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Wife argues with me because I don't like the 'trailer' type music she just got

Fair enough. I suppose I should have pointed to specific moments in the piece that are not that singable. Realized that as soon as I posted. The point I was trying to make is what Steven McDonald stated much clearer.

I think you made your point fine! I was just trying to be funny. I do actually find myself whistling/humming/chanting snatches from that piece at weird times.
 
There is a concept called “Pick your battles”...
Since you’ve already picked this one and she knows that you aren’t into this music then just say, “It’s ok. We can listen to this if you want.” Bc then you win...
 
I don't know if books is a good analogy but sometimes you just want turn off your brain and lose yourself in a good page-turner. I love Lee Child for this, personally. There are more intellectual books with stronger "themes" and all that. Which I also enjoy. But sometimes I just want music to set a mood and relax without activating the thinking/analysis part of my brain. I love Zero-7 for this, personally.
 
You must replicate with massive weapons like this one



She soon should resign and never argue again :grin:
 
There's something to be said as to the craft of writing music that appeals to the masses. Certainly more lucrative...
 
I don't know if books is a good analogy but sometimes you just want turn off your brain and lose yourself in a good page-turner. I love Lee Child for this, personally. There are more intellectual books with stronger "themes" and all that. Which I also enjoy. But sometimes I just want music to set a mood and relax without activating the thinking/analysis part of my brain. I love Zero-7 for this, personally.
I like Criminal Minds for that...
 
I get it, but is it not as simple as this: "If you can't remember the tune....it's not good enough to be worth remembering."

No it's not :).
It feels a bit like you do not realize it is just an opinion, not a fact, and that it only applies to you.

The fact that you can not remember a tune does not make it intrinsically good or bad, it's just one parameter you chose to define the type of music you might not like, or might not want to make. And I think it's a really good thing that you are able to define what you don't like this way.

You've probably noticed that music that lack "transportability" is very popular right now, it's everywhere in trailers and movie soundtracks. So if a lot of people like it, it might mean that it's good is some way. You might not like it, and that's perfectly fine, but if you reduce it to "it's bad music and people like it because they have bad taste" you miss so much from what you could learn.

I used to think that pop or electro/techno/house/whatever was just stupid and ultra simple music created by talentless people. But when I started to dive into music production I found several tutorial made by those people, and well, I learned a lot. They know exactly what they are doing, they know their audience, they know what aspects they need to master to make a great electro track. It's just that these aspects do not speak to me. I still don't like this kind of music, but I have a lot more respect for those making it.

It could also be interesting to understand why people like that kind of music, be able to reproduce it, and then use that to bring them to the kind of music you like. Starting with something simple and familiar seems to be a good way to develop into something more complex or not "in vogue" as some would say.

Obviously everything I just said is not fact, it's just my opinion, but as you seemed to ask for opinions, here is mine ^^.
 
No it's not :).
It feels a bit like you do not realize it is just an opinion, not a fact, and that it only applies to you.

Ok...you don't have to be like that. I was just giving my opinion that I think music should be memorable and show a little talent in the composition. I guess I just can't understand how 4 notes + 4 chords + a few crescendos and some synth...rinse and repeat classifies as 'talented' composing....I just don't get it.

You've probably noticed that music that lack "transportability" is very popular right now, it's everywhere in trailers and movie soundtracks. So if a lot of people like it, it might mean that it's good is some way. You might not like it, and that's perfectly fine, but if you reduce it to "it's bad music and people like it because they have bad taste" you miss so much from what you could learn.

And again....IMO you just identified the problem. If you gave me 5 trailers to listen to that I already watched....I can guarantee you I could never identify which is which. They all sound the same and even though they might sound cool at the time....they are so forgettable that they go in my mind and out of a few minutes later.

Again....my opinion only...but how can you compare that to something like Hedwick's theme that is so memorable....something that you can find yourself humming to without even knowing it.I don't know....I just don't see how the two are comparable....but that's just me I guess..
 
Although I don't regard music without a distinct melody as forgettable and the work of the untalented (some of my favourite art & music is impressionistic and abstract) this is an interesting video in regards to memorable and forgettable movie themes:

 
So I ask her the million dollar question: "Could you hum or sing the tune of this song you like if it wasn't playing in front of you?"

The best music out there is stuff that you can sing in your sleep....no?


I agree with you on the point, "could you hum or sing the tune". Is the music memorable, is it catchy? That is always a positive thing for music I think, and I try to apply it to my own stuff. At the same time I don't necessarily think the best music is stuff that you can sing in your sleep.

