With the advancements of modern day music production hardware and software allowing for greater control over the most minute elements of music and sound design, the pursuit of perfection has soared. Perfection in audio quality, quantization and pitch, just name a few, have become much more tangible as we now possess the tools to examine and alter waveforms at such a small level. But is this ultimate achievement in perfection really music to our ears?
In essence, yes it is. Music can be perceived better the more pleasing its sound is. Too much squelching or feedback, dissonance or distortion can be distracting and possibly lose the listener's interest. That being said, there is a flip side to this metaphorical coin.
Pop music has exploded in the recent decades gaining high listener volumes near the top of the food chain alongside rock, inching ahead of hip hop and country. And although pop music has mostly strived to attain that perfect balance of sound, I've noticed that same desire bleeding over into the other genres. Pop rock music especially has seen a tremendous change in sound production when compared to bands produced by legend Steve Albini in the late 90s.
As I delve farther into my music production degree I've seen a push to create and deliver clean mixes with the more or less mandatory implementation of quantization. Personally, I understand this requirement as it instills a certain mindset that forms a good base for our production knowledge. Also, a majority of the students working on these types of degree programs are looking to get into.the mainstream media field. Obviously there is a demand for producers that can deliver the sounds which are driving the industry.
So, I guess my reasoning for writing this article is to express my fear of future producers and writers constraining themselves to a boxed ideology. One that pushes for that perfect, clean sound. Look around you. Perfection is talked about everywhere now. Anti-aging skin products, advancements in cosmetic surgical procedures, video games and movies that portray beauty and youth as purity and innocence. People are afraid to get dirty, to see the slightly less "attractive" objects as something that possess unique qualities and is equally important to the overall spectrum.
Now, this is isn't to say that we need to shift our perception in the opposite direction. I'm not an extremist by any means. I believe in balance. And when it comes to the realm of music and sound, I feel it is imperative that we learn to see the strengths within all that we hear and stop the urge to "fix" those which we don't perceive as pristine. There is beauty in chaos just as much as there can be chaos in perfection.
