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5 Common Qualities in TOP 10 Songs Of the YEAR

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timnosho

Guest
HEAR YE! HEAR YE!

In the book Mixing With Your Mind by Stav(A great book), there is a chapter called Hit Record Formulae. Inside of this chapter the guy(Stav) proposes that there are certain qualities which EVERY Top Ten Song of the Year (example) shares. No matter what year and even classics like Beethoven's 5th. He says due to the political nature of the industry he cannot share those qualities in his book. What he does though is he proposes a scientific study type of thing which can be done in order to find what these qualities are. The way he offers though takes a long time, he says to listen to the songs for 2 hours a day, every day. I posted this on other forums but came here since this is one of the most popular place.

Here are the parameters(and clues) he says to follow:

  • EVERY Top Ten Song of every year has them. No Exceptions.
  • These qualities are NEVER in flops.
  • They cannot be expressed in musical terms. Thats why skilled musicians do not see them.
  • These common factors are defined in psychoacoustical terms.
  • Its not related to lyrics. Since there are instrumental top ten hits.
  • To cross check and eliminate false hope early test the theories
    against hits of opposite styles. He suggests Beethovens 5th, Let it Be and Sugar Sugar by the Archies.

Thats it. Thats all the clues he gives.


Some side notes:
Having read similiar threads on other forums a lot of the feedback that comes back is: its not real, theres no way, Blah Blah Blah etc.... and thats not what I'm looking for. I hope to combine the knowledge of everyone that replies and try to come up with these qualities. I myself have started doing what he suggests though 2 hours a day is a lot I do what I can.

So please, anyone and everyone give this some thought and help me out so we can Sherlock Holmes this sh*t. Doing this is also a sure fire way to improve producing skills.



Thank you.
 
Relic

Relic

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ill o.g.
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ABB said:
Autotune. It says no vocals but autotune is the key.
Click to expand...

LMAO, that what help ...


This is an interesting riddle that you have here, I was thinking that it may be the chords that are played in every hit song, in which we have a thread with a youtube clip in it somewhere around here... but you say that it is not musical... Psychoacoustic? I guess I need to look that up as I am unfamiliar with the term.

This forum is def gonna ponder the hell out of this though.
 
T

timnosho

Guest
Relic said:
LMAO, that what help ...


This is an interesting riddle that you have here, I was thinking that it may be the chords that are played in every hit song, in which we have a thread with a youtube clip in it somewhere around here... but you say that it is not musical... Psychoacoustic? I guess I need to look that up as I am unfamiliar with the term.

This forum is def gonna ponder the hell out of this though.
Click to expand...

Please do(ponder that is). Thats what got me too I have no idea what psychoacoustic terms are.

I've been actually listening to top ten hits song for like an hour a day now. The only idea I got so far is something to do with the way the percieved volume of the song increases gradually through the song. But I dont think that would never be in flops.
 
D

daproduct

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
well ok. so if theyre stating that every similarity is present in some psychoacoustic form lets look at this from the top down.

going by the fact that psychoacoustic lower frequencies (generally cited as 20hz or lower also known as infrasound) are perceived as touch, and that presence of higher psychoacoustic frequencies (20khz or higher otherwise known as ultrasound) does effect the listeners perception of sound quality, my next question is exactly HOW..
so my next step would probably be to analyze the frequencies present in the top hits of the year and seek some sort of common factor.. but i cant do that in the office here..

now generally what my opinion would be regarding the two different types of sounds:

infrasound being lower in frequency, travels far longer in distance without being dampened by any usual environmental variables. (elephants can communicate up to distances of 10 miles using the 10-35 hz range of frequencies)
infrasound is also related to stress based reactions, which may aide in memory formations due to the bodies natural reaction to a proposed threat (it has been shown in certain military studies that it causes a certain reproduction of a fight or flight response)though at mild levels it has been shown to be pleasantly stimulating. (please note also that infrasound does not damage the ears so much... but more potentially the brain and bodily organs)

as for ultrasound, i found a rather convincing article which ill share instead of ranting on...
Code: 
http://www.physorg.com/news144495604.html
and heres one for infrasound which it thought might cover a few things..
Code: 
http://www.lowertheboom.org/trice/infrasound.htm
 
UNORTHODOX

UNORTHODOX

Father Timeless
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I think I know but its hard to explain. Its a certain vibe or "community" in the music from a certain aspect. I'll comeback after I figure out how to explain what I've noticed.
 
2GooD Productions

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the word psychoacoustic means sound that affects the mind. includes the ultrasonic and subsonic frequencies.
like the crowd dispersal device that makes people feel sick without knowing why.

