Music: what makes you tick?

Altmer

Altmer

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There's certain elements in music that give you the wow factor. Sometimes it's just an instrument. Sometimes it's that super special guitar solo. Sometimes it's a fucking polka break. But, what, overall, is the sound that makes you feel real when you listen to music?

For me, it's moody minor chord progressions, atmospherics, and burning power chords. I brook sadness, misery and anger in my music: my favourite band is Anathema, and they always sound deeply atmospheric and melancholic: the way they wave their fluid guitar melodies on top of layered synths and those depressive lyrics: that just gets me. But most music that is moody like that gets me; lyrically, musically, I always love that.

What I also love are "DUN DUN DUN" guitars. you know, when electric guitars come screaming with detuned chug riffs going dun dun dun dun dun da dun dun dun dun, a lot of metal has this. I really like a good metal riff especially when it's upbeat; often it's the main riff that decides the wow factor.

Then there's the guitar playing, which should always be a bit melodic... Pink Floydish stuff makes me tick. As long as it's articulate and moody, I'll love it.
 
Drum fills or drum solos probably get me the most. Like the fills during the verses of Who Are You or at the end of the fast part in Dazed and Confused. Bass fills also usually get a jaw-drop from me, though bass fills are really rare. The only bass fills that immediately come to mind are the ones in YYZ. The instruments that are generally used for rhythm can be pretty amazing when used for lead.

Past that, really cool lead bits will draw me in, and I rewind and replay a lot. Arpeggios and repeated patterns are pretty awesome, but the cool stuff is when the lead player throws grace notes onto everything, so you can lose yourself in the barrage of notes.

Also tritones
 
something different, but at my school I spend tots of time in the band room. I fucking hate it when the rockers come in, particularly the drummer just bangs for up to half an hour while im online during lunch >_>

also pisses me off when the grade 10 saxaphonists are like "ooh I can double tongue!!". It's humorous to find out that they don't even know what it is lol.
 
I'm a sucker for a power ballad. Think Air Supply, Meat Loaf, Queen, etc. A real good guitar solo always helps, too.
 
An electric guitar layered with an acoustic guitar and harmonized vocals. A good example of this is during the chorus of the Red Hot Chili Peppers song Fortune Faded.
 
Sexy bass lines are the thing in music that make me go insane. The bass is usually underappreciated in music. Most bass players just kind of sit in the back producing the spine (I like to think of it that way) of the song, but don't do much else. When the bass plays just right it defines the overall mood of the song and the feel of it, more so than the guitars or vocals (to me at least). Yes, bass fills are amazing, but songs in which the bass doesn't have to pump up it's volume and wow the crowd with a clearly defined solo are awesome. The bass is excellent and in your face throughout the entire song, even if it is playing the same thing over and over. The rhythm of the song is the most important.

And things like this are just mind blowing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHdN_O5k3WM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy3V2Tl4g3s
 
Peachfuzz said:
Sexy bass lines are the thing in music that make me go insane. The bass is usually underappreciated in music. Most bass players just kind of sit in the back producing the spine (I like to think of it that way) of the song, but don't do much else. When the bass plays just right it defines the overall mood of the song and the feel of it, more so than the guitars or vocals (to me at least). Yes, bass fills are amazing, but songs in which the bass doesn't have to pump up it's volume and wow the crowd with a clearly defined solo are awesome. The bass is excellent and in your face throughout the entire song, even if it is playing the same thing over and over. The rhythm of the song is the most important.

And things like this are just mind blowing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHdN_O5k3WM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy3V2Tl4g3s
Click to expand...

A perfect example of this is Airbag by Radiohead. If you haven't listened to it, then do so now.
 
Most of my favorite music has an organ stuck somewhere, and I just love the sound. Other than that interesting guitar, and mellow voices usually do it for me.
 
Really depends on the music and I can't simply find a common turn-on factor that would exist even in a majority of genres. So, here's a crude division.

Fast-paced music: Nothing beats a good scream. When a band has a good screamer (rare), I can't help but to fall in admiration. After all, screaming in a manner where the listener can actually make out what you're saying is quite difficult. Though, high-pitched screams (like the ones normal scene-emo bands use) really turn me down.

A short but effective guitar solo in, for example, a punk song is also cool. I love it when they manage to spare us from the boring and extended solos of metal and the likes. I can appreciate good solos in metal too but sometimes they just go overboard.

Also, the crashing drums in hardcore music with an insane BPM are cool. They're just so full of aggression and beating drums is a good way to let out all that negative energy.

