Standard of music , is it going down the drain?

[Tenfingers]

Ultimately,the audience are going to remember your music well,unless they are tonedeaf themselves.

But if you are jumping up and down and full of acrobats,maybe there are bands which can jump better than you?

 

[Narcoleptia]

Yes.

 

[soft]

i have a suggestion.

- for those open air gigs, open to passer by.
bands MUST be certified to be public-worthy

- for indoor/private/ticketed, not accessible to passer by.
organiser/promoter/bands can do anything they want.

the reason for this is so that the general public's perception of 'local' musicians are not 'a bunch of noisy' people.

as a scene/industry/supporter , we should at least do this?

 

[sage]

Maybe it's just a phase?
I know the support and talent of the local music scene was not how it was now some years back. Days when the radio played local music like The Lizard's Convention or Naked (where are those blokes now anyway?). Scene doesn't seem as tight anymore, and genres has been seperated into their own "clans".

My two cents goes this way; I have an inkling of a feeling that the "standards" has bee-lined in proportion to how the media has taken the concept of music on an overhaul. Hence I'm not sure if it's fair to blame just on the specifics of music quality from upcoming and current musicians, when the line and influences for quality has been rubbed off faded.

Questions of why there are image-orientated bands, for example; switch on MTV, and yes, even the local MTV that plays Electrico MTVs as well. Watch the videos, and watch what leads the interests of the audiences, and perhaps the notice the link of what inspires a musician these days to be a musician themselves?
I do understand that an image gives a variable bit of eye-candy, but it's alarming to know that its importance has taken over the quality of music. Perhaps all I am saying here is that there are other juxtapositions to infer into, rather than the musicians / bands themselves.

Just a note as well, that "quality" is purely subjective to each and every poster here, and that ultimately all of these factors are important to balance the true term of how music should be.

I don't think it's healthy to put down these bands, whatever their standards insure. They are, regardlessly, what keeps the scene existing while we're all at home whining behind our monitors and demanding better acts..

 

[DoubleBlade]

Yeah that sounds practical.

But can it be achievable in the first place?

To change the organiser's mindset from making money getting sub standard bands to fill up the empty gig slots to making good music for the people by exercising some professional level of quality control?

Seriously , it's nothing wrong with organisers making money from organising gigs because we all live in a capitalist world aftter all....

 

[rottenramone]

..

generating hype has always been around, just that being a good band is an excellent way to back up the hype.

but "good" can mean so many things

but just keep jamming/performing/playing lah. if the bands are good or lucky, they'll earn a following soon enough. its a good thing that there are so many bands out there playing, i only fear that no one would even bother to post a thread like this.

 

[ShredPusssy]

i agree with the organisers making money from oganising shows and gigs, every1 needs to make a living, n their job creates opportunities for alot of ppl on this little island.
but what i fear is that there isnt any quality control done on the bands that wanna play, its too easy to get a gig these days, even sub par bands get a chance to showcase their crap to innocent audiences who are expecting to have a gd time.
i think the major fear i have is that these bands actually think its fine to play like tat n that they have reach the so called 'local standard'. if this fear is true then it is no wonder that after so long our local music scene still isnt going anywhere.
i agree with mr soft..QC those outdoor shows n leave the indoor ones alone to do wat they want, cause most of us know better then to watch another indoor sub par show or gig.(except for a selected few bands)

its good for some ppl to have gigs where they can do watever they want..but for me..the problem comes when ppl do watever they want.

 

[Guest]

I wouldn't mind so much if most bands I see out in the open aren't just weekend rockstar cover bands or put some effort into originality. Think of the performance licenses the poor organizer has to pay for them to perform other people's music. A professional standard would be nice, otherwise there's not a lot of difference to going to jam studio to watch a "just-for-fun" band play.

But this is passive aggressive Singapore, where punters are less unforgiving or just ignore you if they think you play crap music.

 

[unsane]

- for those open air gigs, open to passer by.
bands MUST be certified to be public-worthy

and who's going to do this certification? music is so subjective..to each his own.

a j-rock band REI played at chingay, the next day there was a letter in the straitstimes forum page complaining about "hard rock noise" making her precious son cry. thankfully, not blown out of proportion by the press, but still goes to show that one man's meat is another's poison. the people's association obviously certified them as "fit" to play,but you can't please everyone.

 

[ShredPusssy]

well in my honest opinion, putting a j rock band in chingay was a bad move hahaahahhaa.

music is subjective..but when ur attending an outdoor gig or show, u pretty much know wat to expect u see, n in tat sense, its easy to weed out inferior bands of the same or similiar genres.

u cant compare this with the chingay situation see..chingay is for the general public, for every1 of different age n etc. ppl expect to see colourful floats n etc..then a j rock float come by..hahaha i think its like scoring an own goal.

but ur right abt the certification part unsane..getting the right person to certify n also to tell sub par bands to go home nicely..thats gonna b a touchy job

 

[unsane]

well it was certainly a weird move..i would've turned down the gig honestly, but there's no such thing as bad publicity is there

point being for every person that enjoys a band's music, there'll be another who doesnt...

