The Worst Area of Music

As composers we think about melody, harmony and rhythm. But if that's ALL we think about, we may find our music turns 'beige' - in this video I talk about how to use the musical space and the register of instruments to avoid the dreaded 'Beige Belt'.
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[@DBruce]

Very proud of my son's hilarious outro music which he made for me as a comedy birthday song. Do you think it should become a permanent feature?

[@ftumschk]

Definitely, provided he gets the appropriate royalties ;)

[@Alan_Stinchcombe]

Yes, until he surpasses it. 😊

[@subjectline]

Keep it, I lol'd

[@leiferickson3183]

YES!

[@Richard_Nickerson]

My son loves it

[@HerewardTheW]

One of your best videos yet, David, in content and in editing!

[@DBruce]

Thank you!

[@japphan]

I actually think there is a hypnotic quality in staying in that beige register, and I find it to be a very interesting minimalist idea, and have written a couple of pieces that remain there. I am convinced you can make it sparkly bright beige.

[@HighKingTurgon]

In C

[@DBruce]

I think this expresses a thought I had but didn't manage to articulate, thank you!

[@elleboman8465]

@@HighKingTurgon _In C_ has a pretty broad register if performed on a varied set of instruments. Reich's _Piano Phase_ , on the other hand! Now there's an example of sparkly bright beige music if I ever heard one!

[@KristianOmaRonnes]

Fun to unexpectedly see myself on the screen at 11:46 😄Great video with very good points as always, keep up the good work! Cheers

[@SethIsDavid]

Using a MIDI piano roll instead of a score made my brain tickle. Not sure if I like it...but definitely made me feel something. Great vid

[@alexlewis5365]

As somebody who has watched a lot of tng recently, I can confirm I hear the soft hum of a starship constantly. Even when I'm eating, or sleeping. It's haunting, yes, but wonderful.

[@KeithGroover]

That's really interesting about how the beginning of Rite of Spring has "gotten easier" over time. I think something similar has happened with the beginning of the 3rd movement of Mahler 1. It's way up high in the double bass' range, and I'm sure it was meant to sound weak and small, but we've all grown up listening to Edgar Meyer and are a LOT more comfortable up there these days, so you have to kind of "tone it down" and make it a little more weak and small-sounding. It's like an arms race of musicianship.

[@isaiahmumaw]

I think much of this is fueled by the growing interconnectedness of our world. As musicians with incredible skill become more well-known, more people try to copy them, often refining it in the process. I see it all the time in the world of marching band. Things which were considered borderline unplayable less than ten years ago are considered baseline requirements for members in the top competitive groups today, and the pace is rapidly increasing as kids try to copy what they’re seeing online.

[@notaguy4289]

I started writing music around a year ago, and I really have to thank you for all the work that you've put out, it is by far one of the best resources here on youtube about how to make music that's not just functional, but interesting and more emotive, a lot of the choices I make when writing are inspired by you, despite academic music not being really my thing, thank you very much!!!

[@Nooticus]

so true!! Hes an absolute legend

[@hoangkimviet8545]

Now we have David Bruce Star-trekker.

[@ivanmoren3643]

Yes!!! This is why a lot of bass lines in old reggae and dub are SO good.

[@mymo_in_Bb]

When the rite of spring part came, I thought to myself "oh dear oh no this is the video I submitted those recordings to" and when I found out I wasn't featured in the end, I was so relieved! (Anyway, thanks so much for making this video, it's incredible how much there is for me to learn!)

[@braynjohnson4302]

The editing on this one is hilarious

[@danpowell3953]

As a Star Trek and music fan, I found this very entertaining. Your editing was out of this world. My only issue was trying to hear the musical examples while you were still talking, but I get it…

[@Fempath]

Live long and prosper captain David Bruce 🖖

[@jamiebsn5589]

Thanks for having me (and my continuously more strained tenor register) on this David! I'm now off to start practicing Kristian's treble C's... I've got a ways to go..

[@petergivenbless900]

The 'Star Trek' imagery used in your exploration of the Beige Belt should've used clips from 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' where the colourful uniforms of the TV series were actually replaced with beige ones! I quite like "beige" music; it allows the patterns within the music to "speak for themselves" rather than getting lost in, or overshadowed by, the different registers used. I find music that has its structure spread too broadly across registers somehow sounds "simpler" than the same material confined to a few octaves which, to my ears, sounds desnser and more ambiguous.