I'm a self taught musician and I like heavy metal music and classic rock music (cringe!). For me personally, music has mainly been about emotion. This can come from memorable lyrical lines, a great guitar riff or minimalist ambient music. I get enjoyment from many forms of music but not all.

Music can also serve a purpose and not be memorable. For example, I love instrumental jazz music as background music. It really relaxes me while doing mundane things around the house, like doing the chores or even while having a bath or reading. It probably even lowers my blood pressure, so potentially is a health benefit to me also. I don't own a jazz record, could not name you a jazz song or artist, could not hum you a jazz melody if you asked because I would probably fall asleep while listening to it! For me, it serves a purpose, it calms and soothes me to some extent.

The Jazz purists out there might not understand my point of view of their style of music, because to them it is the best music out there and memorable, where for me it serves a purpose, even though I think it is a fascinating musical form played by talented musicians.

But in the end music is subjective, each to their own, and not worth getting upset over. Goodluck.
 
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Ok...you don't have to be like that. I was just giving my opinion that I think music should be memorable and show a little talent in the composition. I guess I just can't understand how 4 notes + 4 chords + a few crescendos and some synth...rinse and repeat classifies as 'talented' composing....I just don't get it.

Yes, that was exactly my point, there is something to learn, why it's popular, how it's made, etc. You might not be interested in learning that particular thing, and that's ok, but there might be something more than the number of notes or chords, or even the composition.

Also I don't think "talent" means anything, it's as subjective as "good music".

For trailers, it may be a good thing that you don't remember any of the music, because the trailer is all about the movie. It's there to make the movie look/sound cool, the audience should focus on the pictures, and when it's over the goal is that they want to see that movie, not buy the tune or even learn more about the composer.
And I think it require some kind of talent (even in the composition part) to do that. Not the same skills as composing a 10 minutes piece with memorable themes and tons of modulations, sure, but it still need some kind of "talent". Maybe the composer was lucky, he found 4 random chords and 4 notes, it sounded good, and it's on a trailer. But maybe he knew exactly what he was doing, and there is a justification for each note.
You might not find that talent valuable, but yeah, it's not an absolute fact.

Ok...you don't have to be like that.

Sorry if my answer sounded harsh, that was not the goal. English is not my native language, so I guess I could have found a better way to say that.

It's just that your statements made me think of what I used to think about other types of music, and learning more about them was eye opening to me. I just wanted to share that with you just in case it can be useful.
 
Novelty in all it's forms wears off...the true test of art is whether it still says something 50, 100 or more years later.
 
I used to think that pop or electro/techno/house/whatever was just stupid and ultra simple music created by talentless people. But when I started to dive into music production I found several tutorial made by those people, and well, I learned a lot. They know exactly what they are doing, they know their audience, they know what aspects they need to master to make a great electro track. It's just that these aspects do not speak to me. I still don't like this kind of music, but I have a lot more respect for those making it.

This is one line of thinking that's interesting to me. "I thought this and that was terrible, but then I realized it's not that easy to do and now I respect it more."

I don't quite understand the perspective. I absolutely do know that creating a trailer trash or EDM track that sounds right, is effective and reaches the audience isn't easy at all, needs a very specific expertise and it's something I could never do convincingly.

But how's that relevant? Trailer music and EDM is still terrible, unlistenable music.
 
Musicians have very clear tastes in music and even those of great accomplishment put the knock on widely recognized geniuses. Mahler called Brahms “a mannequin with a narrow heart.” Debussy once stood up to walk out of a Beethoven symphony performance telling his accompanying friend, “He’s starting to develop.” Mendelssohn thought Berlioz was a “No-talent.” Andre Previn would say to his dear friend John Williams, “When are you going to stop writing all that silly film music?” Encouraging him to move completely into the classical world as he had. We all have our opinions, nothing to be done about it.

What I find interesting is the, Music is objectively good or bad argument. I think that is largely true. If not, we wouldn’t respond to gags where the joke is: how bad the music is. Citizen Kane embraces this theme with Kane’s love interest warbling out of tune in an opera she’s over her head in tackling. A stagehand holds his nose in response. Everyone in the audience gets the joke.

Still, people of proven, exquisite taste, having created music of that quality can completely differ on this or that masterpiece. Also a person can generally like a persons work and object violently to a particular effort or experiment. The world keeps turning.
 
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@Robert_G ...she might yet come round to your way of thinking. Remember that women don't have dirty minds to the extent some gents might have because they change theirs so often.
......(sorry ladies..:) )
 
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