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Original post by way2lazy2care Quote:
Original post by LessBread
It seems to me that the question "what makes a hit song a hit song?", at least in it's practical application, leads to the creation of formula based music afflicted with a lack of authenticity and spontaneity. It strikes me as the kind of question that someone interested in marketing a product asks rather than someone interested in making art asks. That doesn't mean that people who have asked that question in the past did not end up making art, but when they did make art, it was because they remembered that music isn't a widget and didn't allow marketing considerations to get in the way. For example, Motown records was so successful at one point that giving it the name "Hitsville USA" wasn't out of the question. In spite of that, it managed to give Marvin Gaye enough freedom to make "What's Going On?" even though the album broke with the Motown formula.
As someone with a math major and an art minor, I think making formulas for art are interesting for reasons other than marketing. Mostly because it would just be cool. Of course the bulk of my experience in art isn't audio, but I think it would apply similarly. I find it pretty awesome how often mathematical patterns pop up in art, the most significant probably being the golden ratio.
One important thing to remember though is that even finding that if a piece of art has x/y/z characteristics it will be appealing that doesn't mean that if a piece of art doesn't have those it is not appealing. For every set of characteristics you find, there will probably be one that might be more appealing without those characteristics.
I agree 100%. I love studying music and art. Trying to find logical reasons why it all works. I too am fascinated by the golden ratio and its application in the art of our past...
I'm a musician and have studied music theory pretty extensively in the past. It most definitely helped me to understand music better as a whole and aided me in dissecting my favorite tunes and understanding "why" they sound so good to me. Helped me to understand why certain chords work better with others, and to understand things like meter and key center.
But when I pick up my guitar and actually start playing, all theory goes out the window. I go by ear.
I'm sure that if you ask any musical legend who has made their mark in history, most of them will tell you that it was just pure inspiration at work. They just started playing their instrument, or they had an idea in their head and started writing. One thing led to another, and eventually a legendary song is born.
