music Your Musical Pet Peeves?

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

1 minute ago, Splashee said:

Oh, I remember now..... Auto-Tune songs!
Even if you can sing, it is a sign that you can't. It's a style that promotes bad singing, sounds awfully fake when applied. I rather have songs with a few vocal mistakes, than patched up with Auto-Tune.

Yes, yes, and yes. As a classically trained musician, I hate autotune. It limits your expression severely and you can't even adlib without it sounding extremely choppy and robotic. Way too many artists of today use it. They claim it's stylistic, but really, it's lowering the quality of their track. 99% of songs I hear on music feedback streams on twitch use heavy autotune and what's even sadder is that people would go as far as threatening to kick you out of a community just because you say there's too much autotune (that happened to me and I took myself out of that community because it was just toxic).

[Samurai Equine 45,972]

Get ready for this, because I have a VERY specific pet peeve when it comes to music...

If there is an industry based term for these two things, please tell me. For now, I will use my own terminology...

I love composed scores; and I hate real-time scores.
TV shows, movies, and other productions often have background music. Something to set the emotional tone, something to help connect important scenes together, etc. It's rarely vocal and often taken for granted, but it's important.

Composed scores are music pieces that can stand on their own; you can sell a soundtrack with them. They are masterfully made. Time and effort has been put into it. When done right, they are so good, they can even be considered part of scene composition. If a music piece is suppose to connect us from Scene A to Scene B, the song will do so in the smoothest or best way possible. Music like this doesn't have to be made by a full-on orchestra or anything, it can be made by a small in-house band, but effort to strike the right tone and message is always put in. The makers of the movie have an open conversation with the musicians so that they know what needs to be conveyed musically.

Real-time scores are different. Basically, you have a band watching the unfinished movie/TV-show/etc., and they create the musical score in real-time with what's happening on screen. The result is that the music is clunky. It has no flow. No direction; no intention. It will bounce you around like a ragdoll. The music might get you hyped one second, then come to a crashing hault the next, depending on what's happening on the screen. And heaven forbid there's a slow moment in the story, because then the musicians have no idea what to do with themselves. No one told them what mood or message needs to struck, so they just do whatever.

Thankfully hardly anyone does the latter anymore, but when it happens, it is THE MOST annoying thing to listen to. It's one of the many reasons why I hated any anime dubs done by 4Kids. They were notorious for doing stuff like that.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

2 minutes ago, Samurai Equine said:

Get ready for this, because I have a VERY specific pet peeve when it comes to music...

If there is an industry based term for these two things, please tell me. For now, I will use my own terminology...

I love composed scores; and I hate real-time scores.
TV shows, movies, and other productions often have background music. Something to set the emotional tone, something to help connect important scenes together, etc. It's rarely vocal and often taken for granted, but it's important.

Composed scores are music pieces that can stand on their own; you can sell a soundtrack with them. They are masterfully made. Time and effort has been put into it. When done right, they are so good, they can even be considered part of scene composition. If a music piece is suppose to connect us from Scene A to Scene B, the song will do so in the smoothest or best way possible. Music like this doesn't have to be made by a full-on orchestra or anything, it can be made by a small in-house band, but effort to strike the right tone and message is always put in. The makers of the movie have an open conversation with the musicians so that they know what needs to be conveyed musically.

Real-time scores are different. Basically, you have a band watching the unfinished movie/TV-show/etc., and they create the musical score in real-time with what's happening on screen. The result is that the music is clunky. It has no flow. No direction; no intention. It will bounce you around like a ragdoll. The music might get you hyped one second, then come to a crashing hault the next, depending on what's happening on the screen. And heaven forbid there's a slow moment in the story, because then the musicians have no idea what to do with themselves. No one told them what mood or message needs to struck, so they just do whatever.

Thankfully hardly anyone does the latter anymore, but when it happens, it is THE MOST annoying thing to listen to. It's one of the many reasons why I hated any anime dubs done by 4Kids. They were notorious for doing stuff like that.

Totally get you Sam. As fun as real-time scores sound, they don't sound practical or efficient at all. As a classically trained musician myself, I would hate to have to come in on a job and then have to play something with less confidence as it's being composed right then and there. With composed scores, the emotion is already dialed in and it's absolutely way more effective. 

[Reality Check 627]

For me, it's any kind of song or music that's either slow as heck, complete knockoffs of another song, or feel really forced, especially in shows or movies

Edited March 15, 2022 by Reality Check

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

6 hours ago, Reality Check said:

For me, it's any kind of song or music that's either slow as heck, complete knockoffs of another song, or feel really forced, especially in shows or movies

This is especially annoying, as it takes almost no effort to recreate a song but add minor changes (no pun intended). Then you have songs that literally try to force all the emotions out of you like trying go wring out the last bit of water from a washcloth. This happens when people try to cover songs, however, it can happen within the song itself, especially in what is called the “sad boy” type of hip hop songs of today. 

