The Society for Prevention of Music being Used as Ketchup (SPOMBUAK)

It is high time to launch this society. The ketchup has been flowing long enough, the situation is messy enough, the confusion distressing enough.

— What do you mean, music used as ketchup?

I mean music used as ketchup, as “sauce”. Not as background music but with the attitude of everything gets better with some music.

— Why are you doing this?

Because I respect and love music. As a musician and composer it would be a shame if I didn’t. I respect even light music, even good muzak. But there is a way of using, misusing music that reminds me of juvenile kids with undeveloped taste buds who think that tomato sauce improves everything.

In a similar way there is now a belief, not only among the young, that everything will be improved by a soundtrack, that something will be missing if you don’t pour music over your creation.

When I say “everything” I am thinking of videos, typically videos on YouTube, and also audio recordings and audio-books. In both cases there seems to be a temptation for amateurs and semi-pros to try to make things snazzy and hip. This can of course be done visually with a professional looking video intro.

The other method is to add ketchup to the dish. Or music. Which often amounts to the same thing: hiding the taste, acting like camouflage, concealing the content.

When the content is mainly visual, no problem. But in the case of videos where speech plays an important role — reviews, tutorials, etc. — the musical ketchup is often drowning out or distracting from what is being said.

Soft, hardly noticeable music could be a better idea. Or why not be radical and use no music at all? There is absolutely nothing wrong with a naked voice, without additives and spices. Voices are often spicy enough.

So this is not just a question of soundtrack but also of VOICES. We seem to have forgotten that a voice IS music.

A good voice needs no “atmosphere”, no frills, no crutch. Especially not something that makes it hard to hear. And if the voice is poor, it will hardly improve by being almost inaudible.

Now let’s listen to some examples.

There are much worse examples, these are just a few from YouTube.

And the more interesting the subject, the more distracting the musical ketchup becomes.

Here we get interesting info on Orion, sprinkled with a layer of Parmesan. If kids get used to this they will be mighty surprised the first time they hear a naked voice. “What’s wrong, couldn’t they afford at least a loop…?”

All this reminds me of the Disney song “With a little bit of sugar the medicine goes down”. With a little, or not so little, musical ketchup the video goes down. Yes down. The logic seems to be that it goes up, supposedly becomes more hip and cool.

This is the logic of teenagers. The result is everything else than hip, rather embarrassingly wannabe. Because music is not ketchup but perfume, champagne, something poetic, wondrous, a miracle come to Earth.

Let’s not use it, misuse it as something utterly mundane.

When we prepare food we know all this. We don’t overpower, overcook, oversugar, oversalt, and surely not overketchup. The ingredients need to be right but the proportions need to be right as well.

A sound engineer knows this well. A composer, an orchestrator knows it. Everybody with some experience in the kitchen knows it.

It is time the insight was shared with people who put videos on YouTube — before music loses its magic powers and becomes a vulgar accessory.

Please do not destroy music like this, folks. It is a delicacy, use it with taste, moderation, or not at all.

Silence is not only golden. it is music, too.

A further viewpoint: Man enjoys contrasts in life more than sameness. “Variety is the spice of life.” This is clearly illustrated in the following example:

Imagine a pianist playing in a cafe or restaurant. He can have nimble fingers but this job requires a special technique, a sensitivity for On-Off balance.

If his sense of balance is poor he plays loudly, and constantly. (Somebody who plays softly makes me want to come nearer, a loud player repulses me.) He just keeps playing and playing, one song after another, pours music over us almost as if it was ketchup. After some hours we finally get a break.

A sensitive musician has a better understanding of “white space”. He knows that if he takes a short break, 10-15 seconds is enough, after 2-3 songs, then that silence will be golden, an enjoyment for the listeners. And when he starts to play again after the short break the music will be an enjoyment, a welcome comeback.

In this simple way he makes a pleasure of both music and silence. What a difference a silence makes! And how balanced and enjoyable ON-OFF can be.

One more thing: It can be added that musical ketchup is different from film music in the following way: film music always has a relationship with the visual and dramatic element of the film. There is thought behind it; sometimes hard to find, sometimes all too obvious. Intelligent life is present.

In musical ketchup there is no noticeable thought or intelligent life. The only thought behind it that I can find is: Let’s kill this silence, let’s fill the “white space”. Silence is baad!

— Now take your responsibility and JOIN THE SOCIETY.

PS: An older text about the same subject: Musical Garum

And I want to start a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Against Ketchup!