Especially, within the context of the digital realm and the ease at which people who have not traditionally been musicians can create it.

Discuss.

 

Add volume and velocity changes, also tempo automations.

 

Music is one of the arts.
If you put a lot of effort in it because you like what you are doing, then there's a high chance you made a piece of art, congrats!
Same goes for "creating" anything else. As long as you put yourself into the work, there will be soul in it.
The digital/analog/classical musician debate is kinda pathetic and not worth discussing over IMO

 

Go(o)d question.
Timing Is Everything: The moment something is sequenced or is relegated to a grid, the intentional shift and sympathetic resonance with the living soul in rhythm with the universal consciousness is broken. Machines have no soul, cannot hold, caress, love, hate or comfort you in time of need. Emotion is void and not forthcoming. How might you answer this???... Puppy is to stainless steel jail cell as soul is to _____?

Proficiency:

NO.
(See my rant under "Timing")...unless...The newcomer records something with words that can touch another soul. A one note guitar riff might be sufficient if the poetry is of a caliber high enough to elicit a heart felt response. Much has to do with the experiential aspect of the listener. Opinion counts in this example.

My brain is tired. I'm gonna go and play my Roy Noble guitar. Taja hasn't been played in a good long while and could use the exercise. This guitar has tons of soul; she embodies oodles of love and the tender care, wisdom and years of experience that the craftsman who created her infused with every touch and decision that went into her making. She is forged of the highest quality woods and materials available, alive, animated fore the soul of her creator. She is a cherished part of my life and nourishes my creative force as I nourish hers, I for her by my enjoining her the potential of fulfilling her destiny as a delivery system of my joy. I can honestly say that I love her.

 

Me.

 

Beautiful words superliquid, I feel the same for my old Matias Herrera guitar. Back in the topic, the soul of music is something unexpressable that you can only perceive by its absence. No more could I say.

 

IMO, 'soul in music' is music (or any art form, really) created from an honest place with genuine & clear intent, regardless of any technical shortcomings.

on the flip, music (or any art) that follows a blueprint/standard of any kind, can be considered 'soulless', depending on the degree of unoriginality (if that word exist).

since there's nothing new under the sun, nothing is original; creativity is all about reinvention & expressing YOUR interpretation of your influences.

and that makes soul music, regardless of genre.

i hope that makes sense.

 

Originality and a bit of talent.
Sadly, "originality" seems to take back seat too much nowadays. Now it's just "how can I sound like...?"

 

It's music man, something abstract. All the things people mentioned above are just means to achieve what is going to do when you hear it.
I think the soul is in the music itself, doesn't really have a name or shape, but it simple moves you in one way or another and I think that's the soul of the music. Doesn't matter if it was played or produced because all those differences are made by us, but music is music, a couple of vibrations, sounds, all mixed together.

 

i'll tell you that, when you tell me what is the human soul...

 

The electrical source of our bodies energy, duh.

So if you don't put any of you in your music, it by definition has no soul.

 

Thats what you invest of yourself into the music you make! It doesnt necessarily means you´re religious or like .... just honest!

 

My soliloquy concerning Taja was my way of trying to express the ability to exist simultaniously in different places on an energetic level as a way to infuse soul into what would seem an otherwise souless and inanimate object. I guess by my own reasoning evertlything has soul, if we try to define it away or not.

 

must...be...nerdy.... well if the question is the "soul in music" than parts that make up the song, such as volume, panning, effects, notes, are merely the shell for the song, just like the human body is the shell for the soul. so the question then becomes what is essence? in science they call this zero point energy, in some spiritual or religious beliefs they call it mana, chi, or prana. nerdyness out of the way i think personally feel the "soul" in music is the heart that you put into it. nerdy returning to clarify, the most nerdy way to say it would be to say that it is an invisible energetic resonance left inside the song, between the spaces with no sound, something that cannot be quantified nor can it be removed. it is the emotions that we all wish to convey when creating the song in the first place, its what is there before the song's ceation has been started, that idea withing the heart and mind.

 

When posting "Me" I wasn't sure if I was rather joking or telling the whole truth.

 

"Soul In music". There is many different types of soul in music, but let's simplify it to: The energy and emotion used when it is made: The energy and emotion felt when it is listened to. There are 7.4 billion people on this planet, and they feel, and relate to things in their own way.

Think of it this way. Can a person who has not traditionally been a dancer have rhythm and grace. Can a person who has not traditionally been an artist have vision and style. Can a person who has not traditionally been a footballer have skill and finesse. Yes they can.
The one thing to remember about soul is that everybody has it to some degree. You can't learn soul! You can only learn to express it, but it doesn't mean you need it taught either.
On a side note, you can create rhythm on a quantized grid based sequencer, after all that's what they're designed to do. You can't program in swing, as it has to be applied after. Let's not get rhythm and swing confused here.

 

Pretty much spot on, that IS what "the soul in music is", the ability to express it, so actually yes, one needs either to learn it or be born with it like a Stevie Wonder genius type. Someone who has never played football cannot show finesse, it takes a level of proficiency that needs be honed over a period of time. Eye (foot) coordination might be amazing but one still needs learn the skill. It is not automatic. Who have you ever met that is an idiot savant football player? I have met a musician who could play anything in 8 months, but I don't think that music and football are easy comparisons.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jun 24, 2016

Soul in music, (IMO) is the human errors in instrumentation, timing and singing. It's a certain kind of swing. I tell dudes all the time stop producing everything in perfect timing on the grid. Let those snares hit a millisecond or 2 late, and play with the velocity. Same with hihats and kicks. When that kick is about to hit at the start of the next bar, make the velocity of the one before it lower. Strum your chords, and add velocity changes to the different strum positions, also make some chords louder or lower than others. Same with melodic aspects. Another way, that's easier for me sometimes, is editing aftertouch and humanizing these details after vocals have been added to a track. For me, it's a lot easier to capture moments when the vocals are putting everything into perspective.

 

Automation's, velocity switches.. that pivotal part where thee song is no longer numbers and divides. It becomes.. alive, breathing. There's so many ways to describe it, but little songs to express it. For a digital equivalent, I go to Tipper. Beyond amazing. and analogue? Miles Davis, Led Zepplin. Timing, twists, builds, fills.. all have this amazing way of telling the story. There's more, so many more. IMHO it matters not if its digital or analogue in warmth. Its about expression and relaying the story. The end production, from visionary to end producer to engineer all contribute.

 

my opinion

1/It has nothing to do with the digital world.

2/is a music genre that combines rhythm and blues and gospel music.

3/is the magic emotion of an interpreter connecting with the spiritual part of a people.