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Struggling to find Pop and Soft Rock

Struggling to find Pop and Soft Rock

Shamika Posted on Jan 16, 2024 #1
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I like to write Pop (lyrics and melodies) upbeat easy stuff. Logically, on a jamming site with real musicians, are we more likely to find Blues, Jazz, Rock and Country, genres that lend themselves to live instrumentation?
Pop seems to have been taken over by 'song making' software. I don't have a problem with that apart from finding a simple Pop beat template, the kind of thing that Pop bands used to play live years ago. What happened to 'singalong' Pop ?
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zedders Posted on Jan 16, 2024 #2
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Give us an example?
There is a pop genre on here when looking for backing tracks - no good?
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Shamika Posted on Jan 16, 2024 #3
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I spent a while searching in the Pop genre but when I open them up the more recent mixes seem too 'dreamy' or too complicated, too Jazzy, Rocky, Punky, Latin or Funky. I guess 95 - 130 BPM but with the classic drums, bass, rhythm and keys... maybe not a lead as that's where the vocal comes in. I want something simple, happy and upbeat. But thanks zedders <3
MySounds Posted on Jan 16, 2024 #4
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@Shamika: How about this award-winning idea of mine ... why don`t you commission backing tracks on Wikiloops? Say you want something of less than 3 minutes, standard bpm in the structure intro, vers 1, chorus ...
and as zedders mentioned perhaps provide an example...I would guess that a couple of our creative WL magicians would see it as a challenge and try to cater to your request.
Shamika Posted on Jan 16, 2024 #5
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MySounds wrote:
@Shamika: How about this award-winning idea of mine ... why don`t you commission backing tracks on Wikiloops? Say you want something of less than 3 minutes, standard bpm in the structure intro, vers 1, chorus ...
and as zedders mentioned perhaps provide an example...I would guess that a couple of our creative WL magicians would see it as a challenge and try to cater to your request.


Thanks MS, maybe I'll do that but I think most "creative" musicians might not be interested in just banging out a cheesy backing track for Shamika to play with. Pop seems to be the 'poor relation' of the wikiloops family :)


This is good 'old fashioned' Pop, I like it :)

[wl]286892[/wl]
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shiihs Posted on Jan 20, 2024 #6
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Not sure if this counts? #287235
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Al-Fadista Posted on Jan 21, 2024 #7
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Try this #180961 :)
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Krasimir Posted on Jan 21, 2024 #8
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Shamika wrote:
I like to write Pop (lyrics and melodies) upbeat easy stuff. Logically, on a jamming site with real musicians, are we more likely to find Blues, Jazz, Rock and Country, genres that lend themselves to live instrumentation?
Pop seems to have been taken over by 'song making' software. I don't have a problem with that apart from finding a simple Pop beat template, the kind of thing that Pop bands used to play live years ago. What happened to 'singalong' Pop ?

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Krasimir Posted on Jan 21, 2024 #9
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Presently i am spending some time with learning, listening and trying to create house folk rock tracks with autentic folk elements. Is quite interesting but not easy.
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Shamika Posted on Jan 22, 2024 #10
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Thanks to all, now I have to come through with the goodies I guess :) Pop is quite hard to define as it incorporates so many other genres, after all it is short for "Popular" so anything would qualify. As a vocalist I tend to seek out backing that doesn't have a distinctive lead, I Like to work on 'singalong' songs and hopefully create a good earworm riff
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bassMonkey Posted on Jan 22, 2024 #11
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As Shamika says, pop as a genre can be quite hard to pin down. Is “Matchstick Men” pop? Is “Bo Rap”?. They were chart toppers after all.

So as “popular”, it is by definition subject to fashion and changing tastes as well as evolving technology. “50's pop” is very different from “90's pop” from one perspective but then again the themes of simple catchy melodies and lyrics combined with (for the most part) being “something that kids can dance to” are entirely common.

Take it back to the fifties/sixties and a lot of people learned instruments as quickly as they could to play pop at dances and maybe get good/lucky enough to make a record. Fast forward that through discos and then (“superstar”) DJ's and you don't need the musicians in the dancehall, only to create the music. In the 80's of course they realise the drum machine is cheaper and a lot more reliable than the drummer...

The thin end of the wedge that (currently) leads to the 'song making' software referenced earlier in the thread. It's something that any aspiring hit-maker can use right now and makes the group/band of old redundant... pretty much leaving the singer/songwriter as the last person standing. But we all know where it's going next...

https://twitter.com/annaindianaai?lang=en

There is plenty enough source material out there for future generative AI's to dominate the pop scene for a long time to come.

So now, if you are so retro as to want to learn to play an instrument your only real “pop” route (if you aspire to play live) is playing in tribute bands or “greatest hits of the 70's” nights and the like...

The w/l community is about original material plus I believe (but don't know) that there are a majority of members who are outside of the classic pop demographic (teens and twenties) and also more likely to make stuff they themselves like.

So it sounds like a tough search for mostly complete backing tracks with a pop sensibility! Perhaps so, but there are plenty there if you are prepared to search and (I qualify with IMHO) a lot of musicians who can write really great yet simple and catchy parts. It often becomes a matter of drilling into the mixes a little and seeking out the great melody that later had other parts added (and maybe reaching out to request a different collab?)

Earlier in the thread, Shamika references a jam featuring Major 3rd, rootshell and bassman Ernie440. Three superstars of the loops with great versatility and fantastic pop ability who are well worth following! Nick (rootshell) in particular has managed to make some of my crazy-ass lyrics into little pop diamonds (again IMHO)

Here's one I love.

[wl]254508 [/wl]
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MySounds Posted on Jan 22, 2024 #12
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Absolutely agree with bassMonkey where he says that "...It often becomes a matter of drilling into the mixes a little and seeking out the great melody that later had other parts added (and maybe reaching out to request a different collab?)".

We know that many active users enjoy the collaborative aspect of WL, even though it`s a passive pull from what`s on offer. Asking someone to do some changes to a former upload to facilitate a different structure or a new melody is a closer form of collaboration that some might actually enjoy performing.
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Shamika Posted on Jan 23, 2024 #13
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I'm surprised how much shiih's piano Pop has inspired such interesting remixes. Maybe this is a genre with a new future :o:D
shiihs Posted on Jan 23, 2024 #14
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I doubt anyone is as surprised as I am about the response to the track... but no complaints from me :D
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rootshell Posted on Jan 24, 2024 #15
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shiihs wrote:
I doubt anyone is as surprised as I am about the response to the track... but no complaints from me :D


shiihs, your track is used/linked in my video :) i'm barely starting a few podcasts (plugin reviews), so content and format may change :)

[youtube]kmxrD_ld6-U?si=dpKe9TUfXScmecxZ[/youtube]
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