 

[ShredPusssy]

haha guess its hard to resist playing on a moving stage tat is lit up like geylang.

as for band..mayb they cld choose a genre that is more widely excepted to the public..erm perhaps get a ratio of 3-1 for every person tat likes the band vs ppl who dislike them. wat i m saying is erm mayb a more radio frdly genre?

 

[cowmeat812]

somebody tells me what "Rei" music is like?

 

[rottenramone]

..

jrock, i believe

 

[shinobi]

anyone should be allowed to play any style any genre no matter how good or bad it may be, as long as it makes them happy. if you're gonna legislate the type of music a band is allowed to play, it would certainly undermine their creative freedom and almost certainly mark the death of the interest in a particular genre. i think it is ridiculous. let the bands play what they want to play, and let them play it well.

on the issue of outdoor vs indoor gigs, is it not the responsibility of the organizer to ensure that the band that is chosen to performs something that is suitable for the event that he is organizing, especially if it is non-exclusive, such as a public outdoor gig?

please, make a clear distinction between objective aspects, such as technical competence, which is the responsibility of a band, and the content of a show, which is largely subjective, and the responsibility of the organizer

 

[BlackMoo]

well said shinobi, although I do have to add the music scene in Singapore has really progressed as compared to say, 5 years ago? Much more happening now...

 

[soft]

actually, it is not difficult to certify music competence. we can see this from piano grades to professional music school like MI ( http://www.mi.edu/ ).

imagine a person with less than desired music competence performing on a piano with 5000w of amplification blasting away. and you see the signboard - "Support Local Talent".

any genre or style is fine. but they must be suitable for the venue/audience.

let's look at this in another context.

i enter a food court that declares "Singapore Local Favorites". i see some tourists helping themselves to the food and they display some shocked expression. I think to myself, "ha, it must be too spicy lah". i then ordered a bowl of laksa. when i tucked in, it tasted totally blend and the cockles are rotten.

i approached the cook but she said she just started cooking 3 months ago and this is the way she likes her laksa!

i told her that her laksa is not spicy and the cockles are rotten.

she replied, "can't I be more creative? I don't copy what others do. I am original."

8O

shinobi, we dont "legislate the type of music" but quality check the competence .

 

[unsane]

i might be taking your words out of context, but are you actually suggesting that there be a grading/certification system for band competence? wow..

i still don't really get your point though..when you say "public worthy" there are two factors to consider, technical ability (competence,tightness etc) and whether the "general public" would appreciate the music on display. both are pretty subjective dont you think?

i do agree with choosing the right genre for the venue/audience, but if everyone keeps choosing "safer" genres for events in the public eye, the scene is simply going to stagnate. some manner of cross promotion should be kept in mind, that's why i hail the esplanade for showcasing rudra, and the PA for putting a j-rock band in the chingay preshow. give bands a chance to showcase their music to a different audience now and then, if it ruffles a few feathers in the process so be it.

the laksa analogy...hygiene can be certified/graded, taste is still subjective. hum rotten, might be a problem. not spicy enough or tastes like crap, subjective..plenty of stalls should be closed down for proclaiming their food tastes good if any legislation is to be installed..

 

[soft]

yes, a grading system. we can have a repertoire for each grade. then bands can register to take the certification. best part is, the repertoire will include different genre/style.

this can be for bands or individual musician. ( just like swimming/karate grading )

this grading/certification can serve as a reference for promoters/organisers. bands/musicians can also look forward to 'moving up' the grade and use this as a advantage when solicitating for gigs.

we can only ensure the music capability of the certified bands/musicians but whether the "general public" would appreciate the music will depends on the cleverness of the promoter/organiser arrangement.

i hope when i mentioned 'music', you take it that i meant 'all genre/style'.

 

[unsane]

to add on a point slightly more relavant to the topic..the whole supposed issue with the "standard of music going down" is simply because there are way more gigs nowadays than there used to be. more young bands coming out to play their first shows, everyone has to start somewhere and what band can say they were razor tight right from the get go?

you can jam/rehearse/practice forever, but an hour onstage will still be more beneficial when it comes to learning competency/tightness/avoiding mistakes as a band.

going by james' sentiments, dragonforce should be banned for performing since they are notoriously sloppy as hell onstage..not just at their shows, on a free to air TV show on public viewing..

i say let the bands play...natural selection will kick in sooner or later, consistently shite bands won't draw a crowd and organisers will stop booking them..

oops i said booking, which would imply they were getting paid, but lets not go there eh. :wink: