Most modern music seems simple in it's nature compared to music of the classical, baroque, and romance periods. Most modern musical pieces don't have different movements, just a few repeated choruses and verse, drums and a baseline. No strings section, clarinets, timpani, choir, etc.
[Some current artist do still have a lot of different instruments or many synthesized instruments in their music.]
However, the complexity of the synthesizers, the reverbs, echo's, pitch modulations, vocoders, pitch corrections, limiting, mastering techniques are becoming more complex and making very simple songs very catchy.
Is the genius of the music in it's complexity or simplicity? That such a simple piece is so catchy? Or such a complex piece flows so well and can be performed almost flawlessly?
I've certainly put a little thought to the "hilosophy" and "sychology" of music, if you will.
There does seem to be something to certain notes played in succession that is audibly aesthetic (if I can use that word here). Then each time I begin to think about it, I've decided it's because certain sequences of notes have just been played over and over again until our brains let the barrier down.
So, is it that a song is catchy, or do we just recognize a certain beat?
Good topic, I might move this to WEPR to get a better response for you.
I also agree but for different reasons. You see many rock bands that have maybe 5 parts on average: singer, lead guitarist, base guitarist, drums, and (for power metal) keyboarder.
Concert bands and Symphonies can have 20 parts.
I agree that the classic music made from instruments are fuller, made with more feeling, and have lots of variation during the song, aka Tempo, Crescendos, Key Signatures, and *gasp* slurs. I find that with 20 parts to a song, you can add more depth to the song to make it stronger. One moment the trumpets are blazing with their calls, then the whole song just mellows out and there's a french horn solo peeking from the background while the flutes and clarinets back him up. So sweet are the melodies of french horns...*sigh*
Then each time I begin to think about it, I've decided it's because certain sequences of notes have just been played over and over again until our brains let the barrier down.
There's a name for this, I had to look it up, but I've actually heard of it before. The exposure effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_effect). I never thought of it though in the sense of
...certain sequences of notes have just been played over and over again...
. As in not just liking one particular song because you have heard that song many times and are familiar with it, but liking many modern songs because many of them use similar chord progressions. So we are familiar with certain sets of notes and chords and hear those similar notes and chords in a song and almost instantly are familiar with it and thereby like it. (If that's what you meant?)
