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Lexie Pellegrino
Prof. Cordell
EN 11 Texts and Contexts
11 December 2017
Changes in Music Between the Twentieth and Twenty-First Century

Music has evolved through time depending on the social issues and instruments present

in a particular epoch, undergoing a cycle oscillating between dull and lively moods. Once music

progressed into the late twentieth century, America experienced innovative jazz, as well as new

music from bands like The Velvet Underground, and The Beatles. Meanwhile, our nation was

actively involved in civil unrest characterized by the countercultural movement. The

groundbreaking bands of this time pioneered this countercultural movement that encompassed a

new addition of technology, complex time signatures and the influence of drugs that combatted

the conventions of the time, creating a new era of music no one had heard before. This

movement empowered a revolution against the state of affairs in America. The Civil Rights

Movement and the Vietnam War emboldened people to protest to express their beliefs, and the

music of the times reflected the generation. Conversely, living in the twenty-first century, we fell

into a dry period of music that reflected the lack of strife in our recent history. Now,

overpowered by technology, simple time signatures, and a use of basic chord progressions, music

written in the beginning of the twenty-first century has become mechanical. One of the most

notable changes from the twentieth to twenty-first century was the engrossment of history that

influenced the creativity found in twentieth century music, whereas the stagnant history in the

early twenty-first century influenced music to become increasingly monotonous.

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Through listening to music in the late twentieth century, it is noticeable that artists such

as Dave Brubeck, The Velvet Underground, and The Beatles used compound and odd meters,

new technology, and experimental chords to transform their music in order to create new

listening experiences for them and their audience. An educated person with knowledge of music

theory is able to discern the compound meter that these artists use. Compound meter is a type of

time signature that is broken down into a three part rhythm (Laitz). Odd meter is also an unusual

time signature that can be divided into different beat patterns in each measure (Laitz).

Conversely, simple meter is a two part rhythm; typical of a lot of music found in the music heard

on the radio today.

A pioneer of using unusual meters was Dave Brubeck. He was an American jazz pianist

and composer who obtained his education at the College of the Pacific in California (Leonard).

He then founded the Dave Brubeck Quartet, an octet and a trio he worked and performed with to

produce his jazz hits. Within his quartet, their LP ​Time Out​ was conceived as an experimental

record in 1959, consisting of a collection of tunes set in odd and compound time signatures. The

idea to use these meters came from a world tour the quartet went on in the previous year,

incorporating sounds they heard from all over the world such as Istanbul (Leonard). One of his

most famous pieces, “Blue Rondo a la Turk”, was composed in a compound triple meter of 9/8,

where one can find nine beats in a measure with an eighth note getting one beat. Another famous

song on this LP is entitled “Take Five”, a piece written in an odd time signature of 5/4. This

meter can be broken up into the beat pattern of 2+3 to make 5, or 3+2 which also adds up to 5,

but affects the music being played drastically. This song became the first jazz instrumental to sell
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more than a million copies, became extremely popular with college listeners, and is still one of

the most popular jazz songs for a jazz or concert band to play to this day.

Like Brubeck, with his use of compound meters, the British Invasion came to America

with new technology, experimental chords, and new rhythms to create a sound their audience had

never experienced before. While their earlier music sounds like the early twentieth century

cookie cutter music, their later albums became more and more experimental. From 1966 on, their

album ​Revolver​ changed the scene of experimental music with the song “Tomorrow Never

Knows.” Using tape recorders to record their demos, they found that by creating tape loops they

could make new sounds (​Multitracking).​ One of the most noticeable sounds in “Tomorrow Never

Knows” sounds like seagulls squawking, which is actually Paul McCartney’s laugh sped up

(​Multitracking).​ Other unusual sounds are thought to be trumpets, but are guitar loops laid over

each other, sped up and played back backwards (​Multitracking). ​ The drums are also played back

backwards giving the initial accent of the beat at the end of the note instead of the beginning

(​Multitracking). ​By doing this, the mix of the song is it’s own performance and cannot be

recreated. Everyone in the music industry was amazed when this song was produced and they

now reference this song when comparing it to the music made in today’s industry. Record

Producer Rick Rubin said in a PBS interview, “that song makes you rethink what music is, it’s

that profound.” Additionally, writer Warren Zanes said “with the sampling and the loops, there is

so much happening there that would be active for the next four to five decades.” The Beatles

wanted to transcend the boundaries of conventional music at the time, which left a lasting impact

to this day.
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Another band who was known for their experimental sound was an American rock band

called The Velvet Underground. Recognized as one of the most influential bands of rock, they

brought provocative subject matter and musical experimentation to the public. At the height of

their career, the band was managed by pop artist Andy Warhol, who used them in his Exploding

Plastic Inevitable between the years of 1966 and 1967 (​Rolling Stone). ​Exploding Plastic

Inevitable was a series of multimedia events featuring performances by The Velvet

Underground, screening of Warhol’s films and dancing performances (​Rolling Stone)​. According

to the notable magazine Rolling Stone, “The Velvet Underground [and Nico] languished in

record-label red tape for a year before its release, but it nevertheless proved one of the most

forward-thinking records of its time and remains one of the most important debut albums in rock

history.”