[TBD 17,228]

I'm gonna put this here. Hamilton. Every.single.damn.thing. in that play is the peak of my pet peeve for musical play. Dropping random song notes for every single damn second where it shouldn't, zero rhythms to every songs, and overall, it's just very very annoying to watch 3 hour of it. I hate this play with passion.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

5 minutes ago, TBD said:

I'm gonna put this here. Hamilton. Every.single.damn.thing. in that play is the peak of my pet peeve for musical play. Dropping random song notes for every single damn second where it shouldn't, zero rhythms to every songs, and overall, it's just very very annoying to watch 3 hour of it. I hate this play with passion.

Well that’s a big first…

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

This is more about music titles, but I can’t stand when people use “U” instead of “You”. Unless it’s a song about texting, please don’t use U.

[Props Valroa 26,051]

I can't stand using "U" or acronyms for things, really. I hate that so much. I also really hate it when they talk badly of certain people I like within songs too. Anything with a "ghetto" vibe like most rap I don't find myself liking.

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

Excessive use of the word “baby” drives me insane. Sometimes it’s not even used in a romantic context and that makes it even stranger. I’m also just one of the few people out there who can’t stand that word (when it’s meant as a term of endearment) since it’s been so overused in media.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

52 minutes ago, ExplosionMare said:

Excessive use of the word “baby” drives me insane. Sometimes it’s not even used in a romantic context and that makes it even stranger. I’m also just one of the few people out there who can’t stand that word (when it’s meant as a term of endearment) since it’s been so overused in media.

Blame Justin Bieber and all those other pop stars for doing that...it was way better in the olden days, like the song I posted in the OP. 

[Pentium100 2,057]

For me it's mostly the loudness war, some sources (like a TV channel that mostly broadcasts music) having too low audio bitrate and some venues having distorted sound (because they turned the volume to 11).

There are other things I do not like (autotune for example), but I just do not listen to those songs. Low quality, especially the digital artifacts prevent me from enjoying the music I would otherwise like.

 

[Tom Gallagher 33,521]

On 2022-03-15 at 7:03 PM, TBD said:

I'm gonna put this here. Hamilton. Every.single.damn.thing. in that play is the peak of my pet peeve for musical play. Dropping random song notes for every single damn second where it shouldn't, zero rhythms to every songs, and overall, it's just very very annoying to watch 3 hour of it. I hate this play with passion.

Oh, same. Can't stand that show. 

[Trot Shuffle 3,599]

My biggest pet peeve in music is the elitism. It's far worse of a problem than the industry itself, and the industry is already quite awful.

It's a weird backwards mentality, "I want everyone to appreciate music more" while shaming others for the silliest things in music. That includes, but is not limited to, inappropriate lyrics in songs. That's nothing new, they've been doing those kinds of lyrics with the classic Rock N Roll songs too, even the name of the genre itself as it was starting to take hold has double meanings for both dancing and... birds and bees or whatever else you want to call it. The only valid argument here is how direct modern music is about it rather than trying to hide it. That is very understandable, and I shy away from those kinds of songs too because I feel a little icky listening to those.

Anyways, elitism. I've seen it everywhere, no matter the genre and no matter the generation. The previous generation talks trash on what's popular now, and when that generation gets older they talk trash on the music that's popular when they're older, and so on so forth. It won't ever end.

Even in EDM, especially concerning rave and jungle music from the late 80's-90's, lots of older folk talk so much garbage on what's being released today. They won't be satisfied until you mangle a Lyn Collins "Think" break or The Winstons "Amen" break (or president, apache, anything honestly) to pieces somewhere between 160 - 180 BPM.  Look. I love those trashed and spliced drummer's hellscapes too but sheesh.

And why a guitarist gets praised for throwing their guitar through a wah wah effect while a synth keyboardist (synthesist? there's probably a specific word for that) doing the same thing gets shunned? Weird double standard there.

Probably the most popular elitism is when people say music needs to have like every chord, playing style, etc. to ever exist smashed in one song. Uhh, there's a reason many popular songs are more simplistic in nature. It's easier to memorize. Most people guaranteed can only remember part of a hook or chorus or whatever else. Whatever is the most catchy. That approach to writing popular songs has not changed today. Whether someone likes it or not, the same mentality for the favorite 80's hits survives today. Someone grooves to something simple in the studio and they just build on top of it. And voila, you got <insert popular song that people love to praise over others here>.

Also, gotta blame House music really for the loopy 4/4 nature. From what I can recall, it has something to do with early House DJ's playing certain songs and they would extend certain sections on loop because everyone would dance like crazy during those sections. Which, in a club setting, is kind've the goal, is it not? It affected the size of vinyl prints too as well. Super interesting history!

And beyond that, even in the producer and engineering world this elitism is everywhere!

For starters, people will claim their preferred DAW is better than another. The reality is all of them are great for different workflows and styles. Literally, some had different workflows and artist demographics in mind compared to others. Some appeal with different perks towards certain types of individuals, such as being more affordable or easier to approach/more convenient, but at the end of the day it really doesn't matter which one you use. The one that you can more quickly make music with instead of fighting with it's features, the better!

Another one is headphones vs. speakers/studio monitors. Just use the best option that you can get your hands on in an appropriate environment or living situation. It's understandable to go with headphones if you live with roommates/family. Or, go with the best speakers you can get if you have the space for it. Both of them you don't want to go too loud to prevent hearing damage. It's also important to get situated with what you like listening to otherwise you won't have any clue what to really listen for. Referencing is very important!

That also extends a little further into audio fidelity. Something something "need high audio fidelity for every song i listen to otherwise it's not listenable for me" something something "but at the same time pro audio engineers used equipment that made fidelity worse on purpose because plain and simple it sounded good to them" something something "they also monitored and mixed and mastered songs through speakers that would be considered sin for high fidelity audio" something something "that same mentality still lives today because it's quite a valid way to work, make sure the most important elements of a song can speak on any playback device because the goal is to have as many people enjoy it as possible" something something "even today people intentionally make their songs have less fidelity because they're trying to emulate some sort of dirty saturation feel to their own taste, lo-fi anything in particular is a great example" blah blah blah.

I could go on and on about this kind of stuff but anyways, elitism. Super annoying. I wish for people to set aside their personal preferences from techniques and styles that are legitimately valid and do work. If you want to encourage people to learn playing instruments beyond a neutered (MIDI) piano, perhaps don't be snobbish towards them to begin with.

[Dreambiscuit 8,024]

So many songs are about love, which most song writers have no concept of. They simply churn out a ‘love song’ to check that box on the recording company’s list. And since they know nothing about their subject matter, they turn it into something crude and offensive instead, brainwashing listeners into thinking its ‘cool’ that way.

Over-stylizing songs to the point you can barely follow the melody. Everything sounds like “Whoa-whoa-whoa-yeah-yeah-yeah,” but the singers never let the music breathe. They’re too obsessed with sounding EXACTLY like every other singer out there (because, after all, the record producers think that’s nice, safe and bankable). In reality it’s the death of art.

And most of all, the inability to write song lyrics that rhyme. It takes more than the same vowel at the core of a word to make it truly rhyme with another. The whole word has to rhyme. Anything less is lazy or simply lacking in talent.  

[Fluttershutter 2,122]

When I hate a song but it gets stuck in my head. There's one that plays at work all the time. Drives me nuts. 

[Iforgotmybrain 3,519]

Bad mixing or mastering… it can seriously ruin a whole album if it’s mixed terribly. Baroness is notorious for this where some of their albums are great but sound horrible because of all the clipping, compression, and usual loudness wars bs. Gold and Gray is their worst offender imo.
 

Ghost also had a weird one off where their second album, Infestissumam, had really really bad clipping in some of the songs. Despite the rest of their albums sounding amazing. Was praying for a remaster for the anniversary of the album this month. But no. Of course not. Instead they rereleased some meme merchandise and repressed the vinyl with no mixing changes.

[Clawdeen 12,110]

7 hours ago, Iforgotmybrain said:

Bad mixing or mastering… it can seriously ruin a whole album if it’s mixed terribly. Baroness is notorious for this where some of their albums are great but sound horrible because of all the clipping, compression, and usual loudness wars bs. Gold and Gray is their worst offender imo.
 

Ghost also had a weird one off where their second album, Infestissumam, had really really bad clipping in some of the songs. Despite the rest of their albums sounding amazing. Was praying for a remaster for the anniversary of the album this month. But no. Of course not. Instead they rereleased some meme merchandise and repressed the vinyl with no mixing changes.

Yeah I had also expected a remaster of Infestissumam. It could definitely do with one. Certainly they can afford to do so with all of the money they make from merch. As much as I love collecting Ghost vinyls, I’d rather they’d have remastered the album then give me another vinyl and new shirts.

Edited October 15, 2023 by Clawdeen