Why 80s music sound so good | Good songwriting is a dying art now
Вставка
- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- Have you ever wondered why 80s pop music sounds so different from pop music made today?
I show you why and I explain how you can make your own tracks the same way.
A day in the life of a Nordic synth artist and UA-camr: • Video
* Since my use of the chord lettering "H" has caused so much confusion, a little explanation is in order:
This originates many hundreds of years ago when some sheet music arrived from Italy into Germany. They mistook the letter "b" for "h" and thus the confusion begun.
Many countries in Europe, not only Germany use the letter "H" where many other countries, among them USA would use the letter "B".
I come from Scandinavia and we've always used the letter "H" for this chord and note.
If I'd known at the time I made this video that so many from other countries would watch the video, I would have used "B" and I have been doing so in every other video coming after this.
In short, just use "B" where I say "H" and you"re good to go. "Hm7=Bm7 etc.. *
This is primarily a tutorial for beginners in the world of composition and for those who do not yet fully understand the importance of more complex chords and chord progression. I've simplified some chords and theory for this very reason. :)
espenkraft.ban...
Although "If you leave me now" was written in the 70s (as is the original "Greatest love of all") the tradition in which the song is written was well carried over into the 80s and in Europe that Chicago song was a hit in the early 80s as well.)
In the 80's there was a huge emphasis on the relationship between chord progressions and melody, almost like an orchestra, and how a small change in a chord (as demonstrated here) could affect the emotion of the melody, it really was true composing.
Nowadays I don't think artists know what a chord progression is let alone how to write one, music has become simplistic in a bad way (a beat and a couple of 'blip' sounds)
@@droopy_eyes Thank you for defending modern pop. There is definitely more of an emphasis on rythyms and that is not inherently bad it's just different. I like both 80s music and modern music for different things. 80s music definitely has an elegance to it because of it's focus on the things explained in the video. But modern pop music can be a lot more hard hitting and bring about emotion in a more aggressive less elegant way due to the way it uses rythym. This is just a different feeling and is not inferior in some way. Of course there is a lot of pop music these days that does not utilise this to the fullest and is very uncreative. But I generally listen to music from producers that originate from PC Music and they do a lot with the modern style in more experimental ways. I will happily listen to SOPHIE and Depeche Mode on the same day for different reasons.
yes, let's generalize all 21st century music to what you hear on TikTok
What an ignorant comment. Artists today don't know what a chord progressions is? Musicians have a far better understanding of music theory and concepts today than ever before. Musical tastes have simply changed.
And more diverse subjects lyrically, arrangement, it goes on and on
Love 80s music...was fortunate to have been born in the late 60s and enjoy 60s 70s 80s 90s music as a musician songwriter and producer I write a lot of music with that 80's sound... nothing like the funk pop R&B sound of that era
K melodic do you sell your instrumentals or produce for others? I write chill synthy music but love the 80s style with funky basslines
I was born in 1980 myself and kind of absorbed the 60s and 70s at the same time that the 80s were unfolding. They all complimented each other brilliantly in my ears.
The change was sooner than that, by 8-10 years.
@@Shred_The_Weapon My comment was deleted by YT. Figures.
There was so much sound that defined the 80's. The main ones I think are gated reverb on snares. 727s and 808s. Synths with bass pluking. Incredibly over the top guitar riffs and solos drenched with reverb and chorus!
Modulation and modal interchange has always made music interesting. However, newer Pop relies more on being danceable rather than its musicality, in my opinion.
I could never figure out why even a band like Erasure, never taken seriously and ridiculed in its day, seemed to produce such ethereal, catchy, and interesting music and why I never hear anything close to it from modern groups. Ditto Petshop Boys, Depeche Mode, etc. This video helped explain it a bit.
I never saw or heard this ridicule of Erasure that you speak of. They were individually and collectively serious artists; pretty much everyone knew that.
@@MrMikomiI was never able to take the video for "A Little Respect" seriously but that didn't mean it wasn't a banger of a hit!
Erasure was great I really liked them
@@MrMikomitell that to metal heads
One of the more elaborate Rick Rolls I've seen
Rick will never die! :D
Hip hip hooray!
Indeed it was!
and he will never desert you!
that's not how a Rick Roll works
Maybe because every singer was not autotuned with a computer. So good singers stood out.