[@ProuvaireJean]

To be fair, the editor desaturated the colours so that the Command gold (technically green) shirts did look more beige. So beige in fact that for a moment I thought the uniform he was pasted on to was the beige version from The Cage / Where No Man Has Gone Before.

[@xxManscapexx]

This was fantastic. I hope you keep the new outro music 🤣

[@brianyule1289]

These videos are incredibly clear & incredibly clarifying. Great stuff!

[@johnberkley6942]

A great example of register as a musical effect is 'Mood Indigo' by Duke Ellington. It was so far out of their comfort zone that the musicians struggled to get an unfluffed 'take' when recording it for the first time. But the effect was worth the effort, and hearing the arrangement played on the 'wrong' instruments is an almost mystical experience.

[@Hypnotic0range]

Another video like this touching on rythmic beigeness could be nice, I've played more than a few band pieces that are harmonically very pretty, but have almost nothing going for them rythmically and they end up all sounding like the same harmony soup.

[@theKobus]

On the topic of band pieces, I find oversaturation a really serious problem in a lot of band music. Because the composer feels like they have this job to make an interesting part for everybody and then there’s just too much going on and the overall effect is slushy

[@Hudson_Holland]

The editing in this video is legendary!!! Very great concept, thank you!

[@SilvermainMusic]

Fantastic delivery. Bravo for your Star Trek compositing!

[@michaelhunter2136]

The Star Trek metaphore was hilarious, and I don't generally like such things because they are often distracting from the actual content. On top of the humor, what you were talking about and the examples you gave were amazing. I'd give you a thumbs up without the Star Trek thing but now I'm sad that I can only give you one thumbs up. Great stuff!

[@graeme011]

Beige is beautiful!

[@danielkeller6610]

Definitely one of the best David Bruce videos of all time... probably my new favorite

[@syroyid]

Educational, creative, accurate, humourous and exquisitely produced. World-class material

[@blow-by-blow-trumpet]

Nice video David. I totally love the whole Star Trek theme! I appreciate your humour as much as your musical insights.

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

Maestro Bruce as Captain Kirk! Don't know how you managed it, but your potrayle was as restrained as your advice was masterful. Thanks for making a powerful, sometimes forgotten strategy such a pleasure when you are in command.

[@James-wf8nu]

your videos are always so engaging david

[@WizardOfArc]

love the edits!

[@AllanGildea]

Fabulous. Thank you.

[@SuperOhdannyboy]

I really needed to hear this. Great lesson.

[@bret6484]

I have been struggling with this without realizing. I think this fresh take on register is about to transform my composition. Thank you so much David!

[@tbastdgagitw]

Excellent. Wonderful visuals.

[@quaver1239]

Marvellous - thank you! 💙💙

[@rogerhewettmusic]

Wonderful video. Thank you!

[@TheDumplingOrc]

This clears up quite a lot for me! I'm glad I have actually been doing a fair few of these tricks innately, but I understand it better so will improve, thank you!

[@daanbaas2962]

Thanks for the very informative and fun video Bruce 🖖

[@raybergstrom]

Insightful lesson! Brilliant and hilarious editing!

[@GeoffLiMusic]

This video looks like it would've taken a long time to make. Super informative and love the editing!

[@BudgeChem]

Great content! And lots of great comments that I also agree with!

[@Nooticus]

Excellent video as always! Great examples used and engaging from start to finish! The floating head made me chuckle a few times too!

[@gabrielkolim]

The editing is on fire 💥🔥

[@petrzakrzewski]

What a cool way to teach music, good job David!

[@halflearned2190]

Oh my god what an amazing editing!!!

[@TigerRichards]

That was ... illuminating. And interesting. And fun. And a very clever video format. Nice!

[@EllisThings]

I listened to all the examples with my left ear, my right ear, and then my final frontier. 🌌

[@dlollard]

This is cracking me up, and, I learned a lot, and, the outro music is great!

[@alexchristodoulou]

Fantastic video, thank you so much!

