Why
is the music produced in the United States of America have a specific sonic
color and something in the same genre yet produced in another country have a
completely different color? Do society's music evolve with the
characteristic of its social system? North American Indians sang with strong guttural
tones and tense manners while Saharan African tribes used strong rhythmic
complexity’s and improve lead sharing. Strong male leader style society would
suggest a solo style music. On the other hand in early cultures the large
family groups of hundreds that had gender equality the music had a chorus
effect with so singled out solo lead. I feel that makes a little sense. America
in the founding days was a melting pot of all societies so the eventual
evolution of music to its own sonic color is evident. Some hooks that are now
catchy in pop music most likely have roots from some form of sing song circle.
I feel our music sonically has fallen into a state of lull. Copyright laws have
everything locked up tight. The sharing a story and sharing it for the love is
no longer possible. To spend your day as a hunter gather and sing around the
fire is gone. Technology is a curse in a way, as we as a society progress technologically
we become slaves to the technology that is created. Do I really need to be able
to watch TV on my watch? No, yet I guarantee if apple came out with one people
would flock to purchase one. #TvWatch
There is, without a doubt, a homogenization of popular music in the U.S., however there are no doubt musical movements that are creating interesting, hybrid content all across the states. While it may not be mainstream, cult followings of odd brands and genres are becoming more and more popular; interestingly, this is usually based off of location.
ReplyDeleteYou also mention sonic character of similar genres that differ based off their geographic difference, perhaps this has to do with differences in production circles and cultures, all based off of location.
But location itself is not the cause of all this, instead I think it might be the fact that more professionals are becoming connected more rapidly than ever before. As a result, maybe a certain city is influenced by an inadvertent desire within a group of professionals. Group think is a powerful thing, especially in the audio world.
That's my two cents. We should talk to a musicologist :P