I love instrumentals, always have. John Heinrich and I are about half way through with an album of instrumentals tentatively called Strawberry Cove. It is soft jazz, pop, light funk with a sprinkling of new age. We hope to have it finished before Christmas.

Popular music has changed with the dominance of television. Gradually, celebrities have driven popular music. The most personal relationship a listener can have with a musical artist is one that involves that artist's voice, so the best way to sell a celebrity is to have a recognizable voice with which they can communicate to the listener. I predict that more and more it will be the unusual, very recognizable voice that will begin to dominate. The eye candy will recede and there will be a "Susan Boyle effect" where it is the very recognizable person with the very recognizable voice that ascends.

That, I believe, is why instrumentals have been on the wane in pop music.

The instrumental as a commodity still does quite well even sans its connection to popular music. Heck, pop music is making less and less money anyway. It is licensing, filmscore, tv score, ads, and the like that keep composers and producers pumping out the voiceless vibes.

Will instrumentals become popular again? I think in some ways they are more popular now than ever before. There are dedicated channels on satellite and cable for instrumental music. There are dedicated channels on earth based radio as well. It is mainstream popular music itself that threw the adult out with the bathwater. Through compartmentalization, the breakup of radio into musical genres, the pop artists have lost some of the crossover they used to get when radio playlists would include different styles. Pop listeners just listen to pop, bluegrassers just listen to bluegrass. But even that is "over the hump" with many folks who create their own mix of music on their PLD's.

So, my quest for Strawberry Cove is to have a recognizable sound while exploring various forms and arrangement techniques. When we finish and start promoting it, we'll keep ya posted.

Good thread, keep 'em coming!

Mike

You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

Mike Dunbar Music