A Story of Melody

Experimentation resides at the heart of the art culture as the singular driving force behind the evolution of art. For the art form to grow, artists must venture into the unknown. Experiments can be well thought out or simply arise from wonderful accidents. The impact of experimentation on the expansion of art is perhaps most evidently prevalent in the world of music.

If we take a look at history of music, we will see that the development of this art form was never planned nor approached academically. Musical genres over the years have evolved mostly through mistakes made by artists. Though the occurrence of the event is debatable, it is said that Rock and Roll music took its first form in the hands of blues musician Chuck Berry. His decision of adopting a more distorted tone in his song 'Johnny be good' is the reason behind the birth of a genre just for a change in musical tone and upbeat rhythm. Like every country, Bangladesh's music also went through these changes and it is still in the process of being moulded.

In this millennium, we have seen our country's music grow more than ever. From the rise of bands such as Artcell and Black in the early 2000 to the independent artists' experimentation on soundcloud; we are witnessing huge developments in our musical culture.  The emergence of the underground scene can be stated as a part of our country's musical history. The long haired, all black wearing youngsters chose venues like RCC and Fu-Wang Club to showcase their musical skills turning these places into our own versions of Woodstock. Their experimentation with distorted guitar tones gave Bangla Rock a new avatar, while Bands such as Bangla took over the scene with their folk elements and acoustic sounds. These musicians paved the way for a new sound and an alternative genre of music. As years followed we saw new musical genres such as Hip-hop, Metal, and Indie rise in our country. As the world grew smaller, we adopted different musical genres and tried to make them our own. Electro Acoustic nights at Jatra Biroti reflect how we are expanding our range.

The drawback still remains as the experiments don't come off as mainstream art. Though commercial music has its own pride and glory in our culture, we don't see the experimental music sharing that same space. “As the record labels don't think our sound will be acceptable to mass audiences, the only option we have is soundcloud,” says Mir Sabbir, an independent Indie musician.  The lack of shows and interest from record labels are the biggest reason this progress is at a stand still. “As the next generation is now immerging in the market, we are hoping this progress will soon be taken in the right path,” says musician Armeen Musa. “We like to think that someday there will be no bounds and we will be able to form music as it was meant to be, through accidents and mishaps, because that is the best way to develop art.”