Hello everyone, my name’s Randi and I’m making this podcast for my Advanced Exposition class at the University of Florida. I am demonstrating my ability to compare and contrast lyrical music and instrumental music. In just a little bit, I’ll be interviewing my friend, Arthell.
So, some people only listen to lyrical music, others only listen to instrumental music, and the rest of us listen to both kinds of music.
Instrumental music does not contain any words. Lyrical music contains instrumental music and words and is probably the more popular of the two.
Most people commonly think of instrumental music only as classical kind of music composed by people such as Beethoven and Bach, however it does have many different forms. Instrumental music can be made with electronics. My class recently did a project where we used Arduinos or circuits and a circuit board connected to a computer to make electronic sounds. The Arduinos can be programmed to make music using various codes on a programming software. Instrumentals were commonly heard in rock-and-roll and rhythm-and-blues in the late 1950s. Jazz is a common form of instrumental music along with movie soundtracks today. My favorite instrumental musical group is the Blue Man group. I’ve seen them in concert while I lived in Chicago and it was AMAZING!!
Lyrical music, as we all know, has many, many forms. There is country, hip hop, rap, pop, rock, and many other genres of lyrical music. Lyrical music doesn’t just involve singing. Acapella uses the vocal skills of people to make music with their mouths and generally have a lead singer or a number of singers. The movie Pitch Perfect is a great example, along with the group Pentatonix.
Instrumental music is listened to for various reasons or in various situations. For some people, instrumentals are listened to relax. I listen to instrumental music for sleeping better, studying, and concentrating better. The brain responds to various frequencies. By using Binaural beats and isochronic tones, which are a combination of alpha, beta, delta, and theta waves along with other sounds, you can help shape brain activity for studying, concentrating, and so much more!
Now we’ll get Arthell’s perspective.
Which kind of music do you prefer to listen to?
Why do you prefer instrumental music?
Arthell: I feels like today’s music has let me down. I grew up in a time listening to rap and jazz with artists such as Kenny G. and 2Pac, Busta Rhymes. Today there are people called mumble rappers, as a genre, where you can only understand them if you’re drunk or using their drug of choice. So, if you’re sober and listening to the radio and hear that song, you can’t understand it. You have to ask a younger person of today’s generation what they said, and even then, they may not know until they watch a youtube video with subtitles to get the lyrics.
Do you listen to lyrical music at all?
What kind of lyrical music you listen to?
Arthell: Of lyrical music, growing up, I used to listen to a little bit of underground hip hop such as battle rapping.
Arthell:It’s when one rapper has a disagreement with another rapper, similar to the movie “8 Mile.”
What about today’s lyrical music?
Arthell: Today, I prefer to listen to K-Pop or Korean pop because if I’m going to listen to something I don’t understand, I might as well listen to a foreign kind of music.
Where did your interest in K-Pop come from?
Arthell: A friend introduced me to K-Pop and even though I didn’t understand the lyrics, it had an awesome beat. I like judge music 70 percent on the quality of the beats and the rest on the lyrics. Take Lil Wayne, “I don’t care for his words or lyrics much, but I cannot deny his beats.” “Even if your lyrics are garbage, I can still cope with it if the beats are there”
You dance to hip hop and Zumba for exercise. How would you say they make you feel?
Arthell:Before I hear a song, it clicks in my mind is this going to be a fun song, difficult song, happy, easy, or energetic song.
What about during the song?
Arthell:During the song, in order to give 100 percent to dancing I’m focused on controlling my breathing because that is what I learned through MMA fighting and not getting gassed out for an hour.
How do you feel afterwards?
Arthell:Afterwards, accomplished and very happy.
Arthell:Because I’ve made it through another hour of Zumba and I know I burned a lot of calories and there’s a great sense of feeling that you had fun… It’s just like going to the club.