Some of the most famous songs by this rock band are not a form of rock at all. They are

from the album created under Warhol’s management that was mostly experimental. This album

was also a pioneer of when rock became nihilistic and self-destructive, focusing around the

theme of sex and drugs (Shmoop). The song “Heroin” by The Velvet Underground is a perfect

example of this change in mood, but it was written to expose the drug for what it was, not to

endorse it to others. The ‘trip’ listeners experience vicariously through the music gives the effect

of the drug as well as displaying that the song is both musically and lyrically ahead of it’s time,

influencing the future of rock music.

The goal of the civil rights movement was to end racism, promote peace and establish a

federal law stating that all individuals, no matter their race, deserve to be treated equally (Kent

State). Music written by african americans, jazz artists, and popular bands such as the
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aforementioned in addition to Pink Floyd wrote music in order to spread activist messages and

evoke emotion, inspiring individuals to gather together and rebel against the conservative

conventions throughout society. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that music was “the soul of the

movement.” In fact, during long protests, individuals would rely on song to keep unity and

energy amongst the crowd (Kent State). This vocal unity helped relieve anxiety and nerves

amongst our split nation.

A great example of music relaying this message is the song “Us and Them” by Pink

Floyd. Newseum wrote that, “this song explored the themes of war and conflict and r​eflected the

country’s disillusionment in the waning years of the Vietnam War.” The song captured the

emotions of people on both sides of the conflict and reflected the mood of an increasingly

diverse country amid dramatic social and political change (Newseum). Some lyrics from Pink

Floyd’s “Us and Them” such as, “Forward he cried from the rear/ And the front rank died/ And

the general sat, as the lines on the map/ Moved from side to side” is only a portion of the song

that vividly displays the tension, emotion and yearning the music from this time period shared

about our nation’s history.

Transitioning to present day twenty-first century music, artists are creating music that all

sounds identical because of their technological advances, move to simple meters, basic chord

progressions, and lack of influence from the stagnant history of the early 2000’s.

Within the 2000’s, not a lot of social conflict arose. The economy was beginning to do

better, it seemed that people were getting along, and our nation become even more united after

the terrorist attack on 9/11. While music was politically charged in the late twentieth century,
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music found in the 2000’s was mostly pegged as feel good music, creating more and more music

about romance, nights out on the town, and day to day life.

As seen in the twentieth century, compound meters and experimental chords were used to

differentiate music from others and to create a unique sound. Moving into the twenty-first

century, artists are all using a simple meter of 4/4 time, and a standard chord progression of 1, 5,

6 and 4. The scale notation of these numbers stand for “Do” or tonic,“Sol” or dominant,“La” or

submediant, and “Fa” or subdominant (Laitz). Translating this to the key of D, the chord

progression would be D, A, B, and G. This chord progression is popular in famous musicians

from the twenty-first century.

Adding to the centuries transition, technology has progressed rapidly within the past two

decades making each artist sound similar. Famous musicians do not have to be good singers

anymore to be in the industry, unlike the majority of artists in the twentieth century. With the

introduction of auto tune in 1997, the music industry was changed forever. Auto tune is an audio

processor which uses a device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music

recording as well as performances to make the artist sound perfectly in tune (CNN). The inventor

of auto tune, Dr. Andy Hildebrand, successfully used algorithms in all areas of his study, and

created an algorithm to mimic the perfect singing voice, allowing any singer to hit the exact pitch

they wanted every single time. Hildebrand talked to CNN about his new invention and he was

quoted as saying, “my thinking was, ok, I’ll put that setting in the software. But I didn’t think

anyone in their right mind would ever use it” (Hildebrand).

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The first artist to use this technology in her singles “Do You Believe in Life After Love”

and “Believe” was Cher in 1998. Though she was popular from earlier on, the new auto tune

effect made her voice sound robotic, which then coined the “Cher Effect”.

With this new idea that an artist’s voice can be reproduced into something that matches

what a computer says is correct, there is a corresponding idea that artists in the twenty-first

century do not need to play instruments because a computer can produce the sound for them.

Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) is an industry standard music technology that

connects many different products like smartphones, musical instruments and computers (MIDI

Associations). This technology does not take technology and use it to enhance sounds originally

being made my instruments and people, like “Tomorrow Never Knows”, but instead cuts out

instruments all together and creates sounds on a computer that mimic instruments to then add to

their creation. Nearly every hit album, film score, TV show and theatrical production being made

in the twenty-first century uses MIDI to connect and create (MIDI Association). Since little to no

experience is needed to use MIDI, more and more artists are using this technology in the

publication of their music.

Successful composer and conductor, Carl Davis says, “a synthesised ​soundtrack lacked

"the heart" of symphonic or instrumental music.” He then goes on to explain that plugging music

into a computer and having it play back to you gives it a dehumanizing quality. He also

dismissed synthesised sounds as a "bundle of notes", adding: "You just do not get the effect of a

real live musician playing real phrases. It's quite extraordinary how a live musician can inflect a

certain note with emotion."

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By watching the change throughout history, using basic skills of music theory, and

keeping track of technological advances it is simple to see that the sounds of the twenty-first

century became increasingly monotonous from the grandeur that was late twentieth century

music. Thankfully, music history tends to be cyclical, leading from an interesting period to a dry

period, back to an interesting one. Now, living in the world we live in today during the 2010’s,

soon to be moving into the 2020’s, history is becoming increasingly violent, severe, and

unpredictable. It seems that instead of progressing forward, our country is moving backwards.

Though our political and social standings are in danger, there is hope that music history will

repeat itself and move us into a new, more riveting period of music that will engage and unite

our extremely divided nation.

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Works Cited

Alberge, Dalya. “Synthesisers Are Killing Film and TV Music, Say British Composers.”

The Observer​, Guardian News and Media, 14 Dec. 2013,

www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/15/electronicmusic-television.

AZNman11111. “Pink Floyd - Us and Them.” ​YouTube​, YouTube, 20 Sept. 2008,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDbeqj-1XOo.

“The Beatles Tomorrow Never Knows Lyrics.” ​YouTube​, 17 Aug. 2017,

youtu.be/D-lqDjWchaQ.

Billias, Athan. “The MIDI Association.” ​About​, www.midi.org/about.

Carlton, Author Dave. “I Analyzed the Chords of 1300 Popular Songs for Patterns. This Is

What I Found.” ​The Hooktheory Blog​,

www.hooktheory.com/blog/i-analyzed-the-chords-of-1300-popular-songs-for-pattern

s-this-is-what-i-found/.

“Dave Brubeck - Take Five.” ​YouTube​, 2 June 2008, youtu.be/vmDDOFXSgAs.

“Dave Brubeck Quartet - ‘Blue Rondo à La Turk," Live.” ​YouTube​, 9 Feb. 2013,

youtu.be/j9GgmGLPbWU.

Laitz, Steven G. ​The Complete Musician: An Integrated Approach to Tonal Theory,

Analysis, and Listening​. Oxford University Press, 2008.

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Leonard, James. “Blue Rondo à La Turk | Details.” ​AllMusic​,

www.allmusic.com/composition/blue-rondo-%C3%A0-la-turk-mc0002438767.

“Money - Pink Floyd HD (Studio Version).” ​YouTube​, 20 Aug. 2009,

youtu.be/cpbbuaIA3Ds.

“Multitracking and the Making of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ from PBS Soundbreaking.”

YouTube​, 31 Jan. 2017, youtu.be/WGeF5RxlpaI.

Newseum. “Vietnam Music Monday:” ​Newseum​, 1 Feb. 2016,

www.newseum.org/2016/02/01/vietnam-music-monday-us-and-them/.

“Online Master of Music in Music Education.” ​Go to Kent State Online Master of Music in

Music Education.​,

musicedmasters.kent.edu/the-role-of-music-in-the-civil-rights-movement/.

Prisco, Jacopo. “The Invention That Changed Music Forever.” ​CNN​, Cable News Network,

27 May 2015, www.cnn.com/2015/05/26/tech/autotune-inventor-mci/index.html.

Shmoop Editorial Team. “Heroin Meaning.” ​Shmoop​, Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008,

www.shmoop.com/velvet-underground-heroin/meaning.html.

“The Velvet Underground Biography.” ​Rolling Stone​,

www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-velvet-underground/biography.

Womack, Kenneth, and Todd F. Davis. “6. Vacio Luminoso: ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’

and the Coherence of the Impossible.” ​Reading the Beatles: Cultural Studies,

Literary Criticism, and the Fab Four​, State University of New York Press, 2006.