To describe a style of music
in today's world is not easy. It shouldn't be, actually. A
style is more than a sentence saying: I play Death Metal, for
example.
There are two levels
contained in a style of music that a band or a individual
composer is creating.
First level is the
influence. Everybody is exposed to such amount of diverse
music that it is unheard for any generation before. Not only
from various geographical points, but also from many time
points: today we have a whole movement in Classical music
playing a certain kind of time-framed music using the same
instruments people used in that time and most likely
recreating the same sound they did.
So, not only we know the
music of say, a northern province of Senegal, we also have a
very good guess how Vivaldi's music might have sounded in his
own time.
And we, people who create
music absorb all this "emotional info" we get, mainly
subconsciously.
Thus, the same northern
Senegalian band might have been influenced form early
Vivaldi's music etc. The effects of modern days "melting pot"
are usually first seen in music.
Now the second, and more
important level is the "filter". We, authors, filter all
this information through our esthetical, moral, musical and
other filters and values. We keep what we believe is right, we
let the rest go.
There is a lot in the way a
song or composition is written: whether the intentions were
commercial, philosophical, religious, even political.
All these values are
expressed in the subtle nuances of music, through every single
note performed.
In my mind, to describe the
style of music that I create, I need to explain my beliefs and
values in life. What I stand for.
This is what the following
articles are doing.
Style of Music
