Life's so unfair
[Edited 11/4/08 7:52am]

THIS is like asking why synthesizers are more popular than organs and/or pianos.

Miserablism said:

Music is stupid?

TonyVanDam said:

Two different entities. The short answer is laziness. The long answer is McDonald's.
The 808 is a kick drum and drums serve as tempo setters in most songs. The bass line is the foundation and in most bands, the other members follow the bass player in terms of content. The bass player follows the drummer for pace and tempo and it all usually works out (until the lead player starts soloing)
A great majority of songs are constructed this way.
The reason the 808 is more popular is because nowadays a lot of the pop music doesn't really go anywhere in terms of music. a lot of the production is minimalistic because a lot of the producers either don't know how to or simply are too lazy to construct a bass line that moves. If the bass line moves, the music around it must also move - making it more complex and requiring more melodic and chordal changes (in other words, more "work"). Its easier to remix a song than it is to create more parts for it, so rather than do that, a lot of producers just create a groove and move on to the next groove once they feel they've added enough parts to the groove to entertain people for three or four minutes. Its easier to get fast food than make a home-cooked meal. The focus becomes quantity over quality. Combine that with lack of real musicians working on musical projects and you have the disaster that is pop music. Simplistic, minimalistic grooves designed to carry you over into the next one. You are left having been fed yet still not feeling full. McDonalds.

BlaqueKnight said:

if that's all yours, i'm very impressed!

But i still like my minimalistic answer better!

BlaqueKnight said:

One of the reasons why a lot of us in the org are fans of The Funk is because of the major role that the bass always played in compositions most of the time.