What do we do now that we reached the limit to music?

Question

Think about
the 20th century was the climax

Everything has been done before.
everything has been experimented
scales, distortion, chromaticism, etc...

We even had music that was just random banging of notes
like it's all been done.

This disappoints me a little bit.
Of course some of you may say that one day some composer with a great imagination will come along and change everything.
But how?

Everything sounds like something already done.
A new beethoven? Monteverdi? Debussy? Gluck?
Sounds really illogical considering we've reached a limit

So what now?

Answer 1

My dear Mikey, if your tenet were true, that there is a limit and we have reached it, then , say, by the time Chaucer penned his Canterbury Tales, making a defining and in his day culminating contribution to language, culture and literary form, would have likewise spelled the end of literature by your terms, viewed in his day at the moment of asking. Evidently it did not, and his literary colleagues and followers did otherwise. :-)



You clearly seem to want another, 'updated' edition of what has already been, this then to be your 'progress':



> A new beethoven? Monteverdi? Debussy? Gluck?



I'm none of those, but my next major work will see the public light sometime in 2014/15 which means that the process of musical art is still ongoing. Becoming a free man as a craftsman makes you part of the Craft, so as long as I keep working, the craft persists. Multiply my efforts by the number of my free colleagues doing the same, worldwide, and you'll soon see there is no 'limit' as you put it.



Our art form & craft is by now so ancient and entrenched it can be a parent to a myriad of talented and skilled children of every hue. Your problem is that you want musical 'designer babies' which, sight unseen, you will know you will like a priori.



Art, I fear, doesn't do (cultural) 'eugenics' to suit you in that regard... :-)



All the very best, warmly, as always,



@ Jefke -- I don't believe the day has yet dawned that I need justify myself to you for breaking preferred silence to post when an alert shows a friend's Q in my mailbox? I've never judged you so why your presumption to judge me? Be still. *N*

Answer 2

I don't think other answerers understand your point.

It is true that all the possible theoretical tenets seem to have been explored (although... you never know! There is a minute possibility that there's something else yet, but really minute).

Same as in fashion: long skirts, short skirts, medium skirts, puffy skirts, pencil skirts, mermaid skirts. Now fashion seems to perpetually come back to one of these styles, simply because there is no other kind of skirt you can imagine.

Same with musical "theory".

But it's less probable that it will consist in a total comeback to the rules of any particular historical era exactly as they were (although this is still a possible choice). Because now WE KNOW that there are other possibilities to choose from. The difference for today's composers is that we are not confined to any of these "music fashions", but we can mix and mach freely, which may lead to interesting variations. One artist may choose to be completely tonal and use traditional harmony (and I won't pooh-pooh him/her, as I think there is lots to be explored still within that framework), another to have both tonal and a-tonal sections in one single piece. So this freedom, this terrifying freedom, is what will make creatively interesting music in the future.

Answer 3

I completely know what you mean, and really I agree with you.



I don't know. Pointless experimentalism? Even that's been done - a lot of 20th century music was weird for the sake of weird.



I think neoclassicism and fusion music is the way forward. For neoclassicism, see Karl Jenkins "The Armed Man - A Mass for Peace", which is really good, and for fusion music, check out Nightwish's song Creek Mary's Blood for example.

Answer 4

There is a large variety of music possible, however we tend to stick to what sounds familiar. But just because it often draws on the same harmonic schemes and basic melodies does not mean it doesn't have value. Watch this youtube video by vsauce you should find it very interesting.

Answer 5

Actually I don't think we've reached the limit yet. I'm not even sure if there's a limit at all.



It's true the we have more music now than we did back in the day, but new music is still being created all the time. What makes you say we've reached our musical "limit"?

Answer 6

It would seem that Jefke and Joe Soap are close friends. I was recently insulted by his insideous troll attitued myself. Don't take their comments to heart. They're just bullies and fools.

Answer 7

That is just all that YOU know - not all that there is, or all that can be created by people that are more creative. To quote the greatest philosophers of our time - the Monty Python troup - "I'm not dead yet!"

Answer 8

I do enjoy wearing long skirts occasionally. They are actually more comfortable than Skinny jeans and not as hot to wear also.

Answer 9

I like women in jeans. It makes them look more city like and it generally does not appear to be they try too much but if you're looking to get this fellas attention, this might not exactly be what you would like

Answer 10

Yes, music has reached its limit; met its musical Nemesis...who, by the way, has made a remarkable recovery since his 'farewell speech' - https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20131112183627AAibV9D

Answer 11

Instead of listening to it, play it!