Anyone else sick of the current electronic sound in music?

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Markoman said:
Soft Synths are great, but they will rather keep you from learning the instrument. Some haptics are recommended for people who have never worked with a Synth imo or he will tend to skip through presets like the majority does. If you want to seriously get involved with synths you'll have to learn about Oscs, Mods, Fx, Filters which is easier when you have knobs, potis,...
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True, but keep in mind even most "affordability minded" synths have preset buttons as well, because they're digital and they might as well throw them in to widen their audience. This is true up till the ~500 range where you have the newer "affordable analogue" synths. Besides, there's always MIDI keyboards so if you don't need that box I don't really see a purpose for it.

I'd also argue that something with an interface like Serum is more friendly to program than a cheap analogue modeling synth like the Microkorg. No real menu diving required, all the options are in front of you to tweak to your liking whereas most people need a manual just to get an init patch on the Microkorg. Besides, if you're new to synths there's nothing wrong with using presets as reference or a starting point, I learned a lot about synthesis through that.
 
I've been out of the music loop since working in a couple music stores years ago, but stuff like Kavinsky, Mitch Murder, and Carpenter Brut really grabbed my attention. There's some good electro-swing out there too.
 
Mr.Monitor said:
True, but keep in mind even most "affordability minded" synths have preset buttons as well, because they're digital and they might as well throw them in to widen their audience. This is true up till the ~500 range where you have the newer "affordable analogue" synths. Besides, there's always MIDI keyboards so if you don't need that box I don't really see a purpose for it.
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Yes, you're right. But as a former recording equipment clerk, let me tell you that there's still a ton of people out there wanting Synths without having to bother with a PC. It's basically the equivalent to the console vs. PC discussion in gaming. Only here I can fully understand it because picking up a soundbox that gives you fun on the fly is a qualitiy a Soft Syth running in a daw/standalone won't give you. Musicians are lazy folks, you know ;P
As a professional production tool soft synths beat low-mid priced hardware synths anytime.
 
No, because finding new acts has never been easier, and there's probably never been such a large non-electronic pool to draw from. Huge swaths of genres eschew heavy electronic instrumentation. I like EDM, but I also like a more naturalistic sound, and lately I've had all the choices I could possibly want.
 
anarchy_panty said:
thanks for the replies, guys. i really appreciate it, and you've given me a good amount of stuff to google. i probably should have mentioned that being able to take my synth to a gig and use it live is very important to me, so a softsynth is out of the question i think.
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No prob, hopefully one of those recs is what you need!

Markoman said:
It's basically the equivalent to the console vs. PC discussion in gaming. Only here I can fully understand it because picking up a soundbox that gives you fun on the fly is a qualitiy a Soft Syth running in a daw/standalone won't give you.
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Definitely an accurate analogy, hahahah. Can't argue with you there.
 
 
Nah, I don't like trap, though. The ticking, hi-hat thing bothers me, it sounds like a creaky seat or something. Next thing you know, they're gonna throw the sound of scratching a chalkboard into the mix along with Jim Carrie's most annoying sound in the world.
 
It doesn't bother me, since I'm at the age where I don't listen to new music much anymore. That being said, I do miss the saxophone.

Sure, it's dated but there was always something classy about hearing someone play it.
 
Makes me sad that I don't know anyone who believes that electronic music takes less skill than guitar music or someone who thinks rap is also devoid of any skill.

I guess my friends and I grew out of that idea when we were about 17
 
HigherLevel said:
I also hate that there isn't really the same skill level involved in making electronic music compared to playing real instruments.
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Don't listen to shit music and you won't be making silly statements like this.

That's like saying all rock sucks because the only thing you're listening to is the latest pop single on the radio.
 
Kurita said:
Well I don't guarantee you'll like them but hey!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PadOTWkZjcQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgS7vgquBvo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZqQttJnj-U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMvDIebFKOc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmU3sHjI5g0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MCfLNP100E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0g5BO6zyxA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGdrQkYgNko
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUqPaZ-rVLk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVZElDCQn3I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_CxDSZz6to
https://youtu.be/7OO8Egn-R0Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdQcqTzR0WE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H75OeJYUcs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S9657-zJYs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em-d1f55NPg
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Thanks! I'll check them all out. So far, some of these are pretty cool!
 
Whitney
DIIV
Wye Oak
Greys
Julia Brown
Car Seat Headrest
Porches
Horse Lords
Teen Suicide
Frankie Cosmos
Mothers
Nots
Cavern of Anti-Matter
Pinegrove

Some good rock-ish albums released by these bands this year.
 
