Friday, 24 September 2010

Genre Study

Different types of music appeal to different people and audiences. The name for different types of music, the same as in film, is 'Genre'. Genres have fluctuated throughout time, for example, classical music was listened to a great deal throughout earlier centuries, but has recently become less popular, with only a stereotypical selection of people listening to that genre. A songs genre refers to many things, for example;

  • What instruments are used.
  • The age range of the songs listeners.
  • The speed/pace of the song.
  • The ethnicity of its listeners.

As you can see, a songs genre tends greatly to its target audience and the reception it will get, whether that be in the charts, on youtube or even more recently in downloads.

Choosing a genre has
great importance, so I've taken some time to study genres:




Acoustic - seems to soft and gentle for what we
want, and the noises produced by acoustic instruments (e.g.
acoustic guitar) don't go very well with the detective line of thought, the sound would be contrapuntal. It is possible however, so who knows, if we run short of options then we may have to turn to acoustic . . . but I doubt it. An example of an acoustic artist is 'Bob Dylan'.










Country - uses similar
instruments to acoustic, with a very different and often joyful sound being made, which unfortunately doest fit what we're looking for. An
example of a country artist is '
Kenny Rogers'.










Jazz
- uses wind and brass instruments, along with percussion, in order to create varied sounds.
Songs can be either very cheery or quite dreary with changing pace and regularly no words. Because of this, it cannot be used for the video. WE NEED WORDS. A famous Jazz artist is 'Louis Armstrong '.









Indie - uses an array of electric guitars as well as the drums and vocals to get different sounds. Songs vary greatly with topic and even with sound, making this one of the most diverse genres. Indie music is very popular at the moment, which would increase our target audience, fulfilling a purpose of the music video. This genre is promising :) An example of an Indie band is 'Gorillaz'.





Rock - Rock is the heaviest of the most common genres. Using strictly electric guitars and heavy, low tones, its linked strongly with the colour black and its followers are strongly stereotyped. We're not looking for music as heavy as this, we want a light-hearted yet strong song with a solid, steady bass and this genre rarely provides that. A famous rock band is 'Guns n' Roses'.













Hip-Hop
/Rap - These are often interlinked and regularly include heavy bass lines with long verses and catchy choruses. This genre would be good for us, but the rap side does not go well with the detective theme and the words are sung too fast for us to easily lip-sync. Because of this, it would be hard for us to use. A famous Hip-hip/rap artist is 'Kanye West'.












Pop - short for 'popular'. Often gentle songs about love. Generally made up of boy and girl bands with soft, non-explicit lyrics enjoyed by the younger audience. This is ok for us, but doesn't suit who we want our target audience to be. A famous pop band is 'Spice Girls'.











After spending some time thinking what genre of song we want to use, we've come up with a definite answer, and that is . . . . Indie.



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