Ok, so this shit's about to get real.
I'm sure a few of you visiting here have seen the very clever Axis of Awesome sequence "Four Chord Song", where they blast out numerous sounds without once changing their chord progressions.
It got me thinking- there's got to be a formula to developing a tune that attracts mainstream attention. I'm not just talking chord progressions, I'm thinking pitch intervals, tempos, key changes, the whole she-bang.
Over the next couple of weeks we are going to look at music and develop graphs of the soundscape. From this I plan to develop a formula (or formulas as it may result) that will cover the ability to write successful tunes over a number of music genres.
We're going to start with looking at the following:
* Current top 40
* Most successful number 1's over the past 2 decades
* An aggregated list of critic's picks.
Using CSV files and a bit of handy programming we'll be able to have a look at patterns and work our way from there. If you have any suggestions / criticism please drop me a comment and we can work through this all together.
Wish me luck,
Tom
