Is there such thing as a completely original song/style of music?

SATCHMO · 05-27-2011, 11:46 PM

The moment that you decide that you are going to create a piece of music, you are being wholly and completely unoriginal, but who gives a ****, really?

duga · 05-29-2011, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AwwSugar

I'm not sure how much I agree with this. I mean inspiration-wise, I guess random noises and such wouldn't be original, but at one time, something was original. It was inspired by something, but it was an original song/style.
I think the OP was talking about music, not about whether a song was inspired by something not-musical.

Subconsciously, I'm sure a lot of everything we write is based on something else we've heard, but I'm sure there are some sounds, some ideas, that are very partially original still.
I'm speaking from a more emotional point of view, than a literal one, I think, and this is probably where I'll end up butting heads with a lot of opinions.

Only nature is original...at least in relation to us as humans. I only brought up the example of the cave paintings to show that even what we could consider to be the first human attempt at art was not completely original. If something was completely original, no one would understand it. Art is our attempt at communicating what is going on in our heads on a deeper level than just talking can.

Things can be built on in an original way...and that is what we mean when we say a new band sounds very original. If you boil it down to what true originality means, however, there is no way you can argue that there is something like that.

Zer0 · 05-29-2011, 01:09 PM

Really I think the nearest thing possible to truly original music would be to give a musical instrument to a person who was raised in total isolation and darkness since birth for them to make some form of noise. Although it would be interesting hear what that person would do with the instrument it would be of course completely barbaric.

Gregor XIII · 05-30-2011, 01:49 AM

No song is an island. Simple as that, really. If you've ever heard music, you've been inspired by music. Even if you decide that you will only create your own instruments and play music in 13/8, then you are inspired by all the music you are trying to not sound like.

However, somewhat original sounds pop up all the time. No one had made a song like Autobahn before Kraftwerk (more or less, bear with me here) because the feeling of driving along an endless autobahn wasn't well known before that. No album had sounded exactly like Fear of a Black Planet before, for the rage on that album was born out of a very specific time and place and sense of directionless rage. My attempt at a moral would be: Stop obsessing about 'sound' and 'influence', and start thinking about 'feel' and 'content'.

Arya Stark · 05-30-2011, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duga

Only nature is original...at least in relation to us as humans. I only brought up the example of the cave paintings to show that even what we could consider to be the first human attempt at art was not completely original. If something was completely original, no one would understand it. Art is our attempt at communicating what is going on in our heads on a deeper level than just talking can.

Things can be built on in an original way...and that is what we mean when we say a new band sounds very original. If you boil it down to what true originality means, however, there is no way you can argue that there is something like that.

Right. But I'm speaking musically. :P

duga · 05-31-2011, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AwwSugar

Right. But I'm speaking musically. :P

....so was I....

Arya Stark · 05-31-2011, 10:03 AM

If music was initially inspired by nature or sounds then I'm not sure I would say that makes it unoriginal.

Dotoar · 05-31-2011, 12:46 PM

My snub-nosed two and a half pennies would be that either everything is original or nothing is. Even if you decide to write a note-for-note rip-off of an existing song and perform it, it will still feature your own subtle twists and phrasings.

duga · 05-31-2011, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AwwSugar

If music was initially inspired by nature or sounds then I'm not sure I would say that makes it unoriginal.

Why? True originality is something that is completely distinct. The minute you say something is inspired by something else, it loses originality. Saying "band Y is inspired by band X" is the same thing as saying "ancient music is inspired by the seasons/animals/etc.". It didn't come out of nowhere, therefore it is not completely original.

Arya Stark · 06-03-2011, 02:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duga

Why? True originality is something that is completely distinct. The minute you say something is inspired by something else, it loses originality. Saying "band Y is inspired by band X" is the same thing as saying "ancient music is inspired by the seasons/animals/etc.". It didn't come out of nowhere, therefore it is not completely original.

I guess I'm just having a difficult time considering them to be the same thing.

05-29-2011, 01:09 PM	#13 (permalink)
Zer0 ∞ Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 3,792	Really I think the nearest thing possible to truly original music would be to give a musical instrument to a person who was raised in total isolation and darkness since birth for them to make some form of noise. Although it would be interesting hear what that person would do with the instrument it would be of course completely barbaric. __________________ Last FM \| RYM \| The Final Sound Last edited by Zer0; 05-30-2011 at 10:25 AM. Reason: typo

05-30-2011, 01:49 AM	#14 (permalink)
Gregor XIII Music Addict Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: San Diego Posts: 57	No song is an island. Simple as that, really. If you've ever heard music, you've been inspired by music. Even if you decide that you will only create your own instruments and play music in 13/8, then you are inspired by all the music you are trying to not sound like. However, somewhat original sounds pop up all the time. No one had made a song like Autobahn before Kraftwerk (more or less, bear with me here) because the feeling of driving along an endless autobahn wasn't well known before that. No album had sounded exactly like Fear of a Black Planet before, for the rage on that album was born out of a very specific time and place and sense of directionless rage. My attempt at a moral would be: Stop obsessing about 'sound' and 'influence', and start thinking about 'feel' and 'content'. __________________ Agnes Varda's Le Bonheur + thoughts on women in Akhmatova and Mizuguchi: The Centrifugue

05-31-2011, 12:46 PM	#18 (permalink)
Dotoar Supernatural anaesthetist Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Örebro, Sweden Posts: 436	My snub-nosed two and a half pennies would be that either everything is original or nothing is. Even if you decide to write a note-for-note rip-off of an existing song and perform it, it will still feature your own subtle twists and phrasings. __________________ - More is more -

05-27-2011, 11:46 PM	#11 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	The moment that you decide that you are going to create a piece of music, you are being wholly and completely unoriginal, but who gives a ****, really?