Posted on 09/16/2014 6:46:53 PM PDT by Squawk 8888
Back in the days before recordings were made on magnetic tape, all songs on record had to have a defined and definite ending. But around 1950, recording engineers using new reel-to-reel recorders realized that could just fade out a song. The concept was simple: play the hook/chorus of the song over and over again as it got softer and softer before disappearing entirely. This technique (a) eliminated the need to write an ending for the song; (b) helped the hook become more memorable for the listener; and (c) supposedly gave the listener that the emotional promises made by the song went on forever. Think “Hey Jude” or “Smoke on the Water.” The effects could be rather dramatic.
Song fade-outs became standard practice for decades in many different genres. Not all subscribed to the same thinking, though. When I first became involved in alternative radio back in the 80s, I distinctly remember thinking it odd how so many songs in the genre actually had endings. They either ended cold (i.e. abruptly on the beat) or with a last chord that naturally faded out. I became a fan.
Today, though, the fade-out seems to be endangered. Slate.com published this chart showing how Top 10 hits came to conclusions over the decade. The trend is obvious.
Interesting, no? I wonder why this is happening? Thoughts?
As opposed to the long, tender fadeaway which people like Rachmaninoff and others practiced so well since the late nineteenth century in pieces like the second movement of his Second Piano Concerto......
Drugs.
Lots and lots and lots of drugs.
But great music...
Global warming
Bump for later
I'm almost afraid to ask, but what do you consider music?
True! :-)
Watch the movie..he actually REMIXES Layla right before your ears!
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I don’t think anything by a Mylie, Britney, Gaga, Justin, Katy and most any of the new crap are music.
Most classical is fine.... and...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T40G7L04liQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiwuQ6UHMQg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=949mw-0VLoQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLbfv-AAyvQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLLlXJ6jUzc
Something you can hum. If you can't hum it, it ain't music.
"A Day in the Life" ends with a perdendosi ("getting lost"), in which the note fades away.
Agreed on trance.
“Perdendosi”, that’s great. Thanks for the new word. Now, if I only knew how to pronounce it, I might be able to use it in sentence one day.
-PJ
So that's what they call it. I've heard it called a “tail”. I make my own music for fun and, with the dynamic range afforded by digital always try to allow a good three or four seconds for it to “tail” off to complete silence.
I see you’re in Canada, what city are you talking about?
I’m in Toronto, home of the alcoholic mayor who would have been re-elected if he hadn’t been diagnosed with cancer.
Back in the ‘80s I toured Quebec with a production funk and rock cover band. Never played Montreal, but played Laval, Quebec City, and even Amos. It was a 6 month tour starting in February. Fortunately it wasn’t a bad snow year. The French/Canadian girls are beautiful and I’ll leave it at that.
Pelosi è perdersi!
Actually, I listen to the radio when in the car. Those oldies stations that delete portions in the middle of classic songs to fit their time requirements are actually even more annoying.
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