Most Varied/Least Varied Music

**Janszoon** · 09-21-2009, 06:17 PM

Like Jackhammer mentioned in his post, electronica has got to be one of the most varied. It can be smooth or abrasive, dancy or ambient, poppy or experimental, and because of the wide range of sounds that can be generated electronically it has an extremely broad pallet of textures.

jackhammer · 09-21-2009, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Like Jackhammer mentioned in his post, electronica has got to be one of the most varied. It can be smooth or abrasive, dancy or ambient, poppy or experimental, and because of the wide range of sounds that can be generated electronically it has an extremely broad pallet of textures.

Also one of the most neglected on MB which is a damn shame methinks.

Automatic Slim · 09-21-2009, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by right-track

I agree. I think pop has the most variety, but I don't think it should be included in this debate for the reasons Lee gave.

The only pop I listen to on a regular basis is the Beatles, Stone Temple Pilots, and Nirvana. I listen to the radio sometimes, and most of it is pretty generic.

But I'm curious. I didn't expect anyone to say pop had the most variety. I'd expect that there would be more pop than any other genre, as it is, well, popular music. I expected classical, jazz, metal, and electronic to be common answers, but not necessarily in that order.

In what sense does pop have the most variety? I'm open minded, and intend to check out some of the pop bands jackhammer mentioned.

CanwllCorfe · 09-21-2009, 11:05 PM

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Originally Posted by jackhammer

Also one of the most neglected on MB which is a damn shame methinks.

Agreed

SATCHMO · 09-22-2009, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Automatic Slim

But I'm curious. I didn't expect anyone to say pop had the most variety. I'd expect that there would be more pop than any other genre, as it is, well, popular music. I expected classical, jazz, metal, and electronic to be common answers, but not necessarily in that order.

In what sense does pop have the most variety? I'm open minded, and intend to check out some of the pop bands jackhammer mentioned.

If you look at things from the perspective of how limiting a gwnre's criteria is, then you get a more accurate answer to the question.

The most common criteria for metal is heavily distorted guitars, minor key signatures and a dynamically heavy beat and usually brooding or somewhat angry vocals. Obviously there are some exceptions to this. That puts a lot of restrictions on the amount of diversity within the genre.

Contrast that with pop music, which essentially is almost solely defined by it's formulaic song structure, which is ubiquitous in the world of modern music, and somewhat by it's lyrical content, which is also ubiquitous in modern music, and you see that the genre is not nearly as exclusive. You can have a pop song in a modern key or a minor key. You can have a pop song with distorted guitars, or clean guitars, or no guitars at all.

I think the confusion comes from the fact that the word "pop" has become a catchall term to mean "mainstream", and while most mainstream music does fit within pop's formulaic song structure, not all pop is mainstream, not by a long shot.

Metal on the other hand given the amount of criterial restrictions does have an insane amount of variety, but it cant compare to pop, which is virtually a blank canvas as far as composition goes.

**Janszoon** · 09-22-2009, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATCHMO

If you look at things from the perspective of how limiting a gwnre's criteria is, then you get a more accurate answer to the question.

The most common criteria for metal is heavily distorted guitars, minor key signatures and a dynamically heavy beat and usually brooding or somewhat angry vocals. Obviously there are some exceptions to this. That puts a lot of restrictions on the amount of diversity within the genre.

Contrast that with pop music, which essentially is almost solely defined by it's formulaic song structure, which is ubiquitous in the world of modern music, and somewhat by it's lyrical content, which is also ubiquitous in modern music, and you see that the genre is not nearly as exclusive. You can have a pop song in a modern key or a minor key. You can have a pop song with distorted guitars, or clean guitars, or no guitars at all.

I think the confusion comes from the fact that the word "pop" has become a catchall term to mean "mainstream", and while most mainstream music does fit within pop's formulaic song structure, not all pop is mainstream, not by a long shot.

Metal on the other hand given the amount of criterial restrictions does have an insane amount of variety, but it cant compare to pop, which is virtually a blank canvas as far as composition goes.

I agree with everything you just said and because of that I'd say electronica is even more varied. There are are no structural restrictions at all and no lyrical restrictions, in fact it doesn't even have to have lyrics. The only restriction is instrumentation and even that is fairly open-ended and can include conventional synthesizers, sequencers, samplers and even a mix of more traditional live instruments.

CanwllCorfe · 09-22-2009, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

I agree with everything you just said and because of that I'd say electronica is even more varied. There are are no structural restrictions at all and no lyrical restrictions, in fact it doesn't even have to have lyrics. The only restriction is instrumentation and even that is fairly open-ended and can include conventional synthesizers, sequencers, samplers and even a mix of more traditional live instruments.

Indeed! Another thing is that Pop is made to be mainstream and accessible whereas electronic music is a free for all. I don't see any terrorcore songs entering the Billboard top 100 anytime soon

Bulldog · 09-22-2009, 10:25 AM

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Originally Posted by Piss Me Off

Genre-wise i may have to agree with pop unless you go for a vague rock tag, as rock is absolutely bloody huge and can encompass pop as well.

Yep. I mean, rock is such a vague term that hardly anyone I've encountered who knows their music has told me 'I'm a fan of rock music', at least from my experience. So that's definitely up there with the most varied of them.

**Janszoon** · 09-22-2009, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanwllCorfe

Indeed! Another thing is that Pop is made to be mainstream and accessible whereas electronic music is a free for all. I don't see any terrorcore songs entering the Billboard top 100 anytime soon

True and of course electronica can be very poppy sometimes too, a dichotomy that makes it extremely varied.

Automatic Slim · 09-22-2009, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATCHMO

If you look at things from the perspective of how limiting a gwnre's criteria is, then you get a more accurate answer to the question.

The most common criteria for metal is heavily distorted guitars, minor key signatures and a dynamically heavy beat and usually brooding or somewhat angry vocals. Obviously there are some exceptions to this. That puts a lot of restrictions on the amount of diversity within the genre.

Contrast that with pop music, which essentially is almost solely defined by it's formulaic song structure, which is ubiquitous in the world of modern music, and somewhat by it's lyrical content, which is also ubiquitous in modern music, and you see that the genre is not nearly as exclusive. You can have a pop song in a modern key or a minor key. You can have a pop song with distorted guitars, or clean guitars, or no guitars at all.

.....

Metal on the other hand given the amount of criterial restrictions does have an insane amount of variety, but it cant compare to pop, which is virtually a blank canvas as far as composition goes.

That's an interesting way of thinking about it: how stringent are the restrictions. I hadn't thought of it that way. However, does pop in fact display the variety that one would expect, given that it has fewer restrictions than metal (and I presume you would also include jazz as having more restrictions)? Or could this be just unrealized potential?

I'm not saying that pop does not have the most variety. I may just not have heard it. I'm not very familiar with it. Can someone give more examples of how varied pop is?

A question for the people voting electronic or jazz. (Classical can have vocals.) I suspect that not having vocals is somewhat limiting. Why or why not?

09-21-2009, 06:17 PM	#11 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	Like Jackhammer mentioned in his post, electronica has got to be one of the most varied. It can be smooth or abrasive, dancy or ambient, poppy or experimental, and because of the wide range of sounds that can be generated electronically it has an extremely broad pallet of textures. __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm