Comments on: Describing melody I: Bad melodies

By: ShadowWing

ShadowWing — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 03:30:12 +0000

Roger Bourland says:
“Implying OWD ain’t a good tune?”

I was just saying that OWD is organic.
I find it an utterly boring melody.
The song goes on for over eight minutes, but Rufus manages to do a lot with it.
Lots of people have trouble with it at first.
If you have heard Rufus’ hilarious commentary or seen it live you will never be bored again.
Dionysian?…uh huh, and actually, quite witty.
Extra bonus: Good to listen to while running.

By: slvrlark

slvrlark — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 01:19:30 +0000

Though I agree that the Beethoven example isn’t a great tune, it’s amazing how captivating the beginning of that movement is. I remember even the first time I heard it as a teenager how instantly beautiful, how compelling it was, and it didn’t occur to me until many years later that it is kind of a dull tune. (At least it has a nice, if modest shape to it). But it is boring on purpose, for two reasons at least: 1) in order to get you to focus your attention on the harmony, and 2) because its compressed nature actually contributes to the hugely dramatic shape of the whole movement: it enables the variations that follow to become more and more intense—and then to die back down. You might even think at the end of the piece how amazing it is that so much grew out of so little.

Mark

By: Rhapsody

Rhapsody — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 23:08:36 +0000

For whatever reason….the MC Hammer song, “Can’t Touch This ” is what comes to mind. In opposition to OWD….uhmmm…..well….

Look at the lyrics:

U can’t touch this
U can’t touch this
U can’t touch this (oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
U can’t touch this (oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
U can’t touch this

and:

(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Bump bump bump yeah, u can’t touch this
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Look man, u can’t touch this
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
You’ll probably get hyped boy ’cause you know you can’t, u can’t touch this
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Ring the bell school’s back in, break it down!
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Stop! Hammer time!
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
(Oh-oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh) u can’t touch this
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh) u can’t touch this
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh) u can’t touch this
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh) break it down!
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Stop! Hammer time!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yikes.

The recitative songs I find irksome are the lounge-type songs that meander all over the place melody-wise, with no repetition, no beginning, middle or end…nothing for the listener to lock onto and make sense of. They seem to be some precursor to rap somehow (not a genre I can appreciate, hence the M C Hammer song that is now giving me a headache).

Didn’t the blonde girl in the “Friends” series sing songs like that? No tune to speak of..and no sense to the words either.

Repetition can be a very effective device in music…just as it can be in literary works. Used poorly in either medium, it’s just plain awful.

By: Roger Bourland

Roger Bourland — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 21:28:59 +0000

Implying OWD ain’t a good tune?
Funny, I was just thinking that this one wasn’t one of his best. It’s one little melodic cycle that keeps going, and going, and going,….
My post might be a tad confusing, but I don’t mean to be asking for examples of “bad melodies” in RW’s music. I’ll be making a few more posts about melody. This post shows how a not-so-interesting tune in the right hands can turn into something great. OWD was really annoying to me at first, and then grew on me. It’s definitely a Dionysian cry.

By: ShadowWing

ShadowWing — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 20:41:04 +0000

Old Whore’s Diet.