Modern Critical Method

[Harbinger]

Harbinger's TREATISE ON MODERN MUSIC CRITIQUE AND THEORY

OVERVIEW

I mentioned to some colleagues many, many months ago that it would be helpful for me to do an exposition on my thoughts of music theory in relation to modern technique. I qualify myself only by self-proclamation, after more than 25 years of not only composing but also analyzing music as a listener. With this unschooled self-proclamation, i am forced to leave myself and my concepts open to their own criticism, and as such, defer.
This article is not designed to be an elaboration or elucidation of fact, but rather a description of my analytical philosophy and of a personal viewpoint. As such, many generalizations are made, and, as with all generalizations, exceptions to the rule can be found. While i'll try to to support my opinion or philosophy with validating data, the reader should not assume that i'm attempting to declare the "final word" on any issue or statement. The reader is welcome to engage himself in either opposing, parallel, or exploratory ideation, as well as offer counterpoints or competing methods in this thread.
My approach to music is different as a composer than as a listener. As a composer, i write what i want to hear, and without the profit motive, there is no other consideration. But as the listener of music, especially from the souls and minds and sensibilities of other artists, i have a different set of internal criteria on the palettability of the art, and each critique, private or public, is assigned a set of parameters based on perspective -- objectively, subjectively, and empathetically. But first i should define these terms.

CRITIQUE PERSPECTIVES

SUBJECTIVE METHOD
Subjective critique treats the object of artistic expression not just as the Result of effort, but also accounts for its Process, the effect of its existence in this universe and within the spheres of perceptability, and the personal inspiration it may leave for the perceiver. This of course makes it the most common form of critique and always happens involuntarily; it is the innate reaction to someone's artistic endeavor. While objective analysis requires calm, non-reactive wisdom, subjective analysis only requires self-awareness, the most innocent of the perspectives.
Since Subjective critique is more reactive and experiential, this kind of analysis is more helpful to the perceiver rather than the student or scientist of the medium.

OBJECTIVE METHOD
Objective critique listens to the music as if the composer had no ability or desire to create music, and better, any other form of art. Artistic expression is an event that is a universe away from the perceptive experience; creating art involves Process, but perceiving art regards not the process, but the Result. The artist applies various techniques to achieve the goal of self-expression or concept translation, and for him the creative experience includes all the steps that it took to complete the art -- every brushstroke, or the hours dodging and burning, or each chisel to shape a projection, or the experimentation with different cadences. For him, viewing his own art, he sees all that went into it.
The viewer of his expression, who wasn't there to watch the stages of the painting as it became the masterpiece he now beholds, only sees the final fruition of the artist's eye (if the artist expressed himself perfectly). He knows nothing of the trial-and-error, of the experimentation, of the preparation, or of the gleaning of good ideas from the superfluous or detracting ones. He therefore can view the artwork with an objectivity that the artist can't enjoy. This objectivity views the resulting art without regard to where it came from metaphysically, or how it came to be materially, and is only concerned with how it is now. And this is the perspective of objective analysis, without regard to the art's origin or its relationship to either the artist or the perceiver, as if the art simply popped into existence without cause, and will leave no effect after the perceiver stops perceiving it. Objective critiquing is generally more helpful to the academic rather than the layperson.

EMPATHETIC METHOD
Empathetic analysis is the approach that views the result of artistic endeavor as both an objective and a subjective entity. Empathetic critique holds that the painting, or scuplture, or musical suite is both a thing unto itself, divorced from the artist and perceiver, as well as an integral part of the communication between artist and perceiver. While perceiving the artwork, the empathetic critic incorporates all methods of aesthetic analysis, from the very personal meaning or sensations the art may evoke in himself, to the understanding of the talent it must have taken to create such an expression in that particular medium, to the ripple effect that such artwork may have on the community, society, or human race if all of them in that subset had the chance to view or hear the result of the artist's expression. Empathetic analysis is best done by those who also express themselves in the same art, but it is primarily a critique based on the personal effect on one's senses. It therefore tends to help the artist more than the listener/viewer or the academic.
Empathetic and subjective analysis are often intertwined and confused, but the difference is that empathetic critique views the art as if the viewer could be the artist. The empathetic response places the perceiver in the role of the perceived, if only in his mind and not really reflective of what the actual process of art creation entailed. But those who partake in that particular form of creation and design have an extra layer of subjectivity than merely the observer understanding the process objectively; this is the empathetic method.

