From 865c671d1530defb5ebcb86ec41f44f2d850c594 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Marcin Chrzanowski Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2021 12:33:01 +0100 Subject: Add 4/4 post --- src/blog/why-is-all-music-in-4-4.html | 73 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 73 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/blog/why-is-all-music-in-4-4.html (limited to 'src/blog/why-is-all-music-in-4-4.html') diff --git a/src/blog/why-is-all-music-in-4-4.html b/src/blog/why-is-all-music-in-4-4.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f59560 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/blog/why-is-all-music-in-4-4.html @@ -0,0 +1,73 @@ +title: Why is all music in 4/4? +date: December 12, 2021 10:49 +--- +

+It is a favorite pastime for music aficionados (where music aficionado = +someone who listens to something other than Top 40 and knows two things about +music theory) to bemoan the tragic state of modern music, specifically the fact +that everything sounds the same. Same chord progressions, rhythms, song +structure. The reason why this happened is fairly obvious: the genesis of a +music industry created an optimization problem, and we're living in a time where +this is a mostly solved problem. It's cheaper to produce a thousand items from a +plastic injection mould than carve each piece by hand. It's more scalable to +sell the same music globally than cultivate local traditions. +

+ +

+But there is a second, more technical why question we could ask: why did +modern music arrive at the specific qualities it arrived at? I want to posit a +potential, partial reason for why all songs on the radio are in a 4/4 time +signature. The idea to write this came to while thinking about whether Polish +traditional music could have evolved into something popular with the modern +masses, the way Negro spirituals evolved into blues, evolved into rock. +

+ +

+Much of Polish music, before it became replaced by Western influences, was based +on 3/4 rhythms. The wild, trance-like spinning of the mazurek and +oberek, or the slower, more waltz-like kujawiak are all counted in +3. Why could these rhythms not survive the musical revolutions of the mid 20th +century? +

+ +

+It is not for a lack of energy and liveliness in the music. Just look at the +sort of a musical fire an old man from a small village can spark up with a +fiddle: +www.youtube.com/watch?v=io-RC6USnyk. It's not even necessarily the crazy, +non uniform rhythms of the music that would have been a problem. Should the +mazurek have been destined to influence modern popular music, the industry would +have watered down and simplified its complexities for the shopping center +visitor's ears. That of course would have been a great disservice to the music +and I'm glad it didn't happen, but it was possible. +

+ +

+The problem I see is technical, and comes down to the fundamental design of the +mazurek, its purpose being contrary to what is necessary for modern popular +success. So let's first talk about the technical requirements of modern music. +

+ +

+During the 20th century music became an entertainment product for individuals. +It is a music you listen to on the radio while cleaning the house, in headphones +on a commute. You don't go to a concert just to spend time with friends, but in +large part to have an individual experience of the music. To say "I was +there, I heard them, I saw them". Of course there is still a +social aspect to concert-going, but in centuries past, it was the primary aspect +of music making. It was a social glue and lubricant in the same way as alcohol. +These days when you go to a concert, you sit or stand in your own spot, facing +the stage, and experiencing the music on your own, inside your own mind, inside +your own body. Maybe jumping up and down with the rest of the crowd, but you're +doing the jumping by yourself. +

+ +

+You can't jump to an oberek in a mosh pit under the stage. It simply won't work. +If you jump on every beat, it will be too fast. If once a measure, it's going to +be awkward and too slow. Either way, it's just not going to feel right. The +oberek is a dance fundamentally designed to be danced spinning with a partner. +That's what the accents guide you towards. There is a flywheel effect of one +partner leading in one measure, the other in the other measure. It simply is not +a music for individuals. And that's a good thing. +

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