- First musical exploration -
▾
In my youth I presented a series of questions about music, mainly focused on the similarity shared by all those compositions which were quite popular here in South America. It should be noted that in this part of the world certain genres predominate, such as merengue, salsa, bolero, Rancheras and Afro-Caribbean music to name a few. So beyond understanding that I was under the influence of a dome of representative and media populisms, I thought about exploring and understanding more music as a quite flexible, broad and eclectic artistic phenomenon.
Of course, in my youth the Internet had not reached the peak it currently has, where today there is at least one computer or smart device in every home in the world, so the musical appreciation came from a whole subculture of Melomanos who acquired records and cassettes in drinking devices, which were a bit expensive for those who did not have an economic situation that would allow them to acquire it. So much of the musical consumption of great diversity, consciously or unconsciously came from series, cartoons, animes or television networks.
https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/QmcZX6vR6zq3dwhQ54CR4vUP9GKVFYU7pzZt9VEEwNrLFw
- What is this that I hear? -
▿
Like any other small child, I spent much of my time in front of the television looking at cartoons, but nevertheless watching more carefully and appreciating, I noticed that many of the soundtracks of these cartoons have quite interesting features transcending the theme of the 80s with many synthesizers and music focused on a notion of terror and mystery.
While growing up I understood that the most interesting and avant-garde compositions arose as a result of an abstraction of elements by the composer, where, as in other disciplines such as painting or gastronomy, the musician also nurtured his creation of diverse elements, to give life to a fairly eclectic notion where said creative process subtly sublates various existing structures, therefore the true creative artist has to innovate in the most representative characteristics of a piece, that is to say; the melody. harmony, rhythmic and lyrical. Being able to offer a new approach even to a subject as recurrent and trite as love and lack of love.
All this led me to wonder, what specific genres are those compositions so great many of the soundtracks directed to the cartoons? for the answer came to me many years after I explored the music even more and consumed more of it. All the composition made for a video game or caricature is only made for this work, and the developers or caricaturists approach a specific artist or group which is coupled with the creative message which they try to spread, so many of these bands are musicians with quite peculiar approaches, being fusion artists, jazz or even progressive rock, known for some particular style.
https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/QmcZX6vR6zq3dwhQ54CR4vUP9GKVFYU7pzZt9VEEwNrLFw
- Music is a whole world -
▾
I know that at this point the post will have become a bit childish, nostalgic or even colorful, but the truth is that I intend to address more in depth the music present in several of these cartoons, in which we can find styles such as Smoth Jazz, Country, Psychobilly and even pieces based on pretty historical or ancient ideas.
If we analyze the introductory pieces of The cow and the chick or Ren and Stimpy, we can deduce that they contain a great influence of the Pychobilly, a contemporary version of the rockabilly of the 50's. However, this genre only approaches this instrumental format but does not adopt its composition base. entirely, since this genre comes from punk rock and country, which leads us to understand that the introductory pieces of these cartoons have a whole medley of elements since it is not only psychobilly what can be appreciated, in fact there is everything a transition of great attack and aggressiveness in these songs, being
lousville stomp of the Aritocrats a very precise reference.
In the case of cantankerous Beavers you can see a certain air to the compositions directed to infomercials and contests of the 50s and 60s equipped with wind instruments like saxophones, trumpets and trombones, something very similar to the swing of
Benny goodman . Now if you look at Arnold we can also appreciate a bit of Smoth Jazz perhaps in a more modern atmosphere where Soul Gospel singers like
Leon Bridge abstract these elements.
Of course in this selection we will also find a bit of Country, as seen in Catdog and its introductory song, full of many instrumental resources of the genre, taking as reference the youtube band
Steve'n'Seagulls which is dedicated to assembling covers in its Southern country format. Finally I must mention the good work that composer Robert Alexander White did in the general soundtrack of Bob Sponge and how he adopts the sailors' pieces called Sea Shanty which were nothing more than songs directed to the accompaniment of his work activities something similar to the drum of march in the wars of revolution, being belonging to an entire culture, executed with quite representative instruments such as accordions and flutes, which can
listen here
https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/QmcZX6vR6zq3dwhQ54CR4vUP9GKVFYU7pzZt9VEEwNrLFw
You like the post?
Tell me how many musical genres do you know?.
What was your favorite cartoon and why?
Do you think that this exemplified selection was quite successful?
What do you think of composers in modernity?
What approach would you approach when creating a musical idea?
