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Post by taurus on Jan 20, 2007 12:52:20 GMT -5
Anyone know if one already exists?
I know we all rate music based on our personal (Subjective) tastes, but I'm interested in developing and using a more "objective" system that critiques music / beats based on some standard qualities.
So, if no such system already exists, let's create one!
Here are some traits (characteristics) I'm thinking of for starters...
Sound (quality): The mix, the EQ, the overall sound quality of the actual production as a whole
Musicality: Can the track stand alone as a piece of music? Or is it just a beat (drum track)?
Complexity: How complex the arrangement is; the sound manipulation; the overall track.
Vibe: How much I'm feeling the track. This would be the only subjective item in my critiques.
The actual critique would look something like this...
Sound (quality): 1 2 3 4 5
Musicality: 1 2 3 4 5
Complexity: 1 2 3 4 5
Vibe: 1 2 3 4 5
1="Needs a lot of work!"
5="Excellent!"
What y'all think??
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Post by bigvernthearkitekt on Jan 20, 2007 17:32:14 GMT -5
I like this a lot, I dont know about the complexity category though because sometimes the simpler, the better. Your idea is enough to start with though. Lets start posting tracks and rating them. My first is called "A Soldiers Story"---it is the 4th song on my myspace page. www.myspace.com/bigvernthearkitekt |
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keldon
Junior Member
Posts: 26
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Post by keldon on Jan 20, 2007 18:26:32 GMT -5
The problem with rating a track by musical complexity and being able to stand alone as a piece of music is that it has nothing to with how good the song is. The best songs could be built on instrumentals that sound boring by themselves, and are not complicated! Look at many of dre's best tracks, they aren't complex; although they often work good by themselves.
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Post by bigvernthearkitekt on Jan 21, 2007 6:28:08 GMT -5
my point exactly, complexity is not relevant. good music can be simple as f**k.
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Post by The Future on Jan 21, 2007 11:01:43 GMT -5
Im Feelin That, Thats Wassup.
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Post by taurus on Jan 21, 2007 11:46:16 GMT -5
The problem with rating a track by musical complexity and being able to stand alone as a piece of music is that it has nothing to with how good the song is. The best songs could be built on instrumentals that sound boring by themselves, and are not complicated! Look at many of dre's best tracks, they aren't complex; although they often work good by themselves. Excellent point. I was expecting that. There still has to be some way to objectively rate even the simplest tracks. Let me do some further separation here because you hit on something else that is key and needs to be made clear. You and I both make the distinction between the "song" and the "instrumental" track. My original question is geared more towards the instrumental track because of this forum. So, again, how would you objectively rate even the simple, instrumental tracks? I am assuming that standard element(s) exist out there that we all can agree should be considered before rating a track as good or bad. What element(s) do you look for? |
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Truthmusik
Full Member
...that's right.
Posts: 121
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Post by Truthmusik on Jan 21, 2007 15:56:13 GMT -5
Sometimes the simplest melodies may be much more complex than you think. You never can tell exactly what the person did to make the beat, unless your already familiar with the sample, and/or break they used, even then your not going to be able to point out everything in the track, even if it just sounds like one loop. That one loop may have been flipped so rediculous, but you wouldn't know if the track came off with a 'simple' melody or feel to it...I think it would be hard to make complexity a critique category, considering a lot of people are still feeling the classic boom-bap sounds, even though there are plenty of new-age producers doing their thing...Complexity just doesn't really matter as long as the beat hits...for a song or instrumental.
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Post by j1 on Jan 21, 2007 20:57:35 GMT -5
i think a scoring system is a really good idea
i agree that complexity isn't really a good measure of how good a song is. especially since most of the music in hip hop is really simple compared to other kinds of music.
i would replace that with creativity.
that would include the 'sound manipulation' part of your complexity category
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Post by bigvernthearkitekt on Jan 22, 2007 19:53:16 GMT -5
replacing complexity with creativity is a good idea. we should post some tracks and rate them.
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Post by taurus on Jan 23, 2007 0:40:35 GMT -5
i think a scoring system is a really good idea i agree that complexity isn't really a good measure of how good a song is. especially since most of the music in hip hop is really simple compared to other kinds of music. i would replace that with creativity. that would include the 'sound manipulation' part of your complexity category aiight, I'm hearing what y'all sayin'. great feedback. My little survey in the original post is not set in stone. It was just an idea to get things started. So, we replace "complexity" with "creativity", which includes the 'sound manipulation' - cool. What else? Truth, you mentioned... "Complexity just doesn't really matter as long as the beat hits..." How can we put that in a category? Maybe something like "Knock Factor", "Hit Factor" or "Boom Factor" - something to rate how well the "beat hits". What y'all think on this? |
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Truthmusik
Full Member
...that's right.
Posts: 121
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Post by Truthmusik on Jan 23, 2007 2:58:47 GMT -5
i think a scoring system is a really good idea i agree that complexity isn't really a good measure of how good a song is. especially since most of the music in hip hop is really simple compared to other kinds of music. i would replace that with creativity. that would include the 'sound manipulation' part of your complexity category aiight, I'm hearing what y'all sayin'. great feedback. My little survey in the original post is not set in stone. It was just an idea to get things started. So, we replace "complexity" with "creativity", which includes the 'sound manipulation' - cool. What else? Truth, you mentioned... "Complexity just doesn't really matter as long as the beat hits..." How can we put that in a category? Maybe something like "Knock Factor", "Hit Factor" or "Boom Factor" - something to rate how well the "beat hits". What y'all think on this? I'd say that would go along with the whole 'how much I feel it', or 'vibe' category you mentioned...did it make your head nod as soon as the beat kicked in?? It would be a personal opinion, different flavors for different pallets...but I mean, if that shit aint hittin right, your not going to be nodding your head. So we'll call it...the 'Nod Factor'......hahaha, nah I'm bullshittin, I don't think we should come up with any corny name for it, plain old 'feel' or 'vibe' will work fine. well...we're getting somewhere. |
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Post by j1 on Jan 23, 2007 9:51:48 GMT -5
"creativity" : sample manipulation, creative use of effects, overall originality of track (does it have characther, does it stand out as unique, or does it sound like another generic beat you've heard 1000 times before.)
kind of hard to define, so feel free to make suggestions
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Post by bigvernthearkitekt on Jan 28, 2007 18:46:35 GMT -5
Somebody post a beat and lets try it. I atteched a link to one of mine earlier in the thread, please use this system to score it. I will return scoring once another beat is posted
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Post by j1 on Jan 29, 2007 9:20:11 GMT -5
ok, i'll try scoring your beat
the computer i have that's hooked up to the internet has crap speakers, so i'll just have to make my best guess at sound quality: 4 (sounds good as far as i can tell)
musicality: 3, pretty repetitive, but that's common in hip hop. would need something more without the vocals. could use more beat drops or change ups
vibe: 5, maybe 4.5. definitely had my head noddin. good mood overall
creativity: 4, maybe 3.5. don't know what your sample source is, so i don't know how much you did with it. like the static sound. sounds a little generic to me, but still well done.
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Post by bigvernthearkitekt on Jan 29, 2007 20:39:06 GMT -5
thanks , our scores are very similar on this one. That's the way I'd score it as well, other than the high score for the vibe. I'd probably give it a 3 or 3.5 for vibe.
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Post by taurus on Jan 30, 2007 20:15:32 GMT -5
Somebody post a beat and lets try it. I atteched a link to one of mine earlier in the thread, please use this system to score it. I will return scoring once another beat is posted Sound (quality): 4 Musicality: 4 Creativity: 3.5 Vibe: 5 Sound: Considering its on mypace, I know it would be better on CD or higher bitrate. It's some stuff in the mix I would definitely like to hear - during the chorus especially. The overall mix was cool though. Musicality: I liked that flute sound that kinda rolled down into a note change - clever. Plus the chorus where you used a synth sound was cool. The vocal chorus was off a little, but it didn't kill the track or nothing. Creativity: The beat was simple with no changes, but the sample usage was interesting. Like I said earlier, the flute and guitar sounds were clever. The synth in the chorus was a nice signal that set apart the chorus. You had me with the first sample - the drill seargent. The beat is pure story and the lead vocals and story really fit. A couple more mutes and subtle canges would have raised this up for sure. Vibe: Yeah, my head was noddin' because the whole package had my attention from start to finish. I was anticipating something good when the seargent came in - and I got it! I'm feelin' the track (old skool beat) and the story together. Don't think it would be as high if they were separated. Overall: 4.125 Nice total package. - Taurus taurusbeats.com/www.rocmp3.com/taurusbeats |
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Post by bigvernthearkitekt on Jan 30, 2007 20:22:30 GMT -5
thanks a lot.
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