Why are AMV's so rockcentric? Perplexed.

[seasons]

I don't get it. Not only is techno - in its various forms - generally more popular than rock/guitar these days...
...anime and techno were made for each other!

When you say "techno" could you be more specific about what you mean?

[Farlo]

i'm generalizing, but rock and other similar genres typically have lyrics, electronica typically doesn't. that's could be a big reason why, people like editing something where they can sync some to the story of the song.

[exkcal]

i'm generalizing, but rock and other similar genres typically have lyrics, electronica typically doesn't. that's could be a big reason why, people like editing something where they can sync some to the story of the song.

This is very true. I mostly choose my songs by the lyrics and how the compare to the anime at hand. Rock is also very popular.

[Shui]

...anime and techno were made for each other!

[Bote]

Wut? Youtube is oversaturated with techno and dubstep AMVs. :/ There are some pretty famous ones, too.

What we need more is METAL! WE NEED METAL IN AMVs!

[AnimeAMVFan]

I kinda like rock and techno on Amvs because I don't watch many low rhythm anime most of the anime I watch are full of action scenes that match with high rhythm music.
but I really like to edit Amvs with drama and emotions. It's peaceful, it's relaxing

I guess some people are more into action and high rhythm musics than other

[Farlo]

What we need more is METAL! WE NEED METAL IN AMVs!

Bote gets it.

[Jedinovice]

Hi,

First, sorry for the lack of engagement on the thread I started but I have recently had typhoid and, though I am back at work, I am very weak - more than I expected and concentration is difficult. Also, when I have any energy I am working as fast as I can on a 'must do' Date-A-Live encore AMV! I have drunk serious amounts of caffine to make this post! Yes, it will upset my now fragile digestive system but it's the only way I can stay awake right now.

Anyway, to answer a few queries/objections [please note, I am being amiable. I know that text alone can make one sound aggressive and I hope I do not come across as such.]

First, I define 'techno' very widely and so I think I gave the wrong impression in my initial post. People thought I was referring to techno trance/dance or pure synth. While I think there are AMV's to be made with such music, including heart warming stuff, I also include light pop in the category of 'techno.' Modern pop music tends towards the synthesiser and I include that. The trouble is that I don't have a 'catch all' word or phrase for what I mean. I just more frustrated that the AMV's I keep finding - youtube I grant, are soooo biased towards rock and acoustic and, to my mind, most of them don't work! (Take that as point 1b! )

Next, I disagree that synthesiser music automatically = soulless or artificial. I will accept that early synthesiser music was much like that but the early Moog synths were severely limited in their capabilities, not least that they were monophonic. I wondered why synthesiser music leapt in quality and quantity from around 1977. I discovered that two key synthesisers came out in 1975 and five key programmable synths in 1978! So early synth music was weak and 'flat.' However, the technology has come a long way and it really depends on how it is used. I agree that a lot of techno trance/dance is just funky and stops at that but used correctly a synthesiser can produce beautiful music. (Try 'Yellowstone park' by Tangerine dream or the soundtrack from 'Legend.')

Synthesiser music allows a range of sounds that go beyond the normal and given so much anime deals with the fantastic and 'other worldly' to my mind the two art forms are made for each other but I keep getting rock. As I say, 100% of all 'Stein;s gate' AMV's I have come across have been to date, rock. I had to fill in the gap myself!

I also disagree that 'natural' instruments such as electric guitar (that's natural?) or acoustic or even raw piano automatically equals more soul. What's bothering me are AMV's where, to my mind/taste, the music and the material do not gel because I feel the music is inappropriate.

I understand that AMV's equal mini stories. I do make them! You have to select an element from the original anime and amplify that one aspect via the music and cur. You choose to go with the charm, action, fantasy, whatever, and then select a track that draws that feel out and mix and match. But I do contend that synthesiser music - be it pure synth ('space synth,' is that what's it's called these days?) trance or whatever can tell a tale.

I agree that pure, raw techno/synth lends itself to fragmented AMV's without story… but it's not a guarentee...

