Repetition in music is a difficult subject. On one hand it adds depth and emotion, but on the other, it can make a song seem lazily constructed and boring. Many musicians struggle to find a balance between these hands. One old “rule” of music is that if a note is repeated, it should not have the same tone as it’s previous appearance. Some perceived “boredom” can be alleviated by changes in volume, rhythm, or tone. For example, in wind instruments, a change in embouchure creates a huge variance in tone and pitch. In most popular music, the use of digital duplication and heavy affectation creates a subculture genre of music that breaks the aforementioned “rule.” This subculture has grown as of late, and artists must now chose between pleasing the mass of people who don’t care, and those more traditional scum. My Blood, released by a pop group known as Twenty One Pilots today strikes an intriguing balance between digital replication, and varied repetition.