80s music was so good because there was a lot of music in it.
Also, in the studio there were musicians not soccar players and scuba divers to play instruments
so to sum things up, 80s music was good because it had a lot of music in it and the musicians didn't play soccer or scuba dive. good to know
SIMPLE TECH OF SCUBA IN &POP💯
80’s music, like previous decades was still rooted in melody. Todays Pop is more about “beats,” and it sucks. 80’s was special for music because of emerging synth technologies. The music literally changed with newer keyboards with new features. I’m sure Espen can identify music both by year as well as the synthesizers for that year. I for one am very thankful for Espen. He’s really like a bridge back in time; more so than a DeLorean DMC-12!
@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers
Yes, music used to tell stories in the past, and music in 60s - 80s as you say melodies, still based themselves on telling a story through the sound of music, late 80s and mid 90s is when we start seeing a lot of experimentation in what you say "beats" kind of music, even in rock they do this and its disgusting, Japan still produces strange hybrid of melodies even to this day and a lot of indie musicians in the west still play music the old way.
Came for the synths, stayed for the singing.
Sweet Dan! Thanks for watching! :)
Ditto dan
Same here 🤓!!
love hearing espen sing. makes me want currywurst mit pomme frites back in berlin!
You should make a tutorial about 80’S mastering
I highly bet that it's highly analog but that is the beauty of analog.
Why? You're missing the point here.
@@MrMikomi well, why am I missing the point? that's one important element of 80s music
i recall waves were promoting their Plugins and were advertising well esteemed producers and musicians who knew what they were doing . i never liked hearing the concert version but loved the radio broadcast version due to the magic of mixing, where a lot of hours were spent. I’m not talking about remastering how they kill the dynamics but the talent to sculpt raw input into glossy ear candy. Takes artistic talent just as some people can draw a realistic portriat using graphite and others stick men. Seen some fine examples on youtube, amazed how much work is been put into a song, as an example in particular how i heard the stems of a Michael Jackson song been redone the original engineer and realise how complex. (I’m sure you can UA-cam that for yourself.) Often the end result we can miss, as some are subltly burried deep in the mix but gives the track the extra ooomph in variation. I’m no expert in this art / science but appreciate of such lengths engineers go through to create these variations. Another good example not in mixing but in sound design is the Song FlireFlies by Owl City, I known this is not 80’s but the concept is much like it, just as we love synths to make music sound intresting, i do love real physical musical instruments mixed and not really into 100% synth generated stuff (Yes I known these days sampling plays a big role in particular orcastral instruments), but you get my drift in a bit of artificial mix with natraul sounds. Well search for Track by track break down of flreflies with Adam Young of Owl City, and appreciate what went through his mind, see the tradmendous amount of work. It’s certainly not one of those 1hr work out behind a 1 octave keyboard with premade tracks got of the internet. I love true musicians like Adam and wonderful owner of this channel, they rock and they share, contributing to the community. Music is not my craft, as Im not good at playing in real time, rely heavily on the sequencer for those 2 handed difficult timing sections, I take my hat of those can sight read and changes scales on the fly / improvise / reharmonize in real time or cocktail piano with a cheat sheet. Cheers i learn alot, love what been reveal at this wonderful channel, find the odd gem from the hidden secrets, the channel owner seems to have no fear.
Try watching “How a recording studio mishap shaped the 80’s music” and “Why does @TheWeeknd Sound more than 80’s music?’
After watching this video to see the mastermind arrangements behind these beautiful melodies, i realized our music today ain't crap.....wow, no wonder these songs are timeless and never die. They always sound brand new everytime i hear them.
“True” is such a perfect 80’s song. I also love the saxophone break. ♥️🌸
I believe one of the reasons the 80's sounded so good is because there was such a high level of musicianship that got to embrace the new digital/synth era, whereas today...technology has made making music so accessible to everyone, you don't even need to be able to play an instrument, you just need to be good at programming software.
I think you have a good point there! Thanks for watching! :)
You have a great passion for music, I like that and nice video too, thank you!
this.
80s was cheesy af. Electronic musicianship has increased 100 fold since then, you're just stuck in the past.