These different methods of analysis depend on the relationship between the critic and the artwork and the artist. For example, as a composer, i have the ability to analyze other composer's work from not only a listener's point of view, but also a composer's point of view, even more so if the genre of the music is one i often dabble in. But, having never once taken hammer to chisel, i am not so qualified to use the same empathetic analysis on someone's sculpture; i must either apply an objective or subjective critique, depending on the perspective i want my analysis to be known.
In my analysis of music, being a composer myself, i can, and often do, apply empathetic critiquing methods, primarily as a listener, but secondarily as a composer specifically, and an artist generally (i also paint, write poetry and short stories, and create maps for games). But unlike most critics, i also apply a moral (perhaps ethical) filter to my analysis. I listen to music with certain suppositions about what perceptual intake of as piece of artwork should and should not do, like goading us to think or feel a certain way about modern issues, or demeaning certain people based on group identity. For me, good music should not remind us of our moral depravity, and as such, i tend to avoid profanity-laced lyrics or messages that personalize raw, inconsequential sexuality or sexual deviancy, just to name a couple of examples. At the same time, however, i understand not everyone will apply that same sensibility, and must concede if my perspective would be considered more moralistic that most other listeners'.

THE CRITICAL TECHNIQUE: ANALYSIS OF PROGRESSIONS

Like many other educated musicians, i have been exposed to musical theory from many different schools. Over time, however, i have developed my own ideas on what good music is, not from an academic perspective, but simply from the listener's point of view. After all, music is primarily for listening, not studying or dissecting. I have though noticed common threads in what makes music memorable not only in the listener's memory, but in a culture's memory. Classical music is remembered hundreds of years later for a reason, mostly because of innovativeness on the part of the composer but also because of an adherence to a set of unspoken guidelines. And today's music applies these same guidelines with an additional layer of criteria mostly based on technological advances, but minorly based on societal shifts, such as the decrease of religion on artistic expression or self-reflection, a burgeoning interconnectivity between cultures that has never been present until the internet and specifically file-sharing, and the very rapid accumulation of knowledge and ideas (not all of it valid or beneficial) within the past 100 years.
These guidelines that decide what music is memorable or "attractive" can be narrowed down to a set of 6 types of temporal progressions -- Rhythmic, Chord, Melodic, Bass, Instrumental, and Timbral. Since music is extremely time-based and requires a linear and even quantized series of moments to perceive properly, how the music evolves is important to whether or not it is attractive, unlike viewing a painting, for example (which can be done sporadically and for any one viewer, at his own pace of perception), music, in order to get the full breadth of the artistic impression, requires an unbroken time span and a temporal allotment of attention or perception. These compartmentalized methods of analyzing music are simply units of subjective measurement, and are present in all musical pieces. But of course just because a measurement of an attribute equals zero doesn't mean it doesn't exist; it only means the attribute's value equals zero.

RHYTHMIC PROGRESSION
The most fundamental progression is Rhythmic. Before the first string was struck or plucked or rubbed, before the first whistle was made thru one's lips, before the first grunt or verbal expression, one item collided with another, perhaps in a cyclical sequence. In music, rhythm is the most primal layer of sounds, and serves to align all other layers into order. Rhythm is defined at its most fundamental as this alignment, and is often as simple as counting whole numbers, but can exist in sets of sublayers, which can be found in the modern drum setup of Kick-Snare-Hihat (the Kick plays at the top of the beat, the snare hits on alternate beats, and the hihat taps in the eighths or sixteenths).
But the Rhythm Progression of a track is much more than just the tempo and tap structure; it also accounts for transitional refrains ('riffs') that occur between sections of a song, the strength of the rhythm in relation to the other progressions, the evolution of the rhythmic model within the song (that is, what the rhythm starts out as, and how it ends up to close the song), and the choice of FX on the rhythmic structure.
Too often, however, rhythm is thought of only as component of percussive elements or timbres. Not so, as modern music has incorporated many different means of conveying rhythm: the use of tap-delay FX, arpeggiated motifs that often repeats for many bars, and gating techniques that toggle the volume or filtering of instruments or timbres within the beat.
Rhythm progression also determines whether or not a song is "danceable", not in the classical or interpretive definition, but in the nightclub sense. No dance hit is required to have a traditional backbeat form of meter to be danceable, but the rhythmic motion must be maintained; if the Kick stops, the Bass line should keep rhythm, if the hihat stops, the arpeggiated synth motif should maintain the continuity, and so on. For a danceable song, the rhythm is always apparent.

