this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2024
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When athletic height jumping was considered done and perfected, there was the Fosbury flop which opened new possibilities. Do you think there was such a moment in the music history? When someone showed how things can be done and from there everyone is using his/her technique?

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[–] pr06lefs@lemmy.ml 24 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Equal temperament, where all the keys have basically the same intervals rather than having different characters as in just intonation. Enabled modulation from one key to another as in Bach and Jazz.

[–] neidu2@feddit.nl 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

A few modern production techniques come close, but I agree, equal temperament tuning was a game changer. It allowed "anyone" to transpose "any" piece of music into "any" key, broadening the available instruments for a piece.

Plus drop D tuning would be impossible without it.

[–] ShittyBeatlesFCPres 22 points 9 months ago (1 children)

This is maybe obscure but Earl Scruggs basically invented three finger picking on the banjo. It became one of the defining characteristics of bluegrass music and when most people imagine “banjo music” today, that’s probably what they imagine first. (It’s called “Scruggs Style” and he popularized but who knows who did it first as a lark?)

A recent one is abusing autotune. Autotune was invented to correct singing notes that were slightly off. Cher was apparently first to do this but people started experimenting with unintended settings combinations to make different effects and stuff. T-Pain took that to the extreme and it became a whole trend in pop music.

Plus, like, the entire history of music in New Orleans and the surrounding Mississippi Delta region. So much American (and British) music can trace a direct line to the blues, jazz, early rock and roll, and other genres that begin in the region.

[–] Crashumbc 3 points 9 months ago

Just a quick, fyi, I learned the other day. Cher actually was really against that song and the auto tune stuff. They had to talk her into it. Which is interesting because it restarted her career.

[–] Nacktmull 22 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)
  • Jamaican dub. The concept of the engineer as artist and producer and also the idea of remixing comes from dub, which was invented by people like King Tubby and Lee Scratch Perry. The way most modern genres are produced (by a creative audio engineer, without a band) originated from dub.
[–] Hackerman_uwu 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

If you’re ever inclined to say more about this (dub/producer as artist) please do it here?

Fascinated by this.

[–] bhmnscmm 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Here's a really good podcast episode from 99% Invisible about this exact topic.

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/wickedest-sound/

[–] Hackerman_uwu 1 points 9 months ago

Hey! Thank you!

[–] Nacktmull 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Sorry mate, I don´t have the energy for that, I recommend the Wikipedia article on Dub.

[–] Hackerman_uwu 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

No worries.

Actually this podcast on the topic was recommended by another kind user here: https://lemmy.world/comment/7957387

Thanks for planting the seed it’s been fun to learn about this.

Sweet, take care out there.

Off topic: Hey does anyone know how I can tag a user in lemmy?

[–] hangonasecond 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I don't know if @Hackerman_uwu is enough? I'm writing this comment to test it

Maybe !Hackerman_uwu@lemmy.world

Edit: nope neither of those work

[–] Hackerman_uwu 2 points 9 months ago

Thanks for taking a swing at it! :)

[–] vodkasolution@feddit.it 1 points 9 months ago

Djing (as a figure playing records at parties) was already there when he started. The Loft saw the birth of Levan, Knuckles, Siano, Kevorkian...

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 14 points 9 months ago (1 children)

There have been lots of technological advancements which led to revolutions in music. The electric guitar, multi-track mixing, synthesizers, etc.

Each of them brought with them while new genres of music.

[–] Evkob@lemmy.ca 12 points 9 months ago (2 children)

You didn't even mention the biggest technological leap; recording. Being able to capture music and play it at one's will fundamentally changed virtually everything about music.

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Yup. Radio did as well

[–] Mr_Blott 2 points 9 months ago

Another thing is cheap, good-sounding speakers and headphones

Can you imagine Billie Eilish releasing Bad Guy in the 80s? 90% of the country wouldn't hear a thing

[–] neidu2@feddit.nl 14 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

So many great examples in this thread already, so I'm going to go with a simpler one: Guitar overdrive. intentionally increasing the gain beyond max input level of the amplifier to produce a more square wave tone would've seemed sacrilege to guitarists from the 30's and 40's.
And today it's the foundation of so many guitar sounds and music genres.

[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 9 months ago

Dave Davies of The Kinks changed rock music with a razor blade. Distortion pedals existed but they couldn't provide the same kind of fuss sound that we hear in "You Really Got Me"... but a year later they could.