Don't forget that a computer synthesizer is only a tool, and it plays whatever you tell it to play. You can use computer synthesizer to make a song with hardly any melody, and a song with incredibly structured melody :)
The secret is in the pre-chorus, you know, just before the chorus, in my opinion always the best part of the song ! (never heard a pre chorus in the charts, nowadays)
Good point! :)
Yes. Good observation. The writing now is just plain lazy.
@@hybridous And always credited to 8-16 other people aside from the artist, funny enough.
So well put.
The DX7 has its footprint all over these decades. That sound and compression was fundamental to the success imho.
Lots of great tricks to use in my next new retro wave ep 😊😊😊💯
Do it! Thanks for watching :)
I just have to say, I love the tone of your voice
Many thanks for saying! :)
You are awesome!
I love using modulation for my tracks. I really appreciate you breaking down the process for 80's tracks, I always felt the 80's had more substance to their chord progressions and overall writing than past 90's top 40 music.
Thanks man! I believe so too. :)
80's music was the best. I personally found the 80's the coolest year to be alive. :-D
@Toby Lerone I know but thanks for pointing out my stupidity :-P
I was born in the late 80s, and grew up through the 90s. Songs of the late 70s, 80s, and 90s were just wonderful to listen to. Music nowadays, sounded a bit lackluster and dead. Generic. Don't get me wrong there some great modern music and songs.
But songs of those eras, was something special, it had that spark, that passion, and most of all, It had soul.
@@RedWolf777SG -You forgot to include the 60s and 50s. The seventies was my decade, and early 70s were better than late 70's. Last great music year was 1988.
@brandon could you give some examples sir?
years* and yes, but i do not agree with people saying modern music nowadays suck, 😉
Really great video. Thank you so much for taking the time to make it. I’ve played piano for many years but could never afford professional lessons, you’re teaching style has helped me put theory and names behind the chords I’ve stumbled around for years. Also, the 80’s are the best! Just got a Yamaha dx-7 and I don’t think I’ll ever leave my studio now! Keep up the good work and thanks again!
Thank you very much for saying! If my videos can inspire that's awesome. The DX7 is a classic so enjoy that! :)
Great at showing examples after and reiterating so well
I’m loving this Video. Make a part 2 at some point. If you can!! I am hooked on the 80s sound. And more 80s type tricks. This to me was the “most impressive” video on UA-cam no joke.
Many thanks for saying. Many of my other videos on my channel are made in the same way, where I break down the chords and melody. ;-)
great work! glad I found our stuff :) thank you and i'm looking forward to hearing more, your a great musician!
Sweet, I have lots of videos dedicated to the 80s.
Man, that pad sounds amazing.
I love this new series of looking into 80’s music.
Video is over 6 years old, but happy you like it. ;-)
In the 80s there were actual chord progressions. PROGRESSION- the song starts and progresses in a thought out way to other chords. Now we have an 8 beat loop that repeats throughout the whole song. There is no actual musical composition for the most part these days.
That's what happens when you have a copyright monopoly for the life of the artist plus 90 years. People will do the bare minimum to get an 'anchor song' and guarantee revenue. Tell me where exactly you can buy the exact same waveform of an artist's song from a competitor for a cheaper price and have the SHA256 checksums match. With ordinary items, if a company charges too much for a roll of toilet paper I can buy a functionally identical roll of toilet paper from a company willing to sell it to me cheaper. There is zero freedom in the presence of even a single law.
@@brentfisher902 I think you're exaggerating things.
Instrument sounds are made of such a fluid material that they can be modified and recreated in so many ways that's it's impossible to claim ownership of just a particular waveform. Plus these come with synths and software that don't impose any restriction for musical use, that wouldn't make sense as it's what you bought them for.
For sequences of notes, I don't think they can be owned by anyone as the humankind probably have played them all by now. If I could generate all of them with a computer program and claim ownership on all music, I can tell those laws wouldn't last long before people complain and ask for them to be removed.
Show me specific laws and I'll change my mind.
It's bedtime and I don't even have a keyboard and I don't know how to play but I find this entertaining.
Hey Turd.... Where is the RV
same here lol
@@dogecoin4085 great. I just shorted bitcoin but the price went skyrocket. Now i don't have any single dollar left
Yes, Espen. Excellent video. Thank you for taking the time to create it.. Also the equipment - PPG/Synclaviers, Juno's, Samplers with analog filters (EIII, EMax, Akai), warm compressed drum machines, Lexicon reverbs. But specifically this equipments limitations forced the artists hand at writing. Today's limitless VST's and sequencing allows for infinite complexity. Unless you had a Fairlight, sequencers of the 80 were largely limited step editing on hardware. I think the result of the 80's limitations made for superior music.
