Time and Sound: John McNeil
December 12, 2019
For the majority of the early 20th Century, Big Band Ensembles were the popular music of choice. Big Band ensembles were the dance music of the time, the soundtrack to the most sought-after social events, and the bandleaders were the superstars of the day. Artists like Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman, and Count Basie were the chief architects of the era, filling venues from Kanas City’s Reno Club to New York City’s Cotton Club.
Big Band ensembles were known for their powering horn sections – trumpets, saxophones, and trombones – as well as their swinging and fast paced rhythm sections. While the horn sections were undoubtedly the stars of the show, the rhythm section – which included, the piano, drums, double bass, and guitar – was expected to be the musical glue, holding everything together, but not standing out too much.
Noticeably, prior to the 1930s, every instrument was played acoustically. If you wanted the piano to be louder, you simply opened the top, the double was helped by its sheer size, and horns didn’t need much help being heard, especially in a group. But, what about the guitar? The guitar, for the most part, was just left to play rhythm, rarely taking the lead.
At the end of the 19th century, there were some efforts to electrically amplify the guitar, but there wasn’t much success. In 1931, musician, George Beauchamp and electric engineer, Adolph Rickenbacker finally cracked the code, creating an electromagnetic device that could amplify the vibrations coming from the strings. With the help of their invention, music was changed forever. Guitarist, Charlie Christian, a member of the Benny Goodman Orchestra, took Beauchamp and Rickenbacker’s invention and completely revolutionized the instrument, pioneering new techniques, and moving the guitar from the rhythm section to becoming a solo instrument.
With a rather simple invention, Beauchamp, Rickenbacker, and Christian helped change the trajectory of music. Without Charlie Christian, music would look very different – we may not have gotten the three Kings: B.B., Freddie, and Albert; Chuck Berry, or Jimi Hendrix.
Charlie Christian and the electric guitar is one of many examples that elucidates the relationship between technological innovation and music – with new tools artists are able to do new things, and sometimes things that have never been done before. So, what are the tools of the ‘10s? What technological changes have taken place that have changed how music is made and consumed?
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In the second part of the Time and Sound series, I interviewed producer, sound designer and bassist, John McNeill. John is a member of the trio, Weathrman, a part of the duo production team 42*North with his brother, Joel, and a sound designer as a part of the Soul Surplus production team. John and I had a wide-ranging conversation on the decade in music, discussing the evolution and meaning of “genre,” his theory of grit vs grid, and technological innovation over the course of the decade. Here’s our conversation:
Stanley: Thinking broadly, how would you describe the sound of the 2010s?
John M.: For me, the 2010s certainly may have shown more range musically than we’ve ever seen before. There were so many musical trends happening simultaneously amongst genres and subcultures; it’s almost impossible for me to quantify it in one major music stamp or label, but if I had to paint with a broad brush in this case I would call it the era of “Grit versus the Grid”— a name that attempts to consider the juxtaposition in this era between ‘4 on the floor’ party anthems and minimalistic deconstructionism ballads; all the while containing key aspects that cast large shadows in the decade, some being: autotune, distortion and frequent ode’s to vintage sound quality, all arguably traced to projects like Kanye’s 808’s and Heartbreaks, which could serve as a possible turning point into the decade, as we had to reimagine artistic approaches to minimalism, sonic qualities in music and aesthetic. “Grit versus the Grid” again tries to encapsulate reference to momentum from the Y2K era in the 2000s with hip-hop and pop music being very computer based in production to the 2010’s going even a step further with the prominence and dominance of the coined likes of Festival DJ’s, Bedroom Producers and Aux-cord Beatmakers.
The late 2000’s crossing into the decade we saw the table being set with the approach to pop hits changing as new vocal acts were less about vocal gymnastics and runs, and more about earworm syllable melodies. All the while the insurmountable growth of Electronic Dance Music (EDM) boiled over to be the craze for the next 5 years, also being a centerpiece for the sound of the 2010’s in pop music. Artists such as Skrillex, Diplo and Calvin Harris brought a sound in to dominate with EDM and dubstep reaching an American variation that was a staple for the time. These DJ’s were their own acts that didn’t necessarily need vocalists. Pop music then grew simultaneously with this dance music trend as the acts became interchangeable and the production of the big pop artists like Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga seemingly followed suit or at least existed in the same sonic world to say the least.
“Grit versus the Grid” tries to encapsulate reference to momentum from the Y2K era in the 2000s with hip-hop and pop music being very computer based in production
With any trend the enormous move towards ‘four on the floor’ and ‘bass drops’ had so many counter musical cultures brewing at the same time. Through the decade we saw contemporary R&B acts move all the way towards the underground sounds of alternative R&B and indie acts. Even some of the most prominent R&B acts, like Rihanna and Beyonce found themselves having massive success with albums that sounded nothing like the music they made before (albums Lemonade and ANTI, respectively). It was very alternative and indie, yet the numbers and the times determined that it was now “pop.” So many artists throughout and in between found success in an “alternative sound,” like Jhene Aiko, The Weekend, Frank Ocean and H.E.R. to name a few across the era.