Kevtones said:
Whitney
DIIV
Wye Oak
Greys
Julia Brown
Car Seat Headrest
Porches
Horse Lords
Teen Suicide
Frankie Cosmos
Mothers
Nots
Cavern of Anti-Matter
Pinegrove

Some good rock-ish albums released by these bands this year.
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But to the OP, something like Porches might be off the table because there are synths used in the production.

The Porches album is so good tho. One of the best of the year.
 
I am more bothered by how everyone's voice sounds like it's being run through autotuners, when I hear a real human sing live I remember how sterile music is now and how bad most bands sound without their gimmicky electronics to save them.
 
Vanillalite said:
No I'm more tired of the whole banjo lite thing going on in "alt" rock groups.
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Banjos, pianos, acoustics, reedy vocals, and a total lack of any sort of punch or crunch.

The hardest rocking thing about our local alt. station is the bumps they've been using since 2000... which is usually followed by a Twenty-one Pilots song or the Strumbrellas.

It really sucks and it seriously makes me consider XM radio or Spotify.
 
Sniffynose said:
I am more bothered by how everyone's voice sounds like it's being run through autotuners, when I hear a real human sing live I remember how sterile music is now and how bad most bands sound without their gimmicky electronics to save them.
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People were using autotune well before people were able to notice. I think the problem now is that instead of massaging a good take with autotune, they turn a bad or so-so take into a usable one, and chalk the visible seams up to 'style'.
 
animlboogy said:
I'm way happier with the current take on pop music than the last 20 years or so. A lot of these producers know their shit, they're referencing Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream in the middle of their daft pop songs.

I'll take that any day over the early 00's habit of making rock songs that sound like inane, overly-produced versions of grunge tracks from ten years previous.

TL;DR, I'll take Kanye over Puddle of Mudd, thank you very much sir.



Yeah I just blew past that, not even gonna address it. If someone hasn't figured out what it actually takes to make well-produced music, they're probably hopeless on this topic.
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listen I love Kanye but Psycho is a masterpice of musical brilliance that has yet to be topped and never will be topped
 
Pop music has always had simple structure in the songs, but at least back in the days the popular bands could sing and play. Now we've eliminated real instruments and the artists aren't even good singers.

There's no lower level than this.
 
HigherLevel said:
Maybe I'm a bit biased in what I like because I play guitar, but I've really gotten sick of the sound in popular music the past 5 or 6 years. I feel like everything is way too electronic sounding. A bunch of synthy sounding stuff layered on top of each other with some electronic drum beat in the background. It gets old really quick.

I've felt like I've had to do a lot more searching to find good new rock bands, punk bands, metal bands, or blues artists or anything else. Does anyone else share these feelings, and does anyone think this trend will die soon?

I also hate that there isn't really the same skill level involved in making electronic music compared to playing real instruments. It's incredibly impressive to watch old rockstars shred on their guitars or even on a totally different end of the spectrum listen to a huge orchestra perform.

Who else feels this way?
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You are a bit biased. The prevalence of electronic music composition in beats has occupied certain genres of music for a while now - even more than in the past 5 or 6 years, I would argue. Likewise, there's still a lot of other genres and bands that use classic instrumentation if electronic productions aren't your cup of tea.

As far as the whole "not really the same skill level," argument I've heard from at least one person I knew who started out in rock and then moved into producing electronic music that while rock instrumentation may be more difficult to perform, in her experience electronic music was more difficult for her to compose and layer. But at the end of the day, I've never put much stock in the difficulty of how music is to create, but rather how much I like the music. It's the reason why I don't just sit around listening to technical guitar albums all day I suppose.

But to each their own.
 
Nope, because I don't listen to it. No need to get tired of it. Just don't listen to it if you don't like it. Problem solved.
 
Personally I listen to EDM because it is incredibly disposable. The single based and individual created nature of it means, to me, that it doesn't have that same weight of a band building their career narrative and listener identity. I'm tired of following bands, waiting four years between full albums to have three good songs. One day a DJ/Producer could release a banger and then something else unexpected and then a bunch of garbage then another good song all in the space of a year but because a constant flow of music is coming out across the EDM spectrum intended to play in a dance set, who cares. It's live and die by individual songs. The playing field is flattened by the next year due to the speed the music dates and it starts again.

I like EDM shows more than rock shows now too. They are social where seeing a band is like seeing a movie, it demands your attention. I don't care if I want to go to the bar and grab a drink on a $50 ticket across a multi DJ set over 4-6 hours.

I know it sounds super musically mercenary but it is the capitalization that the music industry built for itself and EDM exploiting how it works at the cost of traditional bands.
 
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