I feel like I get something different out of music or enjoy it in a different way then normies1 do. Like, most people seem to be into pop music (by definition, pop = popular). And when I see people enjoying it, it’s usually in like a crowded setting, and they’re usually dancing or singing. But like the singing is more just yelling (not harshly) the main “fun” part of the song. And these songs usually focus more on the singing, and only their only other instruments are usually like drums and maybe one or two extras. There’s never really a focus on the instrumental. I don’t know if this rambling makes sense
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trivallytrue, “kind of resent "normie" becoming a part of my working vocabulary but it really is a very useful concept expressed succinctly”. 30 November 2023, 4:35 PM.
something I’ve thought about is that, vocaloid is kind of, the opposite of american pop music? like, an american pop artist’s main thing is their singing - if you take that away, there’s just, the actual musicians they hire to write their songs for them. the fact that they are singing is why you listen to them, because that singing could have easily been written for someone else.
in vocaloid music though, an artist might do everything themselves except for the singing. They use the same set of voicebanks, and these voicebanks are similar to the pop artist, only now, the main musician is recognized as the one behind the writing and instrumental. even if instrumentals might be simple, they often are more important, or at least just better. (see: this video.)
now keep in mind that i don’t actually know that much about either of these subjects. i may full well be talking out my ass. this is just, like, something i’ve thought about
okay @waste got me thinking about the use of vocals as an instrument and i’m going to talk about that some more
Some people out there claim that for something to be a “song”, it has to have singing. I think this is dumb as fuck and also bullshit and furthermore poo-poo pants. For one, for a long time I barely listened to music with singing. For two, having to call everything without singing a “work of music” all the time is stupid. And my third point, I don’t think singing should be elevated above other instruments. Now, singing does have things that make it unique and special! But I think there’s an overfocus on it that doesn’t make use of singing that well. What do I mean by this?
As I talked about, in modern American pop music, the main focus is singing. If you try focusing on the background instrumental, often all you’ll hear is sparse-feeling drums. This makes pop music sound empty to me, even though it feels like it’s going for fullness. Some times one instrument is enough, but I don’t think singers take advantage of singing.
There’s a post by tumblr user max1461 that I saw recently, and while I can’t find it, I’m still going to talk about it. It’s basically a lamentation of the fact that “most popular music” over the past 60 years has been about sex, but they won’t even talk about it, they’ll just use silly euphemisms. I’m not sure how accurate this is, especially pertaining to older music, but there is at least some truth to it. In attempting to appeal to the masses, these songs become indistinguishable. Think about how many popular songs there are that have the same premise as, let’s say 2 other songs. A lot! I’ve seen people say something along the lines of “more people should write songs about whatever” when they hear a song about a silly topic, and I agree!
One example of this that I like is the song Hailey’s Waitress by Fountains of Wayne. It’s about someone waiting for their coffee. You’d think it’s boring, and, well, it kind of is. But it’s also a calm song, and its lyrics and instrumental both contribute to a feeling of waiting that is really accurate. It occupies your mind like the thoughts you’d think while waiting would. And I love the song for that. It talks about the minutiae of life. The singing makes the wait into a story, and contributes to the song.
The Mind Electric (and maybe Hawaii: Part II) is another great example of treating vocals like an instrument. It does this a lot - using different languages, auto-tuning and pitch-shifting, and, in this song, reversing. It tells a story, and it’s incredibly integral. This is one of the songs that’s gotten me closest to crying (sadly, I’ve never cried to a song), and it wouldn’t do that without its singing.
I could replace almost any recent popular pop song’s with another instrument and nearly nothing of value (at least to me) would be lost.
I also want to touch on rap music. While I don’t listen to it much, I’ve heard some MF DOOM, and I’ve got to say - he’s a master with his words. The ability to give his lyrics that much rhyme and flow is amazingly impressive and shows a respect for lyricism that I don’t see in any pop song. The ability to give such a focus to the rhyme and flow of language is something I find very alluring, and I really should listen to him more.
In conclusion to this post, because it’s really long and I’ve got to end it at some point, I wish popular music would treat vocals differently. They put singing on a pedestal without giving it the respect or valuable purpose it deserves. Singing has its place like any other instrument.