[@Sannahmusic]

Thank you for this useful advice. 🙏

[@SamTahbou]

I'm loving the production in this one

[@LisztyLiszt]

Some interesting ideas here. I've always found that music which frequently changes direction in unexpected ways really adds colour, character, and life to the work. Among my favourites in this regard are the Scherzo from Mendelssohn's Octet, Liszt's Feux Follets, and the masterpiece of them all, the first movement of Eroica. Not a single boring bar between them while every note oozes with intention.

[@singlesideman]

Thank you for making yet another solid, well made video that isn't filled with errors and self aggrandizement, a real rarity.

[@tpgslmth4252]

Really nice video editing

[@matthewbenedict5923]

Incredible!

[@themanupdtairs]

Hilarious theme continuity. Kudos David!

[@user-xw6bf2dy4t]

This is so brilliant and entertaining🤩👌🎶, clarifying and inspiring❗️A thousand thanks, Bruce 🙏🏻You entered my life just in the perfect time ✨

[@bentaylor4705]

I now have a couple pieces I have to check out. Thanks!

[@hisham_hm]

Amazing video, and it gives me vocabulary to describe an issue I've felt with many songs but couldn't put my finger on - case in point, how so many songs in George Harrison's later solo catalogue feel "samey" from start to finish. (I think you see that a lot in the latter career of established artists because they get a pass at releasing whatever they want and don't get editorialized by producers as much, while up-and-coming artists either get dragged out of the Beige Belt by producers, or don't get a chance to release music in the first place if their songs are too beige (of course everyone can release independently nowadays but you know what I mean)).

[@pcdm43145]

You used _Star Trek_ to teach me something about music theory. I like that. Keep doing that.

[@stockicide]

Great video!

[@Beatsbasteln]

i'll keep this in mind when i explore the vastness of space again

[@NicleT]

That was very insightful. BTW, the shot where you're relaxing on captain's bed is hilarious!!

[@jayducharme]

Great piece, and your most impressive visual tour de force yet!

[@GalenWillettMusic]

Force? Wrong franchise!

[@montego2]

Fascinating. Useful. Boldly amusing.

[@leiferickson3183]

Amazing production! This must have taken a lot of work.

[@XRaym]

The montage is so good and funny, well done !

[@nagoshi01]

Clearly Leo P lives in the anti-beige belt

[@armandogiordano1226]

Incredible video.

[@lizziesmusicmaking]

Entertaining, educational, and very understandable. Thank you and well done.

[@liamatherton6759]

David, you’re awesome, I’m not a composer myself (in fact I’m quite crap at it, I’ll stick to the piano and singing) but thoroughly enjoy these videos. Keep up the great work!

[@qazwerspoil]

That Ligeti piece is very similar to the 7th movement of his Musica Ricercata. Love it!

[@davidpickar7614]

Bravo! As an avid musician, I see this video brilliantly engaging musicians and non-musicians alike!

[@endima6204]

very interesting video...thank you

[@LouisEmery]

1:30 I had just played some bagatelles this week. And I was about to respond on how Beethoven avoided "beige" in his bagatelles. Right before you brought it up!!!

[@huntarius1172]

Wow, I’ve always subconsciously known this and have always struggled with how to explain it when I’m helping someone write a song. Now I can just refer them to this video, thank you!

[@Toggitryggva]

Excellent!

[@MNolanMillar]

Just what I needed to hear.

[@tdubveedub]

Thank you!

[@jayashrishobna]

I gasped at the Ravel low chord. Brilliant demonstration.

[@VocalEdgeTV]

Dude this video is sick!

[@omegacanon]

Great analogy. For guitarists Beige Belt is the pentatonic box around 5-7 fret

[@stefke5862]

Thank you! I’m not writing classical music but heard right away that I should be more aware of the beige nebula in my songs

[@diegofloor]

This is the first time I learn about this. I am amazed. I think in notes and harmony and rarely pay attention to the impact of register choice. And when the video started I had no idea where it was going, but I expected something like you have to change the melody, harmony, scale, whatever, to move through registers. But just voicing things properly makes so much difference. By the way I started writing this about halfway through the video, and then you started talking about saturation, which blew my mind again. So anyway, I'll just shut up and feel baffled by my musical ignorance.

