Quote:
Originally Posted by Janszoon
I have to say I'm finding it incredibly hard to come up with a single answer to the OP. When you start thinking about this question I think it's easy to get hung up on people who were influential, but that isn't necessarily an indicator of who is the most innovative person out there. Innovation doesn't always translate into influence. Which brings me to one possible contender for me: Harry Partch. The guy created his own weird-ass instruments to play his weird-ass music. Hell, he even came up with his own scales and his own notes! I think he at least warrants a mention in a "most innovative" discussion.
Here's what he was doing in 1952:
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Forgot about Partch, he's pretty great. I'm still unable to wrap my head around just intonation (playingwise, that is, I love listening to it) because of the notes not being even. With Schoenberg and others who went beyond the 12 note music, there was still an even interval between notes; it's not so with Partch's 43 tone scale.
Also saw Stockhausen earlier in this thread. I think he would be #2 on my list of innovation behind Cage, who I've already mentioned in this thread.
As far as Michael Jackson is concerned, he was innovative in some ways as realtalk pointed out. However, so many other artists push him out of the running for the most innovative. The Beatles had a big effect on music, but I don't consider that innovation if they're recycling old ideas.