CHORD PROGRESSION
Chord progression is also an "original" pillar of song design, and is integral to the mood or sense of the musical piece. Young composers always learn at some point that the influence of mood or vision on the listener is determined not only by the chords used, but by the order in which they are exposed. Chord progressions start with an underlying premise (the key) and from there moves along various chords that are found inside and outside of the premise. The simplest chord progression is a song that never wavers from one chord, but even though there is no movement, the "feel" of the song is determined by that chord's relation to the key; that is, E-minor repeating over and over again in the key of C is slightly different than the key of D, even more so when they chord is forced under melodies or motifs that are playing in a completely different key that E-minor would not be found in.
But most modern music, even from the time of the Renaissance, requires some motion from one chord to another, even if it's a repeated series between two chords. Popular music has been criticized for using only three chords in total, with various designs on how they are implemented. Classical music will not only use every chord found in a key, but will introduce nonstandard chords or travel to other keys to explore their chords.

MELODIC PROGRESSION
Melodic progression is the quickest for the listener to pick up on, and lends itself easily to Subjective Criticism. How a melody evolves, especially in its interaction with Chord Progressions and rhythmic alignment, is one of the primal criteria that a listener will apply to determine a song's attractiveness to his ears. The notes that are chosen and the order they're chosen determine Melodic Progression.
Melodic progression is not simply constituted by an evolving melodic line, such as those present in many popular songs. It may also be composed of only motifs, repeated series of notes that occur and regular moments and clauses. Much of Trance and House, for example is devoid of an evolving melody, but makes ample use of repeated motifs. As an example, the first half of Xaphoid's "Electric Fury" counts no less than 3 repeating motifs, and also introduces enough variation to make it sound like a melody. He repeats the technique in the second half using different motifs, introducing other variations again to give the illusion of melody. But these repetitions and variations are sufficient enough to form a substantive and substantial Melodic Progression. Another example of the use of motifs is "Rude Dog" by DNA Trance, which is a common technique in this subgenre of House music. Even though there is no real melody, this is an excellent example of good melodic progression for this genre.

BASS PROGRESSION
Bass Progression is an extension of Chord Progression and was first developed during the early Baroque period. While chord cadences can dictate how a song's emotional or visual content evolves, the bass line is responsible for the power or force of the emotions. Amateur composers who don't pay attention to a song's bass progression may actually weaken an otherwise well-chorded series. Bass Progression is probably the most analyzed of the classical progressions because it is the primary source of song resoluteness, similar to how a building's foundation supports a lavish architecture. This reactive power is usually achieved by not necessarily moving the bass at either the tonic or dominant note of the chord, but by setting up transitions between these bass accents. For example, given a chord progression of Cmaj - Gmaj - Amin - Fmaj in four measures, which of the chord notes are played by the bass can enclose the evocation of the chord sequence, such as a bass line of C in the first bar, G to D in the 2nd bar, A in the third, and F to G in the last measure before moving back to repeat the cadence. This sequence would set a drastically different tone to the cadence if the bass line were C | D-G | A-E | F-A, even if everything else was the same in the chord and melodic progressions.
One of the most unusual but evocative effects is to repeat the bassline for an extended numbers of measures while transitioning chord series and melodic lines (or motifs) over the same bass note. In the Baroque era this was called the ostinato, and this technique is still used in a lot of electronic dance music (EDM), especially in House music.

