What makes "good" music for you?

[CS2x]

I didn't nick this post from someone else. It's formatted in this way because I originally posted it in a another forum (xltronic.com)

To those of you who don't just "feel" the music (I wish I
could do that like I used to; the ability dissappeared when
I got into making music myself) but tend to "judge" it
more...how do you decide how good music is? I'm sure
everyone does that to an extent; they buy an album and
listen to it and decide whether to pursue listening to it
(if it sounds emmotionally/atmospherically stimulating
and/or complex or "difficult") or to just think of it as
trash and give it back to the shop.

The way I tend to look at what makes "good" music is whether
it engages me in creating a powerful atmosphere or an
emmotional response in a skillful way. It doesn't *have* to
be complex (often, simplicity can achieve more) but it has
to have more depth then what I see on the surface; for
example, in dark ambient music by artists like Robert Rich
(Stalker) not much tends to happen on the surface-but it
creates a brilliantly toxic atmosphere and perfectly
achieves what it sets out to achieve in terms of the sound
design and in the pacing of the music. Likewise, Confield by Autechre
has a really dark inviting atmosphere, and when you look
deeper you can see the amount of precision and skill that it
took to form.
What I'm basically saying, is that I like music that is
never accademically complex or skilled for the sake of it,
but music that is both initially inviting (although not
neccessarily easy) in terms of emmotion and atmosphere, yet
is also successful when you look more closely at the
complexity or design behind the music (although like I said
earlier, well judged simplicity can work just as well.)

What about you? Sorry for the long winded post, I just
thought a lot of my recent posts were shit so I wanted to
say something normal for once. Amen.

[Bushmeister]

I can't say I partricualry appreciate any one genre inherently more than another (although there are certain genres that I find shite). The music I most enjoy listening to is usually bereft of any lyrics though, it gives you the opportunity to think about things and/or the music itself rather than sing along.

Yes this is a vague answer, because I really can't pin any particular taste or likening that I have. To me, "good" is a pretty abstract concept and can be anything from fast to slow tempo or a jarring or flowing beat.

Hmmm.

[CS2x]

Interesting. I'd agree, but I take a more judgemental approach to the whole thing because I make music and have studied it I guess.

[Reek]

Really hard to say.
If I feel the song has a really special/cool tune, so I like it.
Or if I feel the song tells a story, etc.

Also it depends what the music is for, some types of music are good for parties, but not for listening at home, and vice versa.

I guess I just want music not to be "boring"

[Gobbles]

Tune is the most important. Every part of the song has to be special and worth listining to, i hate listining to music where the first minute of it is good, and the nest 2 minutes is just repetitive crap.
I also like music that has alot of meaning. Like i prefer game and movie sountracks far better then normal overated crap on the radio, because it brings back beatifull memories from movies and adventure games and it's story. It should be very instrimental and keeping it's tune.
Don't like vocals too much, unless the vocals part is equally as good as the instremental part of the music, theres nothing worse than an untalented stuped spoiled Wh*re singing words that don't make any sense with a backround music of drums beating the same note over and over again. I get enough of the overated crap from my sister who turns it up really loud and sings along with her crapy voice.
The lba 1&2 soundtrack is a perfect example of the music i like. It is relaxing, soothing, good tune, emotional, gives feeling of both of the games. I think if it is music for a game, it should give the emotional feeling of the setting and characters experiances.
Hearing types of music like techno gives me the feeling like liquid falling on electrical circuts in slow motion, making weird sounds come out of the speaker and all as it terminates different conponents etc...

[CS2x]

"Hearing types of music like techno gives me the feeling like liquid falling on electrical circuts in slow motion, making weird sounds come out of the speaker and all as it terminates different conponents etc..."

Heheh, I like that image.

[hobmoblin]

Music with a meaning. Thats what I like, not the kinda crap thats in the charts constantly but stuff with a meaning.

[Aule]

Im not the only one that knows good music...

Just look at our old pal GWB:

[Atresica]

I agree with Gobbles there, first tune, than any lyrics.
I love it to discover that songs that have a great tune also have great lyrics (the only example I currently can give is Moonspell - Eternal Spectator)

I also agree with CS2x on the matter of what tunes I like. It has to give me a certain feeling and a certain inspiration I would normally never get. I nearly always write with music on because it helps me greatly to get into the right state of mind and in the mood for the particular scene.
I'm not too keen on some of the periodes in classical music simply because it seemed to be fasionable to make music incredible complex instead of listenable (as certain writers have the tendency to make their proze thesaurus-abusing instead of actually readable)

What I especially love about music is built-up. Build-up to a climax. I think in a sense a tune should tell a story (unless it's purely athmospheric, which I quite like as well)

Nice thread

[Gobbles]

Has anyone heard of DNA-Groove? He makes awesome music for retro style games, and it's very peacefull to listen to.

[CS2x]

Originally Posted by Atresica

I agree with Gobbles there, first tune, than any lyrics.
I love it to discover that songs that have a great tune also have great lyrics (the only example I currently can give is Moonspell - Eternal Spectator)

I also agree with CS2x on the matter of what tunes I like. It has to give me a certain feeling and a certain inspiration I would normally never get. I nearly always write with music on because it helps me greatly to get into the right state of mind and in the mood for the particular scene.
I'm not too keen on some of the periodes in classical music simply because it seemed to be fasionable to make music incredible complex instead of listenable (as certain writers have the tendency to make their proze thesaurus-abusing instead of actually readable)

What I especially love about music is built-up. Build-up to a climax. I think in a sense a tune should tell a story (unless it's purely athmospheric, which I quite like as well)

Nice thread

I'd agree with you about the build up/atmosphere distinction. Normally, if a track is not an ambient-atmospheric piece, I'll only enjoy it if it builds up. I hate a lot of music because it follows a simple ABA structure and doesn't actually go anywhere or reach a climax or develope. I find a piece pointless if it hasn't evolved from one point to another. Of course, if a piece is merely supposed to create a mood, then it can do what it wants in terms of structure-it could be a few repeated chords for half an hour for all I care-as long as it is successful in putting me in a certain frame of mind/mood or setting a nice dark atmosphere.