Technicality / Musical Traits

Although a lot of 'technical' music these days are technical for the sake of showing off, a lot of music shows off for the sake of showing off. This in no way justifies their showiness, but it seems as if technical bands are flamed for the very fact that they are technical. Technical bands can be compromising for their lack of songwriting ability, but their technicality isn't what should be flamed- they should still be given credit for the fact that they have a high level of musicianship.

What comes to mind immediately is the band 'Hella'. Years ago, I remember listening to them and not being able to comprehend any of it. All I could hear was cacophony and Zach Hill (drummer) playing at max speed- like always. I first wondered how it could have any musical merit at all, considering the fact that it sounded completely random and could be put together by anyone playing as fast as humanly possible. Only later did I realize that each phrase in every song was carefully written out. 'Why does this even matter? What's the point?'. The point is that Hella spends a fuck load of time working on both their skills and their songs- probably more than 90% of professional bands these days.

How is their time and effort relevant to their creative output? 'Just because they put time and effort in doesn't mean it's necessarily good', you may be wondering.

Well, in my opinion, music has a few prime aspects that constitute what is good:

Real Traits:

Diversity- Diversity in music covers the range of human emotion, rhythm, and technicalities.
Technical- The Technical shows pure prowess in the art of playing their instrument(s).
Lyrical- The Lyrical displays the power to convey through word; related to the Emotional.
Emotional- The Emotional allows for the music to have meaning.
Structural- The Structural shows the musician(s) prowess in creating the song (songwriting).
Stylistic- The Stylistic is the musician/band's capability to create a new, unique 'sound'.
Melody- The Melody is the sensibility the musician(s) have developed much like the lyrical and tech.

False Traits:

Aural Appeasement- Aural Appeasement determines whether or not you 'like' the sound, and does not contribute to the merit of the song or band.
Messiness- The sloppiness of the music played can be a genuine trait for disliking music, but often times it is done purposefully for emotion on style. Of course, you'd have to be able to distinguish whether the messiness is warranted or not.

Hella devote their lives to the music not for the sake of grinding their technical abilities but also for the sake of expanding their musical horizons. If this comes with technicality then so be it. To disregard what almost everybody thinks as much as possible and work on their music for the sake of the music is passion. If it manifests in the form of noise, so be it. Often times, people seem to think that the music was made for them. It usually isn't. If you don't like listening to it, just don't!