Good points, thanks! :)
I'm nearly 58, and I still like the 80's the most.
I love that there's such a clear source of all this wisdom
Nik Kershaw had some great chord progressions, Wide Boy, the Riddle etc.
382 people were born in the 90's. Very Excellent - Thank you Mr. Kraft. Wonderfully shared.
Many thanks Will! :)
I just discovered this great video. What an excellent tutorial. And the peace with which you explain all this is so pleasant. Great music. Thank you very much!
Thank you for saying! :)
I was waiting for him to play the Mario 64 underwater theme bc of the tune the whole time but yet still I‘m not disappointed
I do make games covers occasionally. ;-)
You explain things in very simple and understandable way and have pleasant voice. Kudos.
Hey, I appreciate you saying that! :)
me: falls asleep listening to terrible music from a reviewer
wakes up to the amazing sound of the 80's
YES lol
At 11:52, the DX7 “Electric Piano 1” patch.
IMHO, the 80s was the near perfect decade of music for all time period. Sure I enjoy some stuff coming out today but it was just banger after banger after banger in the 80s, the music scene both in quality and popularity was on fire in a way that has not been captured since.
Awesome video.. much information and thank you for explain the composition pf those chords. I used 7/9 but those..with more additions.. are really difficult to remember..
I feel this same progression may be in John Lennon’s song “Isolation”
You're right about that, it is :)
Neverending story! Nice choice. So nostalgic
Thanks bro! Yeah, it's a classic that tickles all the right emotions, but it's a superb example of genius songwriting in all it's simpleness. :)
Danny Halfacre That lovely song and movie were my childhood
Drone the 2nd/9th of the key against everything, then add the 2nd/9th of whatever chord you're playing...endless dissonance/tension/friction...major 2nd fits everything, it's never off.
23:05 "i will always love you....i will never leave you alone" Peter Cetera's Glory Of Love KARATE KID II....
i can see why you'd wanna duplicate it, because it's one of the greatest songs of the 80's.
1960s - early 2000s music had passion put into it, of course new music isn't super bad but you don't see much of the soul there was in old music
If it wasn't for Michael Jackson 80's would not be so good.
Please do a full cover of True, I actually like your vocals more than the original!
Thanks for saying! :)
Came here to learn, left falling in love with your music, Those Days is beautiful, added a Playlist on Spotify of your music!
Awesome! Sweet man, thanks for that. I appreciate it! :)
Today's music is near dead, soul gone.
Never heard of the band “ young gun silverfox”?
Bc corps are now owned by corsair funds (the irony, they have funds!!)? Yet constantly harangue by FBIs (another irony as the new owners used to be the robbers) for favors. Could be that the new stars and the new hits are unnatural??
Def. More about sex then music today, take an artist like Niki Minage eg.
You just have to look harder, there is still great music being made its just more difficult to find with the over saturation of the market. Listen to George Clanton/Mirror Kisses if you like 80s music
Docente Zubarra lol. It was dead in the mid 90’s.
Another good example of 80’s richness in chord progression is “Maniac” by Michael Sembello - Bmaj(Eb bass root note) / Ebm6 / Ebm 7 / Ebm maj7.
Yes, a great example as well.
Well done. ! I enjoyed this very much.
Thanks! :D
I missed something, some of your chords on screen were Hm, what's that?
Is it B or Bb when you're using it?
I'm sorry about the confusion regarding that. In Scandinavia where I live we use the H when you would use the B. Just replace every H with B and you're ok! I will rectify this in future videos :)
Curious, why is it called Hm there?
If I remember this correctly, the difference in the preferred Italian and German writing styles meant that Germans thought the b in Italian manuscripts was an h, and that belief spread to the other germanic language countries.
