Specialeyes
Guru
- Location
- Essex
To address the question in the title, I reckon the ubiquity and levelling out of instrument technology as well as the arrival of pitch correction are at the root of the demise of the instrumental.
Back in the 50s and 60s anything more techy-sounding than an organ was something of a novelty: think Theremins (ooooeeeyyooo sci-fi sounds), Claviolines/Univoxes (Telstar, Runaway). They were expensive instruments and not commonly heard in the wild so any record involving them really stuck out. Similarly with distinctive electric guitar tones: as soon as folks discovered fun ways to modulate a guitar signal they were away, so we got The Shadows and Hendrix.
Then in the 70s tech got techier. The valve amps and fuzzboxes were ubiquitous but the expensive analog synths were the new 'rare beasts', so we got Wendy Carlos, Hot Butter, Jean Michel Jarre and Rick Wakeman etc. Having a Minimoog was a Big Thing!
In the 80s it went digital and we discovered patch memories and sampling, so all that 70's tech was common enough to be 'old hat'. (How I wish I'd kept hold of my analog gear from back then, rather than re-buying it since!) So we got Crockett's Theme, Axel F and Chariots of Fire. We also got Kraftwerk and the birth of Synthpop.
In the 90s and onwards, folks were able to produce music on an Atari in their bedroom and create more professional-sounding tracks than the professionals of decades before. That trend has continued, and the pendulum has come full-swing. As well as the actual synths in there, my Mac in the shed/studio has the ability to recreate hundreds of previously unaffordable instruments fro decades gone by, as well as entire orchestras of real instruments. (The fact I have some of the real instruments is because they're more fun and I'm old-fashioned enough to like one-knob-per-function, but hey...)
So, essentially, nothing seems novel any more - we can all do it.
From personal experience, I spent years pottering about with instrumentals and vocal samples because my singing is a bit pitchy. Enter Antares Autotune (initially professional and really expensive, now with equivalents available as free downloads) and even crap singers can get away with it. You don't have to go full-on Cher 'Believe' robot-mode - you can just pull outlying notes in an otherwise good take, back into line.
So over time the spread of technology has made it possible for non-confident performers and singers to be successful, obviating the need to hide behind instrumentals.
It's also put previously unattainable sound palettes within virtually everyone's reach. Whatever device you're reading this drivel on, is capable of producing a hit song with your singing in tune.
Back in the 50s and 60s anything more techy-sounding than an organ was something of a novelty: think Theremins (ooooeeeyyooo sci-fi sounds), Claviolines/Univoxes (Telstar, Runaway). They were expensive instruments and not commonly heard in the wild so any record involving them really stuck out. Similarly with distinctive electric guitar tones: as soon as folks discovered fun ways to modulate a guitar signal they were away, so we got The Shadows and Hendrix.
Then in the 70s tech got techier. The valve amps and fuzzboxes were ubiquitous but the expensive analog synths were the new 'rare beasts', so we got Wendy Carlos, Hot Butter, Jean Michel Jarre and Rick Wakeman etc. Having a Minimoog was a Big Thing!
In the 80s it went digital and we discovered patch memories and sampling, so all that 70's tech was common enough to be 'old hat'. (How I wish I'd kept hold of my analog gear from back then, rather than re-buying it since!) So we got Crockett's Theme, Axel F and Chariots of Fire. We also got Kraftwerk and the birth of Synthpop.
In the 90s and onwards, folks were able to produce music on an Atari in their bedroom and create more professional-sounding tracks than the professionals of decades before. That trend has continued, and the pendulum has come full-swing. As well as the actual synths in there, my Mac in the shed/studio has the ability to recreate hundreds of previously unaffordable instruments fro decades gone by, as well as entire orchestras of real instruments. (The fact I have some of the real instruments is because they're more fun and I'm old-fashioned enough to like one-knob-per-function, but hey...)
So, essentially, nothing seems novel any more - we can all do it.
From personal experience, I spent years pottering about with instrumentals and vocal samples because my singing is a bit pitchy. Enter Antares Autotune (initially professional and really expensive, now with equivalents available as free downloads) and even crap singers can get away with it. You don't have to go full-on Cher 'Believe' robot-mode - you can just pull outlying notes in an otherwise good take, back into line.
So over time the spread of technology has made it possible for non-confident performers and singers to be successful, obviating the need to hide behind instrumentals.
It's also put previously unattainable sound palettes within virtually everyone's reach. Whatever device you're reading this drivel on, is capable of producing a hit song with your singing in tune.