Drake seemed to play a major part in this sonic approach of alt R&B but I want to save that for a little later as he existed in the many worlds of rap, R&B and Pop simultaneously all while transcending them as well. Artists like him specifically aided in marking this era as one that may be hugely remembered as “genre blending,” and cross pollinating. The standard soon became one that had rappers having to try and be “singers” too, pushing this idea of fluidity and versatility; of course this “alternative” theme had it’s hand in rap too with artists like, Tyler the Creator who seemingly lead a subculture that was based upon the concept very concepts of “alternative and anti.”
All the while, the steady existence of “Trap music” grew from it’s early 2000s roots in the American south, to a world sound that dominated the charts. The 2010s expanded upon its southern origin with a new wave of artists and producers championing the sound to reach massive levels. Lex Lugar, 808 Mafia, Mike Will Made It, Metro Boomin and Tay Keith are producers that represent a good chronological reach across the decade providing the trap beats for hip hop artists who pushed the genre into the forefront even more. Early 2010s artists with success from the “trap sound” were Young Jeezey, Chief Keef and Future. Yet some of the biggest Hip-Hop artists ever emerged in this decade in Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Travis Scott and Nicki Minaj. With the help of the constant dominance of these names and the resurgence of the older names like Kanye West and Jay-Z (some can argue Jay Z’s resurgence was possibly due to Kanye with “Watch the Throne”) newer artists like the Migos, Cardi B and Chance the Rapper all lead to a boiling point in 2017 as Hip-hop became the biggest genre in the U.S. And the theme of “genre blending” persists as “Trap and EDM” met in the middle of the decade to snowball into pop music that was actually often labeled as “Trap EDM.”
Meanwhile, in the middle of the decade a turning point also occurred as the “Soundcloud Rapper” phenomenon went from forum based internet subculture (within popular trap music—that some coined as ‘mumble rap’) to chart topping pop music status with artists like Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty and the south florida influx of rappers like XXXtentacion and Lil Pump.
If the early 2000’s had Neo Soul as a movement and genre, then the 2010s saw a resurgence of soul that can be seen as a “Soul Revival” or even “Soul Riot”
Again returning to the idea of juxtaposition and the label “Grit versus Grid” I also observe the importance of movements like chillwave in the late 2000’s that bled into the 2010’s with acts like Tame Impala and M83 making electropop a staple in contemporary music. Americana and folk sounds also played a huge part in pop music (i.e. Mumford and Sons, Alabama Shakes) that often mixed with indie (i.e. Foster the People) and alternative rock (i.e. Paramore) to add to the steady demand for listeners to hear acoustic instrumentation with more of a traditional singer songwriter approach while also seeing consistent genres like Country get face lifted with the mixture of new pop elements.
If the early 2000’s had Neo Soul as a movement and genre, then the 2010s saw a resurgence of soul that can be seen as a “Soul Revival” or even “Soul Riot,” as many artists spoke out of political and social unrest from movements like “Black Lives Matter” and the “Me Too” movement. So much of the music literally sounded like it could have been straight from the late 60s or early 70s with acts like Cee Lo Green, Janelle Monae and Childish Gambino (specifically with his album, Awaken, My Love!) all giving ode to times of old and even reinterpreting what that familiar soul sound was like, yet being very missional in message. Many of these artists also existed in the “alternative” R&B space mentioned earlier with many moments being essential and defining for the decade like, Solange’s A Seat at the Table topping the charts while artists like Anderson .Paak did so as well in a way that was soulful and vintage, yet new and fresh.
Stanley: Music and technology/technological innovation have always had a paired relationship. For example, the 80s had the Linn Drum/drum machines and a variety of synthesizers that kind of defined the decade. What technological innovation/instrument do you think defined the 2010s?
John: For the 2010s the laptop computer definitely was the technological innovation that defined the era, coupled with the wild change in music consumption and purchase habits with the rise of streaming platforms and YouTube making “viral hits” a frequent occurrence more than ever, along with empowering a new army of DIY independent artists who could record a song in their bedroom, shoot the video themselves and upload it to YouTube or anywhere online in a matter of minutes.
The term “Bedroom Producer” had already been been coined in the chillwave movement at the turn of the decade, and in the 2010s the idea went even farther to me with the barrier to entry being even lower with laptops being more widely accessible and having built-in music software that was very user friendly. More specifically, plugins and VSTs (virtual studio technology) changed the game as equipment that was once thousands, and even tens of thousands of dollars (they were even previously inaccessible for most producers), now could be downloaded and simulated for a fraction of the price with this technological advance.