Herfinnur Árnafjall very interesting information
It's more complex than simple tetrachords or suspensions 4. As very experienced Function Band's Keyboardist since 70's and teacher of Functional Harmony since 90's, i can guaranty that the secret of most os songs from those days was tritons progression and it's inversions. Using conduction of voices. Most part of them used it a lot for create goods harmonies pleasance progressions. But this secret i teach only in my classes in UK
I'm not sure I agree with this being a "secret" and I definitely don't think one should give those guys making songs like "Neverending story" or the stock (pun intended) Stock Aitken Waterman hit songs the honor of being King Midas in terms of composition skills. They were just pressing down some keys on a synth and thinking "well this sounds good" and they obiously had a talent for it too. ;-)
Hi. i thoroughly enjoyed this tutorial, thank you for sharing beautiful sounds brilliantly played.
Many thanks man! :)
I’m so glad I found your channel ❤️
Thanks!
David Foster and Quincy Jones are men behind the greatest hits of the 80s and 90s.
80s music sounds good because it's balanced -- it bridges the gap between the old way of making music and the new. It's more innovative than earlier pop, yet sticks to tradition more than later pop. Unlike earlier pop, 80s music makes heavy use of synths, but unlike modern pop, people actually played those synths via piano keyboards, not computers. Synth players at the time usually came from a piano background and knew their way around the ivories.
80s music is built upon the deep, jazzy chord foundations of 70s music (think Elton John or Cat Stevens), but combines it with a fun, upbeat, and unpretentious exterior. It's the perfect balance between jazzy and poppy. This jazz-pop balance is why you can't just throw a DX-7 patch on a mainstream modern pop track and expect it to sound as good as the highlights of the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
Very nice presentation Espen thank you!
Thanks Doug! :)
If you leave me now by Chicago is from 1976, still miles away from the eighties.
Now I know why I like the 80s Synth Pop so much because of that.
Good stuff! Thanks for sharing!
PoP84 music sounds so good because it was created without copying and pasting virtual synths with mouse clicks on a computer screen. Music is a labor of love, not a product of autotune and virtual synth short cuts !
It is because they removed the 'heightch' note from all musical notation in 1989. Going to see Def Leppard on Saturday - some real 80's!!
80s were great because everyone was experimenting. Each hit had their own sounds and vocals.
Also the rise of synths, samplers and other electronic instruments and midi sequencing.
This is a fucking awesome video! I'll be returning to it time and time again. A massive thanks!
Thanks man, I appreciate it! :)
the fmaj9 gave me a thrill down my leg
This video is so completely off base.
7th chords is not why 80s music sounded so good. The reason the 80's tickled our ears is the explosion of *"subtractive synthesis"* alongside the advent of *"FM synthesis"* all under the warm blanket of the all-powerful saw wave. Almost every 80's pop song uses some form of synth or drum machine, and the subtle flaws in the hardware of the time became iconic recognizable charm (in the same way that early guitar tube amps became the distortion that is a must-have for rock music.)
6th, 7th, 9th chords etc have been around for a long time, and the chord progressions of the 80's actually saw a general *decrease* in complexity, because most keyboards of the time had very limited polyphony (ie: they could only do 3-6 different notes at the same time, depending on the synth). Keyboardists had to get creative and experiment with the actual sound of the instrument because the chords themselves were limited.
If you wanna sound like the 80's: get a Juno or a DX7. There are free emulators of both of those you can download and get started. Drench those in reverb and delay. Get a mix of electronic and natural drum samples, and then put some fat sidechain, tube distortion, and compression on everything and the master. Boom you've got 80's pop songs.
THANKYOU FINALLY SOMEONE WHO AGREE'S READ MY COMMENTS ABOVE AND THE CREATOR'S CLAIM THAT THE 80'S WAS ALL ABOUT SAMPLING.... it's blatantly the rich analog synth's that make this era untouchable hence the sudden increase in value and demand for vintage analog synthesizers and drum machines
imo - it isn't either/or - both the video and you have very valid points - he is explaining how people thought and you are pointing out how people played :) - 2 sides of the same coin x
I'm not sure I completely agree about polyphony of synths being an issue. The most commonly used synths of the era by all the major manufacturers of the time were usually, at least at a minimum, 5 voices (P5) as I recall. With some of them being 6 like the Junos, or 8 voices like CS80, Jupiter 8, most of the Oberheims, PPGs and so forth. The DX7 had 16 voices. Some of the more exotic synths like Fairlight or Synclavier had more than that. Granted not every musician had access to these, but some of the major studios that produced much of the music at the time, if they wanted to stay on top of the game, did have one. It was just an investment that would pay off back then. As far as the lack of polyphony ever hindering the performance, especially in the studio, I am not certain that was a problem either. They would just have multiple keyboards as was clearly often the case. And for live performances one (or several) for each hand.
