BlahBlahCafe - Jean-Michel Jarre forum

It's actually a thing I hear quite often, people who like electronic music, specially the genre that is considered a bit new-ageish (usually by mainstream people), including artists such as JMJ, Vangelis, Enya, maybe also heading in the direction of Kraftwerk, Schulze, Berlin School; people who like this are often considered to rather like certain 'sounds' rather than the music. So it's rather about a certain sound, atmosphere or mood than the musical composition involved.

What's your opinion about this



I must admit I do recognize this, looking at myself. It's not that the musical aspect is not important, but the sounds used are at least as important. Whereas maybe other people wouldn't really care, aiming at those mainstreamers, they rather care about the vocals involved, the (synthetic) sounds are not really important to them. But I can really enjoy a sound in a piece of music, like how the voice is treated in Enigma's "Gravity Of Love" or how punchy that bass sequence sounds in Chronologie 6, or how mighty and big the main sequence at the start of Chronologie 1 sounds, can make me shiver, really. Specially when keeping in mind that a badly programmed sound could make the whole composition a big flop...

I also reconize this.
Not only when listening to music but also when I am composing a song. I want to do it too perfect..

I don't consider myself an audiophile and if I happen to like something even if it's done with Yainmyassmaha DIOA-4014 then I don't care if it's done with it.

I often blame mainstreamers (MTV stuff and...) for having a bad taste because they care more about the lyrics and vocals and probably a simple hit melody.

My reason for listening to music can be different I think. We do see how JMJ for instance names the tracks after the mood. Oxygene is very atmospheric, windy and cool.

I know what you mean, but it is difficult to explane really what I am trying to say.

Same as E-vert for me
I learnt with you, on this forum, to listen the music in an other way.

Now, when I listen to music, I always listen to the artistic way and the musical way.
In the last PSB for example, you can easily recognise the JP8000, an other example, I listened to CiC some months ago and yesterda I listened to it, I recognised a fat sound and deduced it was an Oberheim.
I listened to a Gary Numan song and recognised a Prophet5.

It is rather a game but I don't forget to listen it and to have pleasure

I see what you mean with 'a game'. I often get pictures of a track which instruments it is done with, and trying to find out what this might have been created with.

I use 96kbps on most of my CD to mp3 rips. I'm sure that means I'm nowhere near being an audiophile.

jarrekid wrote:I use 96kbps on most of my CD to mp3 rips. I'm sure that means I'm nowhere near being an audiophile.

It's not about sound quality, but rather liking certain sounds rather than musical aspects of a piece of music.

I would say that there'a a very low percentage of population who are really "audiophiles" and this word is much overused. I remember quite interesting discussion about that on Polish forum about electronic music (but not this about JMJ, one about electronic music in general)...it's hard to explain this in English, but I think that it's something more than just caring about the sound. Audiophiles are for me people with extraordinary sensitive ears, who can for example notice very slight differences in quality of sound, which most people can't.

GeeJee wrote:

jarrekid wrote:I use 96kbps on most of my CD to mp3 rips. I'm sure that means I'm nowhere near being an audiophile.

It's not about sound quality, but rather liking certain sounds rather than musical aspects of a piece of music.

Darn, I haven't a clue.

It is easy, when you are able to recognise a synth in a song/track, you are what GJ is calling "audiophile"

Ronja wrote:I would say that there'a a very low percentage of population who are really "audiophiles" and this word is much overused. I remember quite interesting discussion about that on Polish forum about electronic music (but not this about JMJ, one about electronic music in general)...it's hard to explain this in English, but I think that it's something more than just caring about the sound. Audiophiles are for me people with extraordinary sensitive ears, who can for example notice very slight differences in quality of sound, which most people can't.

Audiopohiles have really top-end expensive audio gear and listening rooms.
They pick on recording imperfections (audio, bad mics, bad mix, bad preamps, bad stereo image, etc) and gear/media imperfections (errors, distortion, etc).

As far as electronic music, it's not the fact that we don't "care" about melody, we do as much as others. The thing is that the electronic sounds, even simple ones, contain melody in themselves.

You can blow a horn for 5 minutes (if you can) that you'll only get... sound... if press a key on a synth (analog) on a "evolving" patch and you get... melody, it's more than one sound, whatever... hard to explain.

With stereo panning, or 3D, it even gets sweeter, melodies all over the place. Hence why a "symphonic" version of a good electronic tune sounds worst. The proper way is to design each track for each type of sound.

You can of course do the Oxygene 4 squary wave brass lead with a acoustic horn and sound good... but it still will lack the delay (which brings in another melody)... but you can't do the Eminent phased pads with violins... unless you get the players running like hell in a circle while playing the strings to try and phase them... so, there's also "melody" in the phasing... or is there?

Kind Regards,
AMR
http://www.alvaromrocha.com

I care much for sound quality, but I couldn't care less about what synths are used.

noyau wrote:It is easy, when you are able to recognise a synth in a song/track, you are what GJ is calling "audiophile"

No, I can only do that with preset sounds from synths I own.

WHAT are you talking about?