To categorize rock music as a single genre seems rather an impossible task, considering the manifold forms it covers, their professed simplicity or, on the contrary, cultivated complexity, their refined poetry or direct sexuality, their concentration on an appealing melody or, on the contrary, on wild beats and innumerable distortion effects.
What all these have in common, though, is their common ancestor - the American rock n' roll, a blend of blues, jazz and country, to name a few, taking teens and adolescents by storm in the 1950s, especially through the performances of Elvis Presley. He was really the perfect 'device' for such music: the embodiment of pure rhythm when dancing, the expression of uncompromising masculinity, force and seduction when singing, and a magician with the strings when playing.
Then, following the first generation of pioneers, the genre has started its multi-layered evolution, which was really spectacular, being facilitated by two circumstances: its perfect psychological and technological timing. First, the development of the music was made possible by the sexual liberation and the destruction of important taboos. Secondly, rock music was the first type of music to be recorded first in the studio and then performed live, which meant incredible and innovative sounds, permitted by effects pedals. Then, the radio was developing and so was recording and distribution venues, practically anyone with a good voice, a guitar and some drum kits being able to sing and listened to. Effects pedals themselves could be created manually, if considering Davies from The Kinks, who distorted his sounds by slashing with a razor blade his amp.
The extent of the freedom of musical expression within this genre is showed by the wide range of its forms. In the 1960s, the Beatles came with clear melody and back beat, romantic love lyrics and decent scene presence. But, in the same decade, progressive rock came with a high level of sophistication, due to its heavy use of classical music and jazz, as apparent in the complex instrumentation and long compositions, on the one hand, and the improvisation and poly-rhythm, on the other. Lyrics were epic or intellectual and the melodic line twisted or at least evolving at different levels. Bands like King Crimson, Yes or Pink Floyd were meant to be first understood, only then the audience being able to empathize with them.
And then you had a return to the origins of rock - as a liberation of the body, by dance, and of the mind, by shouting truths, in the 1970s - 1980s, with Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath, keeping blues and rock intertwined, on the one hand, and letting the guitar and drums to lead the way, with the help of effects pedals, be they the distortion used by Jimmy Page, the ring modulation employed by Black Sabbath or the dynamics effects heavily used by all. You should try some effects units from Sounds Great Music to see for yourself what's great about this 'devil's music'.
What all these have in common, though, is their common ancestor - the American rock n' roll, a blend of blues, jazz and country, to name a few, taking teens and adolescents by storm in the 1950s, especially through the performances of Elvis Presley. He was really the perfect 'device' for such music: the embodiment of pure rhythm when dancing, the expression of uncompromising masculinity, force and seduction when singing, and a magician with the strings when playing.
Then, following the first generation of pioneers, the genre has started its multi-layered evolution, which was really spectacular, being facilitated by two circumstances: its perfect psychological and technological timing. First, the development of the music was made possible by the sexual liberation and the destruction of important taboos. Secondly, rock music was the first type of music to be recorded first in the studio and then performed live, which meant incredible and innovative sounds, permitted by effects pedals. Then, the radio was developing and so was recording and distribution venues, practically anyone with a good voice, a guitar and some drum kits being able to sing and listened to. Effects pedals themselves could be created manually, if considering Davies from The Kinks, who distorted his sounds by slashing with a razor blade his amp.
The extent of the freedom of musical expression within this genre is showed by the wide range of its forms. In the 1960s, the Beatles came with clear melody and back beat, romantic love lyrics and decent scene presence. But, in the same decade, progressive rock came with a high level of sophistication, due to its heavy use of classical music and jazz, as apparent in the complex instrumentation and long compositions, on the one hand, and the improvisation and poly-rhythm, on the other. Lyrics were epic or intellectual and the melodic line twisted or at least evolving at different levels. Bands like King Crimson, Yes or Pink Floyd were meant to be first understood, only then the audience being able to empathize with them.
And then you had a return to the origins of rock - as a liberation of the body, by dance, and of the mind, by shouting truths, in the 1970s - 1980s, with Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath, keeping blues and rock intertwined, on the one hand, and letting the guitar and drums to lead the way, with the help of effects pedals, be they the distortion used by Jimmy Page, the ring modulation employed by Black Sabbath or the dynamics effects heavily used by all. You should try some effects units from Sounds Great Music to see for yourself what's great about this 'devil's music'.
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You can use some incredible effects pedals from Sounds Great Music if you want to enhance the quality of your music.
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