Instrumental Music and Songs by Tal Babitzky

19 Aug, 2014

I love to listen to instrumental music and I also like to listen to songs, I composed both instrumental music and songs. I also love voice as an instrument, that is to say an instrumental music when a voice is a music instrument that sings without words.

I love to listen to instrumental music and I also like to listen to songs, I composed both instrumental music and songs. I also love voice as an instrument, that is to say an instrumental music when a voice is a music instrument that sings without words.
In the distant past during the classical and romantic period most of the music was instrumental: piano sonatas, symphonies, and concertos, these days
a popular music is the vocal music with melodies and lyrics. What is the difference between instrumental music and songs? To me, this seems a bit like the difference between a book and a movie. When we read a book, we imagine landscapes, situations, people’s looks and sights, each does so according to his imagination and memories. Each person draws a different picture in mind from the other person. In film we see views, people’s faces, and movement. When we hear instrumental music, every person has a different associations, and can imagine something different listening to the music. Many times in my shows I asked the audience to offer a title to an original tune that I just played, I always got a variety of names that most of the times didn’t have any connection between them, that is to say music created within each person a different association.

Unlike instrumental music, songs with lyrics have less imagination because the words already describe something thereby taking the music in a certain direction. If we hear love song, understand the language, and listen to the words, we can imagine love, everyone in his own way, but we will not imagine, for example diving in the sea. This means that music with lyrics restricts us in our musical imagination, but on the other hand, gives us another level, the words so, we concentrate both in music and in words. The same thing happens when we watch a movie; We imagine less than reading the book, because we are getting things like photography, sound effects and music. In the songs the singer is the most important person and he attracts the most attention of the audience instrumental music is more equitable between those who play it. Other difference is, instrumental music is not limited by the ability and vocal range of the singer. When I create music I target a pieces with complex melody, which contains jumping up and down and fast notes to become instrumental pieces. Tunes that are easier to sing would become songs. Although it is not necessarily absolute, instrumentals have more place for improvisation and variations on the melody because the music is not limited by words.

Another difference I see between the two is that in instrumental music composer cannot cheat. He must bring a good melody in a very high standard. In instrumental music it is impossible to hide a weak melody by strong lyrics, magnificent production or a cute singer, you need to create music that would get people excited, make them imagine, and dream. It’s not easy, so most creators prefer to write songs with words. The songs are much more popular than instrumental music. Why? For the same reason why the films are more popular than books. So what I like to create more? Actually, I like both. Overall composition process is quite similar. I play on the piano and in most cases humming a melody. What I like to listen to? Both, as long as it’s a good music.

Tal Babitzky
http://www.talbabitzky.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJx0DRMk5vs

Buy My Music on:
http://talbabitzky.bandcamp.com/album/behindthe-screen