...Indeed, one of my gripes about so many guitar based AMV's is that music videos tend to need to be fast moving. That's my nightmare when editing - the endless number of changing cuts. Guitar music is often slower paced than techno which I often find is a problem with the AMV's I find online. The video ends up being static and not matching the emotional 'beat' of the music or the anime. Lyrical guitar is slow to cut to and, to my mind, too many of the AMV's I end up seeing online are long clips thrown against guitar and there is no soul.

Hey, having being bowled over by the Date-A-Live 'encore' OVA, I rushed to see if there were any AMV's. I found one. Not only was it a slow, fairly static cut against a guitar track that I figured did not work… I predicted that was what I would find when I went searching! As I say, "Golden time," last time I went searching, was the same, "Angel beats" largeely the same… in fact, pick a title! Oddly enough, I found 'Ah my goddess' has proven different.

I think a few links are needed for me to justify my points. And, as I say, my students (and potential anime club members when I can finally work out my plan to escape overwork) concur. They also find that AMV's are biased towards some form of guitar.


OK, Links:
I have found 'Yellowstone park' by Tangerine dream from 1984 - a favourite of mine. Listen to it all and then tell me electronic music has no heart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL5DjtZdexk

Then, this is a favourite AMV of mine to light synthesier pop and helped me decide to buy 'The girl who leapt through time.' To my mind, an example of 'techno'music creating an AMV with soul.
..drat! It seems to have been pulled from 'youtube!' Grrrr! [And, the videos I looked up were… acoustic guitar.]
Here's an alternative - though my selection is limited because everything I look for its rock or acustoc guitar!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwtXxZzAcjY
(It's not as polished as my first choice but still charming I contend.)

Examples of pure synth in AMV's are very slim pickings and so I have to fall back on one of my own. This is my first ever AMV, done in Windows days, and is pure synth. Note, it tells a story!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPBAwml3vcQ

I also want to acknowledge that rock can, of course, can work well! This is very inspiring rock AMV that I like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M-MT8rdIkM

But I find there is so little of the above compared to rock/acoustic. For example… while I am not a great fan of the anme 'Golden time' (Banri is soooo dull) but Kaga is great! In fact, cough, she reminds me toooo much of my wife. So I got hunting for Golden Time AMV's and they are ALL rock or acoustic guitar. In fact, if I go looking for any particular title for AMV's the first nine will be guitar based, if I find anything non-guitar based at all!

I am coming to conclusion that AMV's editors just love guitar music! I wonder if there is anything set to "The Shadows…?"

Of course, someone could prove me wrong and cut an AMV to this…
[Now there's a challenge!]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88IXx-imvjI

I'll try and engage with other comments later. Work beckons and is not taking "I can't be bothered" as an answer!

[Jedinovice]

Wut? Youtube is oversaturated with techno and dubstep AMVs. :/ There are some pretty famous ones, too.

What we need more is METAL! WE NEED METAL IN AMVs!

No problem. Just youtube 'Naruto' or 'Bleach' AMV.

[Tigrin]

...Indeed, one of my gripes about so many guitar based AMV's is that music videos tend to need to be fast moving. That's my nightmare when editing - the endless number of changing cuts. Guitar music is often slower paced than techno which I often find is a problem with the AMV's I find online. The video ends up being static and not matching the emotional 'beat' of the music or the anime. Lyrical guitar is slow to cut to and, to my mind, too many of the AMV's I end up seeing online are long clips thrown against guitar and there is no soul.

[...]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwtXxZzAcjY
(It's not as polished as my first choice but still charming I contend.)

I don't think this is the fault of the music so much as the editing. It's an amateur mistake to just throw down a whole clip completely unedited and untimed to the music. This video you linked is actually a good example of poor timing in that sense; too many clips just play out without any attempt at internal or external sync. It's just a matter of course that if you're looking for AMVs on YouTube, which has a huge accessible community, you're going to run across a lot of bad AMVs before finding good ones. It's not the music's fault.