[JessThrasher]

I've recently been criticized (won't say by who) for listening to my usual heavy stuff. The criticizer claims that rock music is artificial and synthetic becuse it's all "electronic and stuff". I see his point of view and what he's tryng to say. But Id' have to say it's not 100% artificial and synthetic. 100% Artificial and synthetic would be stuff like techno, electronica, trance, synth, futurepop, etc. Where all you need to do is punch a few keys and arrange afew sequences and there ya go!

Metal is more viewed as "artificial" because of the heavy overdrive and effects. Basicall what an effect pedal or any effect (including built in distortion) does is take your clean signal, modify it and such. Really fake?

Do you think rock and metal is '100%' artificial?

[GotDeeBlues]

It's only artificial to those who don't like it. ANY music is all about feeling, and if that's what reaches something inside you, then ir's real. Been that way since man first picked up a stick to hit a hollow log.

[cshude]

Nothing wrong with "artificial" music if it's done well. I've heard really good synth-pop ("Tainted Love", anyone?) and really bad (if you've seen any movies from the mid-80's you've heard it). I've heard really good metal and really bad metal. And so on, and so on. Music is, and always has been, a matter of taste. I, for one, would not be able to take more than a song of two of what is apparently your favorite band (DragonForce), but would be able to listen to several hours of early Metallica. Again, a matter of taste. Some people absolutely love Bob Dylan- he's not my cup of tea. I like a song here and there of his, but would find it very difficult to listen to an entire album of his work.

So, bottom line, there are not a bunch of shredding metalheads on this forum, but it definitely does NOT mean that you should be criticized for liking that style of music. It takes a ton of work and talent to play some of that stuff.

[allthumbs]

You like what you like. There is no wrong in it. Having different tastes in music is just that, different. I have no time for players who say only one style of music is good. I have even run into a guy who said that only blues that makes you cry is the real blues. That eliminates 90% of the blues players that have ever played a jump blues or good vibe blues like My Sweet Little Angel by B.B. King.

[sabretalon]

We are all inspired by different people for different reasons!

My musical tastes are pretty varied, in my youth I went out and bought records from bands most people had never heard of! And these were new bands not obscure 70's bands.

I listened to Ozzy, Dokken, Britny Fox (Who?), Fiona Flannagan, Joe Satriani, Santana, Doro, Lita Ford, The Almighty I could just keep going on but as you will see I had some strange choices there. All that has changed for me is the format I buy! I buy CD's rather than records.

In the end, it is music. If it grabs me and I feel some sort of attachment to it then, I'll listen to it some more. If it does not grab me then it is not for me but it does not mean I can not appreciate the techniques used.

You like Dragonforce and even though I do not like them I can appreciate why some do like them. I don't like classical music but I can still appreciate a good orchestrated piece of music. Maybe that is the difference? The person that says it is to artificial is only looking at it from their own point of view and does not really appreciate what the musicians are trying to achieve? Maybe, they just don't get it?

Just by plugging in a guitar to an amp you are somewhat artifical, if you want to start breaking it right down! In the end what is right and wrong for me and you will be different. The same with everyone else! Play and listen to what you want to do, not what someone else thinks you should do!

I can see some doing some google searches on some of the bands I mentioned to see what they did LOL, those are jsut some of the names I remember, those and the Pink Fairies!

[knight46]

It is just like Baskin and Robbins, they make 31 flavors because not everyone likes plain vanilla. I started off with Classical and Flamico and then gravitated through folk, blues, rock, metal,etc. Music should speak to your soul and if it does you will love it no matter how it is played.

[DemoEtc]

If someone said to me that any genre or type of music was 'artificial' - not just metal or whatever - I'd have to seriously ask them what the opposite would be; in other words, what do they consider 'natural' music.

Then, whatever answer they gave me, I'd have to point out that 'all' music (in a way of looking at it) is 'artificial' in that, either composed or improvised, it adheres to certain forms, standards, shapes, movement, formulas, rules, etc., and that the only true 'natural' music can only be found in nature, where nothing ever repeats exactly and there is an ongoing flow and ebb, an ongoing developement, that 'most' people, not being able to comprehend or categorize (and place in neat little boxes in order for it to be easily dismissed) this 'natural' music, may very well find it uninteresting.

If you can say that all in one breath, I think the other person would probably just walk away

[Chaotic Kittie]

Well, it's like people who say that if you can't play an instrument, you have no musical talent... I've seen way too much music composed on computers that is quite good, to accept such a statement. Just because you compose stuff via the computer rather than with a guitar in hand, the same musical rules still apply. If you come up with a good melody, harmony or whatever, there's strictly speaking no difference between a computer generated sound and an acoustic guitar; it's still the same thing, musically speaking.

