Music Banter - View Single Post - The end of musical innovation
View Single Post
Old 05-19-2021, 10:16 AM   #32 (permalink)
Guybrush
Juicious Maximus III
 
Guybrush's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Scabb Island
Posts: 6,525
Default

As I mentioned, there was something akin to a cambrian explosion in music culture. What I mean by that is a rapid diversification of musical expression. It was fueled in part by the rise of aforementioned youth culture and popularization of the idea that you (yes, you) can pick up a guitar or bassoon or whatever and make cool music, perhaps join a band.

Because the blueprints for how to do that weren't as established then as it is now, musical expression varied and evolved very rapidly, much like life in the cambrian explosion. There were unexplored musical niches, like the world of possibilities that became available when people started getting distorted sounds from their electric guitars. Or when people started using the moog or whatever.

Today, we have most of those expressions still around in addition to new innovations and while there may be a ****load of innovation going on also today due to the sheer volume of music being made, most of the big innovations in music (like distorted guitar) have already been made. Hence, I think it may feel like innovation is slowing down, similar to how it feels like advances in gaming graphics have slowed down compared to what it was like through the 90s. I'm sure there are so many people working on visual technology that the number of innovations in that field is actually quite big, but just looking at gaming in general, it feels like it was more innovative in the past.
__________________
Something Completely Different
Guybrush is offline   Reply With Quote