[–] AceQuorthon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Probably when some people started using the studio as an "instrument", like Phil Spector with his Wall of Sound, or Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys during the Pet Sounds sessions. Never before had music sounded so good and rich in sound.

[–] Mr_Blott 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] AceQuorthon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 9 months ago

Fucking love Jim Steinman!

R.I.P.

[–] DestroyerOfWorlds@sh.itjust.works 8 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Van Halen finger tapping the fretboard. Didn't last as a trend, but every guitar player tried it at the time.

Les Claypool from Primus playing lead bass. That was so unique, I don't think anyone really copied it. A watershed moment anyway.

Neil Pert YYZ or the solo from Tom Sawyer. Same reaction from drummers as guitarists for Van Halen. Blew everyone's mind as to what was possible by one drummer.

Obviously there was nothing like Jimmy Hendrix either, but there was so much new and experimental music at the time he unfortunately gets lumped into "60's music" IMO.

The MC5's performance at the Chicago DNC in 1968 (and by extension Punk Rock). "Kick out the Jams, MOTHERFUCKERS!"

[–] toastal@lemmy.ml 7 points 9 months ago

…finger tapping the fretboard. Didn’t last as a trend

Math rock enthusiasts enter the room

[–] vodkasolution@feddit.it 1 points 9 months ago

All great single acts, but none of them changed the game for everyone else

[–] aelwero 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Hendrix. Hendrix is the fosbury of music. Dude went off in his own direction in both technical and compositional terms, and a lot of people followed.

There's solid points in the comments, but I feel like we're talking about a single individual ignoring convention here, and there's really only one answer in that context :)

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Listen, I love and respect the hell out of Jimi, but to claim he's the only one who ever revolutionized music is fucking insane. There have been so many others that completely changed the game.

[–] aelwero 8 points 9 months ago

There were others who changed sports as well... Fosbury didn't cause the Olympic committee to implement any bans, which is to say that others arguably attempted much larger changes...

He simply tried something way the hell off the beaten path and it caused people to think differently about how to go about doing their thing.

Jimi wasn't even the only revolutionary influence in his time, you could argue chuck berry had more influence at the time, you could argue Charlie christian had more influence at sorta the same time, you could argue Zeppelin, Sabbath, the Beach boys...

Nobody came crashing into music from deep left field like Hendrix did though, just like nobody came into the Olympics from deep left field the way fosbury did (I'd argue for korbut, but nobody followed her lead due to pretty much everything she did getting banned).

I get what you mean and don't disagree, but I did say I was speaking to a specific context ;)

[–] Adalast 4 points 9 months ago

Dubstep... It's all about that drop.

/s

[–] peter@feddit.uk 4 points 9 months ago
[–] vodkasolution@feddit.it 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Not just one imho: if we go that back in time I'd start with electric instruments, more recently (~50 yrs ago) multitrack, then electronic music (whether you have it started with synth in the 80s or with music entirely made on a computer in the early 00s). All 3 changed the game and were adopted by everyone

[–] SirSamuel 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

100% agree about electric instruments. I would say guitar pickups and amplification ushered in a new generation of innovation in both music creation instrument usage. Several posters here have mentioned innovations like the Wall of Sound, or Hendrix, but those don't happen without George Beauchamp creating the electric guitar pickup.

George Beauchamp is modern music's Fosbury

[–] Skullgrid 3 points 9 months ago

For guitar :

two handed tapping

sweep picking.

[–] squirrel@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 9 months ago

I would say going from analogue to digital recording. Digital made edits possible that where impossible before.

[–] SecretPancake@feddit.de 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I don’t believe music was ever considered done and perfected but I’ll throw in looping. What single musicians are able to do with this technique is amazing. But not sure who invented it.

[–] Mr_Blott -1 points 9 months ago

Ice-T's Original Gangster

Absolutely changed the course of rap history. In a good or a bad way is up to you, but O.G. was the O.G.

[–] SamsonSeinfelder@feddit.de -2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I go with autotune. Biggest change in the last 20 years and everbody is doing it from amateur to professional.

[–] 13esq 1 points 9 months ago

You shouldn't be getting downvoted for a very valid opinion.

[–] Mr_Blott -2 points 9 months ago

One of the worst things that ever happened to music, and I blame Cher 😂