[Fretsource]

Exactly my thinking too Demo. All music is artificial in the sense that it has been created, contrived, constructed, etc.

If you think about it that way, a heartfelt blues song is far more 'natural' than a Beethoven symphony, with its strict layout and its rules of harmony, counterpoint, and orchestration.

One is simple, one is complex, but both are real "music".

[TwistedLefty]

Gotta agree with Demoetc, the definition along those lines is no longer subjective as the word "artificial" has a definition already.
seems this person is strangling the dictionary to justify their own preferential bias.
by that definition of the word in this context all music not "naturally" created would be "artificial".

[Europa]

Artificial or not, if it sounds good to me, I like it.

Not that metal or any other heavy stuff is artificial, it isnt.
Metal certainly in my top 3 music fave's.

[fly135]

Rhythm and tempo is a major aspect of making music that has nothing to do with the mechanics of the source. Whether you are performing some complex fingerpicking, banging out powerchords, or beating the dog you can be making music in some sense. Please don't beat your dog.

Most people judge music by whether it speaks to them or not. I don't find that metal (and some other genres) speaks to me. But I do find that since I've started playing the guitar I start appreciating more kinds of music that I've dismissed in the past. Maybe it's a song that wouldn't normally catch my attention. But then I hear a guitar riff that I think..."I could do that" and then start listening the song whole song.

I make no distinction wrt music being artificial. The 70's brought forth an eruption of "artificial" music that was birthed in the 60's w/ synthesizers and effects. I've been a huge fan of Tangerine Dream from way back. It doesn't get much more artificial than that.

[Stratrat]

Great post, Fly.....pretty much says it all.

IMO, there are too many "cork-sniffers" in the world worrying too much about what other people listen to and making painstaking efforts to tightly categorize music. The number of sub-genres nowadays amazes me, and I don't even try to keep up with them - either I like the music, or I don't.....it doesn't much matter to me what sub-macrogenre people want to classify it as, or what they think of me (or anybody else) listening to it. Just like a lot of other things, over-intellectualizing about it takes some of the joy and fun out of it. I guess if you really want to get down to brass tacks, any music made with an instrument other than the unamplified human voice is "artificial" - so should we all be listening to nothing but Gregorian chants and acapella music (live only, because it would be "artificial" to record it!) to be considered "musical purists"?

As far as metal goes - I can take it in small doses when the mood is right, but I wouldn't consider myself a big fan. Shredding drives me out of my head and bores me to tears after a minute or so.....but I don't consider metal/shredding any more artificial than classic rock or 80's rock/new wave, both of which I love. A lot of 80's music was highly synthesized, and some of it was even made on computers (bands such as Kraftwerk).....so if any type of music were to be called "artificial", I guess it would meet the definition more than most other genres. It doesn't diminish my enjoyment of it one bit.

On another board there's a discussion going on about modern country music - people saying it's terrible because it doesn't sound like Waylon, Hank Sr., et. al., and that it's not 'real' country music anymore because of the distorted guitars, rock beats, etc. Personally, none of that matters to me - call it "pop country", "bubblegum country", "fake country" or whatever else you want to call it, but I like a lot of the modern country artists. If somebody else wants to obsess over the fact that what they're listening to isn't considered "real" country music by some people, I'll leave that to them.....in the meantime, I'll be listening and enjoying, thankyouverymuch.

[frewgosh]

It sounds to me Hermanli that the person you speak of is a snob. I seriously could never imagine a world without music of any kind. My life would be impoverished and spiritually bankrupt without it. The way that the music is delivered to me is totally irrelevant,whether it is blasted through a huge rig to excite me or it drifts from an acoustic instrument to enchant me. As long as it connects. To criticise in this way is to deny or denigrate your spiritual connection to music. Your emotional response to your "artificial" music will be every bit as enriching as his is to his "authentic" experience. Snobbery in this form can only act as a barrier to enjoying music and that makes no sense to me whatsoever. Sorry about the pompous post but we can all get serious about our music without reverting to " mine is bigger and better than yours"

[AEngland77]

These are the kinds of reasons why i love my guitar and the whole guitar world! You can play virtually anything you want and you can't still make great music and hold uniqueness at the same time. I play the trumpet and I swear, its like blending into the crowd, no originality or being unique. When it comes right down to it and others have stated above, We are all making music- whether it is artificial or not, we are all using the same concepts. Its just how you want to make your music which is the variable.