As far as chord complexity goes, perhaps we should discuss what is meant. Maybe it is not each individual chord that is so complex, but the horizontal progression of each chord and the choices made in succession, one after another, I think that might be what Espen is referring to here. I certainly remember some pretty creative and interesting chordal modulations and song arrangements / compositions of the time. It was also pretty common for songs back then to have an well crafted bridge or middle 8 to break up the continuity of the song to keep the ear engaged. Also, melody was incredibly important back then and is usually the one thing that stands out among 80's music in general.
I would have to agree with an artist's creativeness back then when it came to synthesizing sounds and making use of what was available. It seemed like they were into the newness of the technology. We were at the pinnacle of creativity then musically (or just my biased view of it) not entirely sure. We have more technology today that is more accessible, and tweakable than we have ever had. Yet it seems like so little is being done with it on a professional level. There are many views on this depending on how you see it I guess, but I digress. It is true, there is nothing like the "subtle flaws" you speak of, tuning anomalies like oscillator drift, harmonic content, THD, and just quality of sound that these old machines exhibited. I think all of this led to an instrument that sounded more musical in nature than some of the equipment that is rock solid today. And like you said, EVERYTHING was drowned in effects. People often ask, "What synth was used on this song?" perhaps not fully considering that is was treated heavily with Lexicon and AMS or similar effects companies equipment at the time. And lets not forget dynamic range and tape saturation.
@@carriersignal Sorry. Didn't read your whole comment yet just stuck on the first claim about polyphony, and number of available voices. The instruments may have had many voices. However usually most of those voices were used up in fattest and most attractively sounding patches to create the depth of the texture leaving very little capacity for the polyphony.
@@carriersignal Again. This time I have read full comment. Agreed 100%.
80s will always the most best time ever!!!!!!!! I HATE THE TIME nowadays...
Awesome tutorial. It really opened my eyes to a lot of things I always wanted to know.... Thank you.❤️
Excellent! Many thanks for saying! :D
wow! You opened a new door in my life.
whoa H replaces B!!! never knew that was used somewhere in the world. btw thanks for the great lesson espen.
Thanks! About 100-200 million people or so still use "H" so it's not some remote tribe on an island. ;-)
Great video. Small remark, only German speakers will know the note H, in english this is B (german "B" is Bb/B flat in english).
Thanks! Not correct though as H is used throughout Scandinavia and many other countries as well. The video is very old and I've heard this before, so many times, that I've added the explanation to the video description. Cheers
Actually, pop music sounded better in 70s!
Okay, the early 80s were pretty good.
I mean I love both decades, but 70s were too much Disco Space- and Phillysound for me. Early 80s still sounded pretty 70s.
Bra video, hjalp faktisk mye! :)
Supert!
Or it was the meeting of really high quality 70's analogue recording technology with the emerging digital technology in the hands of a generation raised on Bowie, Roxy, Kraftwerk, Moroder, punk and disco.
Kudos for the Rickroll! :D
Excellent video! Thanks!
Many thanks! :)
What a great breakdown of 80's pop music. No wonder why every song was a instant hit.
The Neverending Story song was full of emotion.
I recognized that in every song used only the electric piano sound on the synth that's an 80's characteristic too.
By the way, what's the H note? 😳 😳 😳
Thanks!
If you read the video description you will get everything there is about the "H". ;-)
Only Europeans can hear the H chord.
lol WTF is H?
@@Bonbon1948 instead of using B some people in Europe use H which is really annoying because you never know which to use haha
In the Netherlands we use B. I always thought the H was only used in Germany but apparently in Scandinavia this (weird) notation is also common.
No, I've worked with musicians over the last 25 years here in Norway and it's very common to use the "H" here. When I score sheet music and hand these out to pro musicians, not ONE ever questions the use of "H". Still.
@@EspenKraft Hmmm that's really interesting! I'm in the southwest U.S myself, and I have never heard of a note named "H". That's so different to me! Cool!
Don't forget that the 80's were the decades of the synthesizers.
That was more 70s.
@@guayabito6946 70's, or mid to late 70's the synth was used more in Jazz - like Herbie Hancock. In the 80's it was the foundation for a lot of Pop music.
