things. I will be missing out on a lot, making this completely unscientific. I'm not trying to write a thesis here. Although I would love to... actually no I wouldn't. That would take WAY too much time, and I'm not being compensated for this in the slightest. In fact I'm paying for it out of my own hourglass, so no way in hell am I going in-depth. Suck my chubby. Maybe one day, but today is not that day.
Note: assume that, for the most part, I use classical music as synonymous to choir music
So what is music, and where did it start? The first instances of musical recreation and use of instruments can be found in preliterate, prehistoric cultures.It most likely began with neutral sounds and rhythm, creating beat and tempo. This is the basis of all music today, and screw the fringe stuff that don't use it. That ain't music, it's just sound. Maybe good sound, but you can't turn pastry into an apple. The things is, what differentiates musical beat from the beat coming from bashing a guy's head in is the fact that it's intentional. Music is 100% intentional. Birdsong is not music until it is intentionally recognised as such. This is what makes the difference.
After the creation of that sick beat bro we can assume that the human voice accompanied it, alongside the creation of different beats using different tools, such as rubbing a stick across a rough surface. The human voice signifies the start of human's mental evolution in terms of music, I believe, as it probably also held close ties to cultural development, communication and language. I'm sure that there was a connection, but it must have been an extremely complex relationship. This created the concept of not only beat, but accompanying melody. With the discovery of voice in music, we can also assume that as time passed, its different forms were used. The human vocal cords are capable of marvelous things, possessing a large range (when trained) and the ability to create different sounds such as yawning and yawping. Then perhaps the mouth was used, using clicking noises, whistling and the like. Caveman beat-boxers, if you will. Once people began to develop, however, we can see a very distinct change: a movement away from the sounds that humans can make towards artificial sound. I believe that this movement characterises music to the modern day.
The first instrument was the flute, created from reed or bird bones (I remember that from recorder class, stupid useless instrument). The age of the instrument had arrived. With this more complex ways to manipulate sound were birthed, with drums becoming more complicated and wind-instruments taking different forms for different sounds. And then, I believe, came string instruments as the next logical step in progression. This made sound far different than that which could be made by human or wind. It is around this time that the use of the human voice probably came to be less human, with those who specialised in it being able to create in-human melody (take opera and throat singing for examples). With the sheer number of instruments that were able to be created, the official musical scale must have been made by scholars at some point in-between, but I have no clue when. If you ask for my guess, I'm gonna say the east. Those dudes have shit on lock, it wouldn't surprise me that they created, or at least initiated the creation of, music structure.
Bla bla bla centuries go past and then BOOM orchestra and classical music. This is the epitome of the use of in-human beat and melody. Classical music, in its many forms in different cultures, for me, is the basis of all modern music, where man blended so many different sounds to create masterpieces. This was the inception of the music gap. As different types of classical music came to the fore, using instruments in different ways to make different harmonies, generations must have begun to cling onto those that were apart of their time. I believe that people who grew up with classical music being played around them are the people who became "progressive". I also believe that this very music began to influence the inner workings of human psyche, hence why babies born listening to classical music are recorded to have higher intelligence. This very development in the human brain must have had an impact upon culture and music itself. There is so much to be said about this period of music, I'm sure, and its probably why there is so much study on it.
What happened afterwards? Apparently something called "romantic" music. I have no clue what that is about. What did they do? Just reminisce about the past? Freakin' BS, stunting the evolution of music. I'm not entirely sure if anything special occurred, aside from the progression of classical, presumably.
The next thing of note that came about was Jazz, another personal favorite of mine (I'm attempting to learn saxophone). The absolute genius in the revolutionisation of the classical formula is superb, with melody and beat harmony creating a whole new meaning. I can't quite understand it yet, and currently it is something that I'm listening more to in order to do so. Once I've uncovered the mysteries of Jazz I will maybe update this issue, but until then all I can say is that the sound of Jazz created something completely new, melding both human and in-human perfectly.
