Does Good Music Need To Be Technical?
Let me start out with saying hello, my name is Nikolai and I’m a fourteen year old from Milton, GA. Some of you have already thought, “A fourteen year old? From the South East United States? What a joke!”. Anyway, I am an aspiring musician and have of course picked up the guitar. This isn’t just because of the popularity and instantly recognizable sound of the instrument, but because it’s the only instrument that I found I could please my parents with the choice, because drums are “Too damn loud” and bass guitar is “For losers”, the electric guitar became my weapon of choice. Another thing you should keep in mind is that I am three months into it, and love metal music.
I came about this article with one purpose in mind, and the title describes it perfectly. “Does ‘Good’ Music Need To Be Technical?”. Good in quotation marks, in which good simply will imply popular. First off, the majority of people listen to Rap, Hip-Hop, and Pop, which in most cases, doesn't use an instrument that isn’t computer generated. Some of you may be taking the word technical as in technological in a sense that the music is artificial. By implying technical, I mean to ask “Is the sound that is being produced written or played with advanced techniques such as using arpeggios, sweep picking for guitar or bass, tempo changes and fast BPM?”. There is no obvious answer, but explaining why this is may be quite a breeze.
The answer is no. Most music that is “good” or popular with the majority of people on Earth is not the technical that I am talking about. If you take Justin Bieber’s “Baby” you will see many major differences opposed to Trivium’s “Strife”. First, you will notice the difference of sheer technicality in both pieces. “Baby” will transition through about 3 three to four chords, while “Strife” has a mixture of fasted paced solos, the usage of power cords, and arpeggio based rhythms. Another example that shows this would be comparing Lil John’s “Turn Down For What” to Iron Maiden’s “Powerslave”. I am lead to believe that “Turn Down For What” used all computer generated sounds for the instruments, which may have included an electric drum machine which is popular among electronic and “dubstep” forms of music. Although Iron Maiden is a British heavy metal band from the late 19oo’s, they have remained popular in the metal and some mainstream community. Track 7 from the 1984 album “Powerslave” as the track is also named, features lead singers Bruce Dickinson’s wide vocal range and sustainability. The rest of the song features Nicko McBrian on drum duties, Steve Harris and his easily recognizable bass grooves and the three guitars who all take part in a three part solo on the song. This shows that the more popular the artist, usually the less technical they will be musically. A final example may compare Eminem, the world famous rapper, although his words are powerful and spit fast, the level of musical technique is minuscule compared to Bay Area deathcore band Rings of Saturn, which you will have to witness with your own eyes and ears to believe the talent of those musicians.
In a conclusion, you don’t need to like a song to realize it may be more technical than your favorite deadmau5 track. I wrote this in an attempt to open the eyes and ears of people who believe mashing together artificial sounds and adding vocals takes more talent than writing original content with instruments that you must usually take many years to master and record every part bit by bit until you hear the buzz of your amplifier in your sleep. The point is, different music has different merits, and no matter how technically advanced one track is, the piece with the catchy chorus will win the Grammy any day.
