What are you into besides orchestral music?

[Mattias Westlund]

OK, so it seems I have entered a period of being completely sick of music. At least with listening to it, in any form. I get these bouts from time to time and they usually last only a few days, a couple of weeks at the most. I guess it comes from saturating your brain and ears with the stuff to the point where it makes you want to puke.

Thus I'm going to stick to the off topic section, because it feels like I have nothing meaningful to say about anything VO-related right now, so I'm not even going to try.

Anyway, here's something that occurred to me a little while ago: what non-orchestral stuff are you guys into? If anything?

I mean like pop, rock, jazz, folk and so on.

[Viktor]

Oh boy I can relate. Orchestral music seems to take so many relistens and so many thinking. I think from time to time it's really important to take a break from it or reduce it a bit and try to dabble with other genres (not just listening but also playing).
Right now I've been listening to more Neo Soul, Hip-Hop and Jazz.
If anything like that interrests you, here are some recommendations:

The Jacob Mann Big Band is pretty cool. I'm far from being a Big Band fan, I played in some as a teen and that really traumatized me for years to come Playing swing music as a guitarist can be a very dull experience, but this band showed me that you can do so much more with that kind of ensemable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOLaY-ybd2c I really like the drummers playing, the Hi-Hat is sooo crisp and they all are just so priscisly together. Really a pleasure to listen to.

Death Grips is such a meme and it took me a while to appreciate what they do, but it basicly sounds like Hip Hop with a garage rock/punk attitude and that is pretty cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWnitkN44SM And the pink floyd sample is awesome.

And lastly what has been lately coming back to me is Screaming Females. I really dig Indie Rock in generell, but it often lacks anger and guitar solos. Screaming Females do both pretty good, I needed some time to get used to her voice, but now i think it's pretty cool. And damn, she's just such a great guitar player. I mean it's not the most technic advanced stuff, but just the tone and it always sounds like she has a pretty tight grip on her instrument, which i personly really like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ObpxB1_TV8 While I think that is a song without a solo.

How about you? I heard you've been big intro prog rock.

[bigcat1969]

Atonal music baby! OK I hate the sound but it is so much more fun to write. Forget thinking about harmony. Forget scales. Take instruments that make no sense and stuff them together and hit Puree! Seriously try it. Run completely amuck.

[Michael Willis]

Tuxedo Junction is easily the most dapper big band song I have ever heard. This is my favorite rendition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_4Z9r8FEj8
I also really enjoy Take Five: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDDOFXSgAs
Let's not leave out John Coltrane's interpretation of My Favorite Things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mEun5ehM4A

[Samulis]

I love folk, bluegrass, and blues. I even enjoy some real heavy rock every once in a while, particularly when working on something. Two of my favorite soundtracks of all time are those to Railroad Tycoon II & III.

I even have a few 'singer-songwritery' albums I enjoy as well, again, working very well for working.

[Viktor]

(08-03-2017, 07:30 PM)Samulis Wrote: I love folk, bluegrass, and blues. I even enjoy some real heavy rock every once in a while, particularly when working on something. Two of my favorite soundtracks of all time are those to Railroad Tycoon II & III.

I even have a few 'singer-songwritery' albums I enjoy as well, again, working very well for working.

Any recommendations on the blue grass front? I did really enjoy listening to The Punch Brothers for a while, while it is defintly a very song based approach and more modern.

[peastman]

Broadway. This seems to be a genre that people either love or hate, though calling it a "genre" isn't really accurate, since it covers such a huge range of musical styles. But anyway, using music to tell a story just makes it so much more powerful for me. A large part of my collection consists of musicals. I can give tons of recommendations if you're interested.

Choral music. John Rutter, Karl Jenkins, Morton Lauridsen, Christopher Tin. I wish I could write choral music, but you really need a real chorus to perform it. Computers just aren't up to it yet.

[Samulis]

(08-03-2017, 07:57 PM)Viktor Wrote:

(08-03-2017, 07:30 PM)Samulis Wrote: I love folk, bluegrass, and blues. I even enjoy some real heavy rock every once in a while, particularly when working on something. Two of my favorite soundtracks of all time are those to Railroad Tycoon II & III.

I even have a few 'singer-songwritery' albums I enjoy as well, again, working very well for working.

Any recommendations on the blue grass front? I did really enjoy listening to The Punch Brothers for a while, while it is defintly a very song based approach and more modern.

I'm far from an expert in the field, just a casual listener. Honestly, I wouldn't know where to begin.

I grew up listening to the radio program "A Prairie Home Companion", which frequently featured blues, folk, bluegrass, jazz, folk-rock, and occasionally classical (now it seems to be leaning more towards the rock/indie side after the long-time host Garrison Keillor retired). I was always in love with the simplicity but virtuosity and beauty of a lot of the more folk-inclined pieces, and of all the harmonic languages, blues, no matter what kind, is the among the most emotionally enjoyable interesting music I have ever heard- I've even used 12-bar blues forms in a number of pieces just because the format is so lovely and trellis-like to work with.

A good start if you want to hear some good folk music (although the actual recordings are rather old/poor) is the Anthology of American Folk Music set- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthology_...Folk_Music

It's cited as the element that set off the revival and modern appreciation of folk music.

The soundtrack to "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is also a great source of some lovely bluegrass and country.

[bigcat1969]

I always thought Ricky Skaggs and his band were about the best living bluegrass artists.
Alison Krause and Union Station are very popular.
Flatt and Scruggs the best all time.

[Viktor]

Sam, bigcat thanks for the recommendations! I reallly loved the soundtrack (and the movie for that matter) of "O Borther, Where are thou?", really lovely music, especially since I'm pretty picky regarding recording quality, I like the recording of Hard Time Killing Floor Blues much more then the original. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhRmCMWdRqM But I'll be sure the check out the Anthology, still sounds interresting, even aside from music taste, just as a documentation of American History. Sam, which kind of compositions did you use it? Care to share an example, I'm interrested.

Just listened to some Flatt and Scruggs, I'm always amazed by how these people can shred.