I'm not convinced that the 2020's aren't the decade of synth...
@@peadookie More like the decade of how to use synths the boring way
70's - decade of the analogue synth, 80's - decade of the digital synth. In the 70's you had people using the monolithic modular mono synths and the like. During the 80's we got into preset territory and the rise of the DX7 and D50 synths in particular.
For me the 80s was the time when music was still made with feeling and where you also had to put your feeling in to make something beautiful. Nowadays everyone can make music with a computer, yes with emotion but also without and that's why I miss the 80s so much.
Perhaps it’s simply nostalgia due to the age I was at the time but I find the combination of composition, melody, FM synths, guitar production and gated reverb drums that constitute 80s pop music really emotionally evocative.
Don't forget the Sax!
It’s not only that I was born in 1998 and still thinks 80s music are the best and its not confirmation bias
Composition and melody have always been compelling and always will be.
It's not nostalgia. I only got into the 80s hits a few years ago but I still think they kick ass
It’s the nostalgia. Most of the clubs in Kenya will play 80s and 90s music all night and nobody will complain.
Also lots of reverb, and gated snare. And the synths of the time that were transitioning to digital and attempting to sound like real instruments, but due to tech limitations they ended up being a beautiful sound all their own. Also need the saxophone, nobody does that anymore.
yeah sax is so damned 80s - every movie had a sleazy sax solo
Baker Street🙏
I wish I had the knowledge to understand his explanation, but yes - there is something about the 80’s synth pop that fascinates me, something I cannot find in almost any of today’s songs
I think part of it is that a lot of the people who were in their "musical prime" in the 80s were born anytime from the 30s to the 60s. These people had to learn to make music the old fashioned way. They had some real limitations that they had to get around. Once you bring computing into it and now you can mix anything you want with anything you, you are essentially giving music gods an endless toolkit.
That will produce something crazy.
These people had to learn to be musicians first. A lot of modern artists are just glorified DJs, they don't need to be able to play anything because a machine can do it for them. And I think when power like that is acquired so easily, you lose respect of the craft itself.
As a 14 year old, I still prefer 80s, 90s music. The artist really know what the real music sounds like!
I know some of my friends don’t really pay attention to my favourite genre, but I still, I really like these music!
I agree, I also enjoy 80’s and 90’s music. Basically older songs. New ones.. eh, they are fine but not my style
Yea same
wow, you are so special, man
Well the other big reason for the 80s pop sound was the synths used in the day. They were really unique sounding. I think the first time I really heard synth as a child was on Sesame Street with the 3 stripped balls and 1 polkadot ball where the Moog is the dominate instrument. The Who and Pink Floyd experimented a lot with very early synths, but pads had not come out yet.
Plus most of the artist of the 80s were piano players so the musicianship was already there. As a child of the 80s I never really appreciated this type of sound. I was strictly rock, hard rock, metal, sped and thrash metal. I couldn't tolerate any synth sounds. Now in my mid 40s, I have a deep appreciation for the synth wave of the 80s sound.
kjemradio They were real musicians not cut and paste artists.
wow! when you sang and played Whitney Houston - it actually sounded amazing & all the other bits of singing too! who else thinks so? your keyboard sounds are also beautiful to listen to. excellent video! x greetings from London x
The Most Important 24 min of Music theory i have ever had
Knautschke except, what the hell is an "H" note?
@@officialWWM read updated description
Go get some lessons... 😃
X2
Man, are you the Pet Shop Boys?
Actually, no ;-) I love the boys though
In vinyl form ;-)
Hahaha. Exactly what I was thinking thinking. You sound exactly like them.
psboys was a great boyband !
why is there today no boyband ?
Tears 4 fears
"Why does 80s pop music sound so good?" A quote 10 years ago I would never expect to hear :) Great video
Thanks!
80s music will become the future of music again when the current soul-less stuff being made nowadays hits rock-bottom.
I certainly hope so.
NRW has gone very darkwave lately and it's too EDM for my taste. I've already been featured in their channel and my track has gained tons of good feedback and it really pushed my music, but as a more 80s synth-pop guy with emphasis on classic build-up with verses, chorus, bridge and so I find NRW less interesting for me and for people like me. I wish for more new romantic stuff.