We heard so many “synthesizers” and “electric keyboard sounds” in this era. Whether it was with EDM and the pop music that followed suit, or Hip Hop and trap music; however, most of it wasn’t done on real analog keyboards (minus the occasional exceptions like the Mike Dean’s who actually would have the vintage Moog’s and other synthesizers) all while simultaneously many producers and artists did seek out a real analog experience in revivalist efforts. So, in this era we saw a reissuing of classic keyboards to service the very trend of many musicians and producers who did want to mimic times of old with getting the actual keyboards from the 80’s instead of using a VST (a trend certainly influenced by the table setting chillwave movement at the turn of the decade); nevertheless the majority of hits in the era found many producers using plugins and cloud based services to simulate the same sounds. With this we even saw the decline of traditional “studios” as artists and producers didn’t have the money to book a session, and really they had no necessity to use spaces like that any longer, as we had Drake’s producer, Noah Shabib better known as “40,” and Drake himself, cutting final vocals in hotel rooms.
This era also may be the greatest we’ve seen in empowerment and self-sustainability for the producer than any other era we’ve seen before. Like I mentioned earlier, in the EDM genre producers were DJ’s who had the ceiling of headlining hundreds of thousands at festivals playing, an hour set of their songs, mostly instrumental.
This trend even carried over for Hip Hop producers, as we saw defining acts like Metro Boomin really capitalize on their brand with various producer tags being such integral parts of songs. We even saw him and others doing less traditional “DJ sets,” by really just playing popular songs they were credited. Throughout Hip-Hop’s history there did exist a foundational love and spotlight cast on Disc Jockeys and producers. Many later capitalized on their brand and visibility, but in this era it certainly evolved into something we really hadn’t seen before.
So this “bedroom producer” label was reduced even further down to the iteration of “aux cord producer or beat makers,” as a common visual that could define the era was often the ‘platinum producer walking into a studio placing his or her thousand dollar laptop on top of a hundred thousand dollar analog console,’ certainly depicting an era change.
Stanley: Every decade has defining albums, or we could say albums that stand out from the rest in their influence. What album (or albums) do you think was/were the most influential for how other artists made their albums? What producer do you think was the most influential in how other producers made music?
John M.: This big sonic pot of gumbo in the decade to me is so vast yet I can’t shake how much of it intersects with Kanye with his influential fingerprints being found throughout. I would have to say that to me he is the most influential artist and producer of the decade. Yes, I may sound biased but so many artists “across genres” acknowledge his influence, tastemaking and pioneering efforts. To me, 808’s and Heartbreaks set the tone for the decade and everything he (and everyone else) did after either pulled from or built upon this moment in time.
Whether it's synths and autotune, or the unrest of the minimalism it all can be seen trending in the 2010s. Especially with artists like Drake who really made his impact with minimalism and introspection, the trend is extremely important to track. With Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, he solidified the idea and theme of the decade being about genre blending with his masterful curation of artists, sounds and aesthetic.
The acoustic versus synth “grit” of the album highlighted the era as well; even the use of artists like Bon Iver on the album played a part in pushing “alternative” artistic sentiments to the forefront. It’s even fair to argue that Kanye’s Yeezus played a huge part in shifting music and culture again to really zero in on the musical approaches and ideas he began rolling out with 808’s and MBDTF.
The concepts of minimalism and deconstruction reached a pinnacle with this project in my opinion. Once again, Ye set the tone for the decade with gritty synthesizers and rave worthy electronic dance beats this time, I believe, going farther beyond the music than we had ever seen before. Post-apocalyptic aesthetic in the Yeezus brand shifted culture influencing clothing, film, business and the music obviously did the same especially with the release of The Life of Pablo album, as the spectacle and roll out it may have been most impactful with him doing an album release in Madison Square Garden, changing everything we thought we knew about bundling and brand uniformity. The later half of the decade has found young artists (i.e. Travis Scott, Lorde, Billie Eillish, etc) achieving much prominence with a dark, punk rage attitude that sits in parallel with minimalism and post apocalyptic emo-sentiment. In a decade full of music that seemingly is so vast in reach and broad in measurement it becomes even more impressive that Kanye finds himself throughout it in a way that is quite undeniable.
Stanley: What do you think the 2020s will sound like?
John M.: In following with my Kanye synopsis and observation, I think he may have given us a glimpse into what the 2020s could bring in maybe a resurgence of uplifting gospel inspired music. We may even see a shift and evolution of gospel music finally taking dominance in the culture due to someone influential like Kanye topping those Christian charts for the first time in his career. We saw many flirt with this traditional sense of uplifting spiritualism rooted in the tradition of the American “black church” experience, like the Chance’s and the countless soul revivalists of the era, but Kanye of course, like always, gave us a different form of this by fusing it with the trends he already put in motion during the decade: minimalism, genre blending as well as sample and artist curation.
Maybe this might bring a return to a call for more live instrumentation in music; furthermore technological advances already have given the accessibility of real musicianship to the huge population of producers who don’t know music theory or who aren’t formally trained; via samples from cloud based services or sites like mine (Soul Surplus *shameless plug*) who have instrumentalists providing the chords and instruments that many can’t play, all may be the continuing foundation to support the trend of growing musicality no matter the ability of the creator. Hence, soul and gospel may reach new heights in this decade maybe with a twist of the minimalistic, emo, singer songwriter approach that has been set in place as well. It’s always hard to call it but hopefully we’ll get to see some really cool stuff happen.