Slower music: A clear, atmospheric sound. Doesn't matter what instrument creates it. I'm not really that into the distorted guitars of post-rock but when they do simple, clear riffs, that's awesome. Also, in psychedelic music, tribal drums with a moderately slow beat to them are magnificent. If you've ever heard Divine Moments Of Truth by Shpongle, you know what I love.
 
i cannot dislike a song that has creative, dynamic percussion

what i look for most though is songwriting as well as lyrics/raw emotion

could give a fuck about guitar solos or how fast your fingers move or how fast you can hit the double bass pedal because once you get over the wow factor (i will not say it isnt impressive), the music oftentimes doesnt do anything for you

and what keeps me coming back to my favourite music is how it makes me feel
 
I am a sucker for power ballads as well Buckles, we should talk some time ;) I have to say that kind of similar to that I am a fan of any song that takes that power ballad feel but in a non-power ballad form, such as in a jazz manner or by using brass or winds to accomplish it. Any song that builds up and then has a dramatic soft pause with the most intense vocals coming right then has a chance to be good though.
 
I also like the "DUN DUN DUN" guitars, but usually an awesome guitar solo like that in Aerodynamic by Daft Punks, by far my favorite song. I also love Piano Rock, it is very awesome since the classical touch adds a whole lot of feeling and melody.
 
Trombone. Honestly, the first time I realized there was trombone in Kashmire by Led Zeppelin it was amazing and I went on Wikipedia to make sure they used an Orchestra. Also, any time a trombone is given the lead in whatever kind of music, be it the intro to The Unforgiven III by Metallica or the trombone solo in Nervous in the Alley by Less than Jake.

A similar thing happens with basslines. If a really good bassline is going, I will ignore basically every thing else and listen to just the bassline. Unfortunately, this only really happens in punk, ska, or jazz, so I'm out of luck most of the time (electronically engineered bass beats do not count as bass lines).

Basically, I like when a lower pitched instrument plays in its upper register, it's just so much better than any other range of instrument playing the same note. I prefer trumpet parts on Trombone, French Horn parts on Euphonium, and guitar parts on bass.
 
What really gets me are chord changes (especially from majors to minors, etc.), catchy melodies, small bits in a song that contrast greately from the rest of the song (a bittersweet moment in an otherwise peppy song, or a sugarcane moment in an otherwise hardcore song), backbeat rhythms when they're placed properly, dotted note-note-note/marching timpany hits, but above all, *how well it conveys a specific emotion to me.

*Which is why I love the Mother 3 soundtrack. Whether it be rage, sorrow, upbeat happy-go-lucky, steel determination, or defeat, quite a few songs will hit home every time.
 
Being a violist, I'm partial to strings in modern music, or really any kind of orchestral arrangement. I like bands who make good use of crescendo/decrescendo as well ( Godspeed You! Black Emperor), good vocal harmonies (The Beatles), and like any kind of structure other than ABA format, I'm really sick of predicting when the chorus will come the first time I hear a pop song. Syncopation and creative use of time sigs, as well as time changes, and well-crafted modulation.
 
For me, it's the speed metal, especially if it can still keep good lyricism. Metallica's Battery is the perfect example of what I like.
 
When I hear good music I can feel it in my teeth. I usually describe things as textures. Like, when I play trombone I try to play apples.

One thing in particular I guess is glissandos, or pitch bends. When they are slow enough so that you can feel the effect of the out of tune note moving through the harmony. Its sorta the feel of pushing something heavy, and you strain at first but once it starts moving it is easy.

I also like augmented triads. I often dont really like tritones though, they always make me think of the theme from Dragnet.. There's always that pastiche silent movie soundtrack feel with them. I kinda prefer to imply them or do whatver I can to conceal them when I am writing with them..

Also I love Funk. Rhythm is 95% of all music, if you get that right then you are always going to sound great.

Have a nice day.
 
Good lyrics, sung well and written from the heart. Also well-placed classical instruments in songs (think Nightwish).
 
Lyrics but the ones where you can connect with it. A song is extra special and gives that "Wow" factor when you can feel where the lyrics are coming from. The 2 examples that stick out in my mind the most atm are Story Of A Lonely Guy - Blink-182 and Where Have You Been? - Reel big Fish (My favorite song ever). They don't have to be sad or be about chicks and a song like Fat Lip - Sum 41 is another one I connect with too.

A song with an amazing bassline (Longview - Green Day or The Press Corpse - Anti-Flag) are also "wow"-a-ful. As Peachfuzz said, basslines can carry a song.

A good (or fucking awesome) guitar solo can make an average song good or a good song great. The Anthem - Good Charlotte is a good example. Pretty above average then that last minute was awesome.

Then the songs that make you feel good and have some of the above mentioned things make me go wow. 3 of my favorite songs (Wrecked 'Em, Damn Near Killed 'Em, Beatdown In The Key Of Happy and Bada Bing! Wit' A Pipe all by Four Year Strong) make me feel good and "alive".
 
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