I was a teenager in the 80s, I was 16 in 1985 and I vividly remember "shake the disease" with DM on the charts here and I've just gotten my first real synth and I was very inspired to to great things musically. A glorious time really.
I love how you describe that roadtrip and the feelings connected to music. Thanks for following me and I have lots of exciting stuff coming this spring so we'll probably talk again. take care :)
Espen Kraft you're just trying to make me feel old :) I'd love to know who inspired these people to compose that way. The sixties and early seventies in the UK had a strong church music and classical influence (so many former choirboys) then Punk and New Wave came along and shook things up. Then along came these guys.
YOU ARE RIGHT. 90% of the music on my playlist is from the late 70s to the late 80s. As far as im concerned that was the golden era of popular music. Its fallen far since then.
Music from the 80s emphasis melody.
Agreed. Thanks for watching! :)
Actually melody was at its peak long before...in the 40s. Listen to old standards...the melody was the magic.
@@musicismyreligion5213 How about classical music then? Or romantic era? Endless debate...
No it emphasises music. Melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation etc. Popular music today is barely musical even if its interesting in its lack of music.
Music died in the 2010s, all the good music and songs came before early 2000s, after that is it all crap and easily forgettable. Today so called artist have very melodic IQ.
The eighties music was just magical and its very fondly remembered.
The tutorial was very good.
Thanks
Many thanks! :)
I love 80's music and the sounds of the synth of the era are the best.
The 80's synthenziers was the best. The Yamaha DX7 was the first digital keyboard synthenzier 🎹 released in 1979.
No, it was from ‘83.
Because traditional song structure was used, and you ready for this.....no DAW's / Virtual crap / autotune was used either !
All the synth sounds are awesome, I recently subscribed to Roland Cloud and have started producing many old songs. In the eighties and nineties I couldn't afford the instruments so I'm taking it back now! 😎
Emulations can go a long way :)
By the way ... I was in the United States a few years ago. In the restaurant, the waitress asked me where i came from.
I said: Germany .
She said : oh from Stockholm ?
Me : no from Rome.
She : oh nice place too. ;-)
Wie wahr.
so much for trying to be nice
Stockholm klingt germanisch und ist nicht weit entfernt. Antworte ihr das nächste Mal, indem du ihr sagst, aus welcher Stadt in der Europäischen Union du tatsächlich kommst. Europäer haben sowieso keine Grenzen
Die Amis sind Dumm!und das macht sie so gefährlich
Once I convinced Americans to believe into existence of an African country Nuanga. That was quite a piece of fun.
Awesome voice and your voice is magic. Yes, some Pet Shop Boys vibe, but so much more!
Thanks! :)
"The Greatest Love Of All" was written by George Benson he released it himself.. Whitney Houston covered it and had a huge hit with it.
Actually, the song was written by Michael Masser, who composed the music, and Linda Creed, who wrote the lyrics. Creed also wrote the lyrics for many of the Stylistics hits, including "Betcha By Golly Wow", "You Make Me Feel Brand New" and "You Are Everything."
Saving all my love for you was a cover also.
I think musicians in those days didn't always know their music theory it was almost by accident that chords and melodies were more complex and interesting, a byproduct of their enthusiasm for doing what they wanted to do lol it definitely also helped that there was an explosion of new sounds from synthesizers and samplers as well. I think people were more likely to get into making music because they appreciated other people's music and wanted to do the same. These days people get into it to be famous the music is almost secondary.
You're both right and wrong. Most artists back then wouldn't get a record deal unless they'd toured and shown their skills at playing and singing. Some of course got their deals by the looks and the record companies had lined up writers and producers etc.
I any case, many of the songs that became hits were written with knowledge of chords and melody, but of course not all. But they all had one thing in common compared to today, they WERE full of chords and melody, not just meaningless grooves and stale melody, like much of the chart music today. ;-)
Wow you guys really are confused. You think the majority of hit music was written by people goofing around on their instruments? Of course not, they had a strong understanding of what they were doing. Perhaps there was more freedom to experiment back then before analytics and streaming, but to say they didn't know their theory is nuts.
The order:
1. I'm a fabulous star living my best life, 2. Followers and views, 3. Collabs brah, 4. Music
Current decade songs are depressing and restless
NY Numbing dysfunctional noise. Best music is of the independent artist in Europe.