The thing is, with the introduction of Jazz, the age gap between music became much more noticeable. People who grew up on modern classical were more likely to gravitate towards Jazz, but those who didn't vehemently renounced it and pushed classical. This age gap with the constant leaps in music is an ever-present factor today.
After this came rock and roll, which also used Jazz influences and a bunch of ither stuff that I couldn't say because it just isn't my thing. I guess it turned into pop music? Honestly, I don't think that it's as impactfull in the grander scheme of things. Please, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
The next notable addition to music then came with the introduction of the least human thing of all to revolutionise music: electricity. That's right, I'm talking about the electric guitar and rock. The inhuman sounds created in this music really got people fired up, and the use of outstanding vocals made the music emotion-inducing to its core. Unsurprisingly this came to be some of the most controversial music to exist, with religions even denouncing as unholy. More new sounds were made with more new structures being created to accommodate them, and then even the human voice became a part of those artificial sounds (screamo music). I can really appreciate rock as well, however all of that emotion just isn't my thing.
After this everything is rather muddled for me (I need to increase my musical knowledge to say more) but what I can pin-point as the next notable land-mark of music evolution is Disco. WOO I love me some disco. This is what I grew up with and absolutely adored as a kid. It was my first favourite music genre. My parents had two 80's disco CDs and I remember absolutely rocking out to them, dancing and singing and pretending to play all of the sounds like a DJ. I believe this is the genre that most influenced my taste in music today.
Disco music is where the use of electronic, instrument and both human and augmented vocals came to the fore. It has many basic attributes of the most modern music, and its where the generation gap of the generation before me really shows itself. Of course this generation gap isn't a solid wall, but the appearance of those who cling to disco and music of the time is a testament to this. For example, my father. Predictably enough, these are the people who denounce modern music, in my experience (and I've had a bunch of them). Now after this came the wider use of electronic sounds in Trance, and then further into Electro and House.
This is where things start to get real. Around about this time is where music begins to have the ability to be made by a single person, and the distinctive music that is my genre is born, with the invent of Dubstep: Electronic and voice manipulation in its truest form. Then comes Lovestep, EDM, Electro, all that stuff that the kids are playing today.
What I find very interesting is that, what can be seen very clearly in this modern music, is the signs of integration between all other genres. Musical instruments and vocals are still included, but augmented. More and more music, however, is using less and less of these remnants of the past. Perhaps one day there will be almost none of them left, with only small traces of voice and instrument remaining, perhaps even fully electronic to create a music style currently inconceivable to me. This is where I will become a part of the generation gap.
What's most interesting, however, is the pop music of today. Especially living in South Africa, hearing what is on the radio here and what is playing overseas, and hearing the changes in local radio is fascinating. More and more pop music is using artist names as brands more than the music actually incorporating their voice, and the electronic style of the music I love is shoved to the background. But who are the main consumers of radio, and the main influencing factors of the music that they play? That's right, the tastes of working adults. The fact that music is gravitating more heavily towards the Electro I like means that these people are just on the brink of change, clinging on to the characteristics of music past yet unable to move forward towards music present. In overseas countries the popular radio music is much more modern than here, showing both the generation differences worldwide as well as the impact of globalisation. I personally believe that modern Electronic is the Classical of this era of music.
Oh man, I really didn't structure my argument well. I hope you can understand what I'm saying here, because I'm too lazy to go into further detail. If it is needed, however, tell me and I will provide more at a later date, using modern, globalised music as a way-point, analysing its properties as well as the properties of other prevalent genres such as rock. Just give all of these types of music a good, analytical listen, and you will find what I'm talking about. What I'm saying here is more just to get you thinking, because it's difficult to put together without first-hand experience.
Conclusively, all music seems to be collectively moving towards a certain point, and the fact that music seems to have the ability to influence thought and cultural development seems to suggest something interesting: can the thought processes of future generations be predicted using this, or rather, are we actually somehow being herded towards a certain point through something in our genetic make-up? All questions for another time, because F**** this shit I'm out!
See you next time, I hope. 675Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTz9c8AagU
♪~ ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ
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