I think the key is to do with stirring emotions. Music alone is good at expressing a mood, it works in movie soundtracks.
Classical music is the best at stirring emotion thats why its used heavily in movies.
What makes tracks stand out in peoples minds in general is the way the music can take you back to a memory in time. You can make memory associations through music. I can remember many moments in my past just by thinking of certain songs.
Like a couples favorite song because it holds a memory of a special moment for them.
They also say that in the past pagan times the OM chant if chanted in a Acoustically designed "chamber" at the right tone can reverberate at the resonant frequency and cause hallucinations and get them "closer to god"
There are also theories of being able to move heavy objects by making them vibrate at their resonant frequency using the right acoustic environment and the right sound frequency.
Frequencies that are overlapped also have an effect on each other like the flange effect. And the combination of frequencies also have an effect on the resulting soundwave. Frequency clash for example.
Ultimately though I really think its all to do with generating a mood.
 
T

timnosho

Guest
2GooD Productions said:
the word psychoacoustic means sound that affects the mind. includes the ultrasonic and subsonic frequencies.
like the crowd dispersal device that makes people feel sick without knowing why.

I think the key is to do with stirring emotions. Music alone is good at expressing a mood, it works in movie soundtracks.
Classical music is the best at stirring emotion thats why its used heavily in movies.
What makes tracks stand out in peoples minds in general is the way the music can take you back to a memory in time. You can make memory associations through music. I can remember many moments in my past just by thinking of certain songs.
Like a couples favorite song because it holds a memory of a special moment for them.
They also say that in the past pagan times the OM chant if chanted in a Acoustically designed "chamber" at the right tone can reverberate at the resonant frequency and cause hallucinations and get them "closer to god"
There are also theories of being able to move heavy objects by making them vibrate at their resonant frequency using the right acoustic environment and the right sound frequency.
Frequencies that are overlapped also have an effect on each other like the flange effect. And the combination of frequencies also have an effect on the resulting soundwave. Frequency clash for example.
Ultimately though I really think its all to do with generating a mood.
Click to expand...
You are onto something here, I think that not only is it the "key" to music, but it is music. Music is the manifestation of emotion in the form of sound. If you can relate to the emotion within a particular song then you will most likely like that song. What I'm trying to figure out though is, what are the quantifiable factors which make the music emotional.
 
2GooD Productions

2GooD Productions

Im back
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1688
bthis!
war
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bthat!
timnosho said:
what are the quantifiable factors which make the music emotional.
Click to expand...

MMMM, now that could be hard to explain, or even understand. Im not even sure if I know what makes a track emotional.
I think another important factor is having something thats stands out and is memorable in a track, like a phat breakdown, or dramatic changeup, a buildup. Something that makes the listener remember it for a reason.
A particular bass sound or other element that sticks in your mind.
 
2GooD Productions

2GooD Productions

Im back
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1688
bthis!
war
bfights!
aotb!
biu!
bthat!
Relic said:
Well that would prolly be the chords and lyrics and the combination in which they are played dont you think?
Click to expand...

I think you are right, there are only 12 notes in music. Its how those notes are expressed that is important.
The same melody can be played in so many different way, it can be played funky, sad, upbeat.
It could be down to the golden chord progression, the one that was posted on here quite a while back, with all the tracks that used the same chord progression. There was loads of hits and they all used the same chord progression. Ive only just remembered that video.
 
Relic

Relic

Voice of Illmuzik Radio
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 83
bthis!
2GooD Productions said:
I think you are right, there are only 12 notes in music. Its how those notes are expressed that is important.
The same melody can be played in so many different way, it can be played funky, sad, upbeat.
It could be down to the golden chord progression, the one that was posted on here quite a while back, with all the tracks that used the same chord progression. There was loads of hits and they all used the same chord progression. Ive only just remembered that video.
Click to expand...

I was gonna ask that if maybe you could dig around and find that vid that has all the same chords that are all huge hits..
Post that link!

Yooouu caaaan doooo iiiit!
 
T

timnosho

Guest
2GooD Productions said:
MMMM, now that could be hard to explain, or even understand. Im not even sure if I know what makes a track emotional.
I think another important factor is having something thats stands out and is memorable in a track, like a phat breakdown, or dramatic changeup, a buildup. Something that makes the listener remember it for a reason.
A particular bass sound or other element that sticks in your mind.
Click to expand...

I think 1 common factor in all great music is that it has that one thing that gets ingrained into your memory, like the main riff from beethovens 5th, or Youuuuuu from that Soulja boy song(jk).

But your 100% right about that, Im trying to figure out WHY these things are so memorable and Im getting stuck.
 
L

LonChainy

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
...I've pondered this question for quite awhile with no evail...but one common denominator I can see is..all hit songs are SIMPLE..in fact VERY SIMPLE.

I'd be curious as to what GOD has to say about this..
 
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