What makes a certain piece of music stand out and what just makes is as random as elevator muzak? Yet there’s music for every occasion and in every place: When you turn on your TV, when you go shopping, even when you try to sleep and have Italian neighbors.

When writing these line I have just received the Californication album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from Amazon, a long time favorite I only had as low-res mp3 that have been gotten lost a long the way a couple of years now. And still the guitar solo in the track “Californication” gives me chills and “This Velvet Glove” entrances me in a way only “Over Your Shoulder” from Calexico can manage to do.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - This Velvet Glove. Californication (1999)

Calexico - Over Your Shoulder. The Black Light (1998)

I could add quite a number of other outstanding songs that evoke memories I never knew I had in me. And I guess you all out there have personal favorites too and so the list could go on forever. Mathematically we have an infinity here. But according to Georg Cantor, the father of set theory, there is an even bigger infinity out there — the infinity of irrational numbers, or as in this text ’s terms: The infinity of bad music.

As a hobbyist who makes some kind of music myself I can’t get comfortable with the idea of writing elevator music or something for crappy advertisement shows. Even if I ever had this kind of job I would try to write “outstanding” muzak nevertheless, even if it would be for some douche advertised at 3am.

Same goes for elevator music. Even if it’s supposed to sound random and soothing like pink molasses for your ears I probably couldn’t do it without adding a certain something to it (as far as I am capable of this). But am I the only one who expects a certain amount of quality even in muzak or commercials — even in easily forgettable video games?

Just when I feel totally overwhelmed by terrible sounds and totally heartless random notes in a common sequence something hits me out of the blue: Something great. Something fresh and lovable. Yes, there it is: Somebody’s loved baby. Somebody’s expression of herself against all the odds. Even after a few times of listening (when you have the chance to) it never becomes boring. Somebody loved this piece of music, somebody cared about it, paid attention to every little detail and nuance, despite the fact that such a musical brainchild is mostly doomed to live in a piece of junk, only brought to existence to make easy money and soon to vanish in oblivion — along with the advertised product.

An old song from an old tape with children’s songs comes to my mind every time before I fall asleep for a couple of days now. I don’t recall more than two words of lyrics nor the topic of it, i only recall a strange structure and melody that was so new to me back then that it got etched into my brain.

Another example is the theme song of the local beer ad for the brand “Gösser“. I couldn’t care less about the product but I care deeply about that melancholic theme with a nostalgic touch and an uplifting payoff. A good piece of music used in a commercial you people probably know better about is the beautiful “Palladio” by Karl Jenkins. It’s a full orchestra recording in the style of late renaissance music. See the video below hosted, rather illegally, on my webspace, or check out all the vintage Gösser commercials here.

The internet is a great place to interconnect with other crazy people who can go completely bonkers about, say, the title song to “Seiken Densetsu 2″ (or “Secret of Mana“) just like yourself — and even better: Some of them are homebrew-musicians themselves and find pleasure in remixing these old classics of the videogame industry. Not for a record label, not to harvest the big bucks and hence not targeted at a mass audience. They just do it completely for themselves, and maybe share it for free with others. This is an important point: As long as something has to live up to your own quality standards when you don’t have a possible focus group in mind all the time, then it can blossom into something outstanding and great.
Just have a look at OverClocked ReMix and you’ll find thousands of remixes to games that had such great music that your mom asked you to turn down the volume of that “terrible roboty bleeps, damnit!” back in the ol’ days, as in my case.

Hiroki Kikuta - Opening Titles. Secret of Mana (SNES, 1993)

djpretzel - Tidal Sequence. OCReMix.org (2004)

My bottom line on this whole issue is that some people do recognize quality when they experience quality, no matter in what form and in what context. Just because something is only targeted at, for example, young kids in the 1980s who own a videogame console, there’s no need to do a bad job. If Nobuo Uematsu (all the music to the Final Fantasy saga) did, I for sure wouldn’t remember his name.
Same goes for Carter Burwell (music to feature films such as “Fargo”, “Barton Fink” or “Being John Malkovich”) who also scored the “Goofy Movie” with some so loveable and dear tunes: or Michael Giacchino (score for Pixar’s “The Incredibles”) earned his spurs by doing a magnificent job by making the Medal of Honor series of games more than just a FPS but a Bruckheimer-esque interactive movie.

Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy X Title. Final Fantasy X Demo (PS2, 2001)

Carter Burwell - The Waterfall / The Truth. A Goofie Movie (1995)

Micheal Giacchino - Main Title. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (2002)

All those pieces of music are as rare as prime numbers among the infinity of the natural numbers. Yes, they are sparse but every now and then a new one gets discovered.
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