[@principals16842]

Organists must be only second behind composers in dealing with this problem. Registration (or choosing which sounds, in which octaves, and how to combine them on different organs) can set apart a dull and muddy performance from one that captivates the ear. It is interesting to observe how composers for organ tackled the problem in their writing. Charles-Marie Widor once observed that he could play a loud chord on his home organ without comment, but if he held a single note on the quietest stop for a long time his neighbors would unite in uproar. Hence it is interesting to observe in his famous Toccata a section where the L+R hands have big arpeggiated and staccato chords while a solo line of single held notes ascends in the L hand from F# below middle C up to A above it. These long notes stand out easily even amidst the busy texture and lead the piece to its satisfying recapitulation. For another approach, César Franck was reported to have advised his students always to "modulate, modulate" and that philosophy is immediately apparent in his organ works, e.g. the Choral in E Major. These modulations and the use of varied solo colors certainly helped to keep his works well out of the beige. David has already demonstrated how Bach changes the texture of his pieces. This was one reason Bach could write a long Prelude + Fugue for organs where stops could not be changed easily in the middle of the piece; another was down to the harmonic richness of the sounds available on the organs of his time and region. The late Stephen Bicknell's essay on "Harmonics and 'cheats'" describes why Bach didn't work as well on Anglo-American organs of the early 1900's, which tended towards producing a big, powerful, and dare I say, beige wall of sound that tired the ear quickly.

[@mrkv4k]

Greetings from the Czech Republic, it always warms my heart when someone mentions Czech composers.

[@nandoflorestan]

Dvorak.

[@XiXora]

That captain's chair suits you quite well, may I add…

[@simondanielssonmusic]

Love your channel. Cheers from Sweden! :) Edit: also, your editing has really stepped up as of late! The production quality is really good considering the fact that music composition is kind of a niche topic, at least compared to Apex Legends tournaments.

[@Ryousake]

This is a very interesting video! I'm very sensitive to the beige belt when I'm composing. I know I could write music that's more ambient but that ends up being boring for people who aren't me so I started making sure to not let things get too "same-y" with texture and tone. Sometimes, it is the goal because a lot of my music is telling a story and if i need something that sounds mundane, i let the beige belt in just a little bit!

[@thevalarauka101]

I like the letting it in idea, might try that myself sometime!

[@user-vg7ts2qt7k]

Now we have David Bruce Star-trekker.. your videos are always so engaging david.

[@pianojay5146]

I think it would have been more clearer if you visualized velocity (dynamics) within MIDI representation for "saturation" explanation. I really liked the idea representation using MIDI. Thank you!!!

[@txsphere]

David talks about the sound of The bassoon in the Rite of Spring. Stravinsky was writing the piece to be premiered in Paris and consequently a French orchestra would be playing the piece. The French bassoonist would have been playing a French bassoon which has a smaller, sweeter sound. So did Stravinsky have the sound of the French bassoon in mind or the German bassoon which is most commonly heard today? Search "German and French bassoon comparison" to hear it. Personally I like the German sound, but I don't know if that is because it is more familiar.

[@bobmoorecomposer]

OK, I about spewed my coffee at 00:58. Well played.

[@skiesengine1836]

There are some peak moments there xD

[@genesisPiano]

"Captain's log, stardate 46125.3. We have entered uncharted territory on the musical keyboard. My chief engineer, Mr. Scott, informs me the ship's instruments cannae handle the extreme highs and lows for much longer. The sound is just too rich and powerful. We may have to retreat back to the safe middle register before our ears explode from sheer musical delight. Make it so, Number One!" Comment brought to you by Anthropic's Claude with a tiny edit by a human.

[@russkalen2337]

I was delighted by your Star Trek setting. I was most interested in the concept of saturation of a register and how that can fatigue the listener into Beige. Something to be wary of in my composing. Thanks. Oh and the outro music was cool, but I don't think I want to hear it every time, lest it become beige.

[@phyzygy]

Pipe organ, where Enterprise enters the vast Expanse! This video was an artistic tour de force, thanks, David, et al.

[@Physicks499]

Thank you

[@A.F.Whitepigeon]

I'm a little surprised you didn't mention perhaps the most overt registral trick: Leaving a high sustained note and dropping out almost all accompaniment for a bar or two to give it more impact when it comes back in. See, for example, "Bring Me to Life," by Evanescence.

[@herrvierkoetter]

you beamed me up

[@siemonblidener652]

One inspiring example of the use of different registers in my opinion are the arpeggios in the opening theme of the last movement Beethoven's op.28.