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+--- Thread: Does anyone know what the term "Generic" means about music? (/showthread.php?tid=1554)
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Does anyone know what the term "Generic" means about music? - jazzboCR - 20-02-2014
I agree with SteveO and Jerome, but this discussion gets real deep real quick, and it's individually contextual. If you can't relate to a sub-genre or find it off-putting, the majority of that music will sound indistinguishable. For example, ambient to me is generic; to another, hard bop especially the more extreme honk-and-squeak will sound generic. I know that all this is only #3 or #4 on the list of definitions, but it's there somewhere. What needs happen is inventing another word meaning "generic to you" vs. "generally generic". Any wordsmiths present?
Does anyone know what the term "Generic" means about music? - jazzboCR - 07-04-2014
"Generic" has an unfortunate kinship with "genre". Generic drugs have no variation from a strict formula...and that's a good thing. Generic music has no variation from a strict formula...and that's a bad thing. You can, as a listener, get led astray by your false knowledge about what a player is about. Prime example--I wouldn't touch his Smooth Jazz emissions with a barge pole (they're pretty long) but trapped in my own prejudice, I ignored his real jazz offerings. When I caught up, I shook my head and said, "Where have I been?" Bob James. Let's face it, a lot of good generic players have real skills but moribund ambitions. And then some are in it for a guaranteed paycheck (anyone of the better house bands in Las Vegas back in the day could've stormed with the right song or the right push...and at least one broke free [Redbone]. And so it is with generic music in every sector (what could be more generic than a symphony ork in a medium-sized retirement city with former good'uns from all over?).