TIMBRAL PROGRESSION
Timbral Progression is defined as the evolution of timbres over the course of other progressions, and has been brought to the forefront of contemporary music by the advent of computer-generated sound. During the classical period, timbral progression was limited by each instrument's playing restrictions. For example, a violin could change its timbre subtly by bowing the string either closer or farther from the bridge, and a flute could add harmonics in very small degrees by modifying how the air was passed over the blowhole. But you couldn't make a violin sound like an oboe or a flute sound like a piano. Timbral progression is therefore severely limited in acoustic instruments, and as such, was not an analytical method until the present day.
Today synthesized timbres can be easily manipulated, and is often included in the critique of modern, non-orchestral music. Timbral progressions can evoke not so much an emotional or visual reaction, which chord progressions provide, but rather the sense of mental, psychological, or metaphysical state for the listener. Imagine a flute playing a quick melodic line over the course of a few measures, but in the same few measures the flute timbre evolves slowly into a violin timbre. This causes the listener to sense that the "place" where the melody occurs has shifted, as it might do in a dream. One of the earliest pop examples of this kind of timbral progression was in the ABBA song "Chiquitita", in which a repeating piano arpeggio morphs into an acoustic guitar over a number of bars. Today this shifting is ubiquitous in EDM.
It should be noted that timbral progression does not have to occur at the waveform level. It can also be influenced by the layering of sounds. In the early days of House and Trance in the 90s, this was the primary way of creating timbral progression. If not done tightly enough, the timbral progression instead becomes part of an instrumental progression.

INSTRUMENTAL PROGRESSION
Instrumental Progression is the interplay of the instruments at different times or layers in the song; it often seems like an extension of Timbral Progression, but also it involves when the timbral layers or shifts occur. It became a common compositional technique during the Baroque period; Antonio Vivaldi was the first to perfect this progression in his 600+ concertos, and Bach also picked up the technique from his Italian colleague in his later compositions. Today's popular music, especially early jazz, glorifies this "concerto" method of musical exposition by allowing each member of the band to have his moment. In modern electronic music, however, Instrumental Progression is easily overlooked by unschooled composers.
While analyzing or critiquing music for its Instrumental progression, i'm trying to listen for how the instruments "converse," not necessarily in the linguistic sense, where one party talks, then gives way when another speaks up. Instrumental Progression also entails contrapuntal and harmonic techniques, voice-doubling, chord-stacking, and even some fugal iterations, like two or more people having a conversation in which they often say the same thing at the same time in their own registers and timbres, or perhaps repeating what one just said for effect or strength. Any of these little flourishes can show that the song is well-designed and based on a plan of exposition. Since Instrumental Progressions are usually only implemented by veteran or educated composers, the analysis of it is not always warranted and the absence of it is not necessarily a demerit on how the song pleases the empathetic ear.
As an example, a good Instrumental Progression can occur in a modern Trance track when, on a repeating series of chords, one instrument plays a melody for the first half of a measure. On the second go-round, another instrument plays a derivative of the melody during the second half of the measure. In the final loop, both instruments play their parts during a combined run of the melodies and chords, with the first instrument playing its half of the melody in each measure, followed by the 2nd instrument playing each last half of the measures.
A fine example of Instrumental Progression similar to this is the original version of "Royal" by Psishock/Signal Chain, in which different instruments or timbres play pieces of the melodic line over different runs of the same chord progression. While he may be using the same synth patch for the interplay of timbres, the difference in timing and layering of timbres is enough to graduate the Timbral Progression to an Instrumental Progression.

CONCLUSION

While my analytical technique may not be scholastic, i've learned from others who themselves are attempting to perfect their compositional technique that this critiquing method tends to be the most helpful. When a track they've composed seems to be lacking, my application of this analytical method seems to give them the most direction in how to make their music better. If they disagree with my critique, at least they know exactly why, helping to bridge the comradery between artist and critic.

Copyright August 2011 by Harbinger
All Rights Reserved. Made available only to forum.openmpt.org.