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     Music is an important part of a society and culture, and provides one of the most passionate and joyous forms of expression we can know. Each song seems to have a life of it's own, with it's own features and moods and meanings. Music grips our emotions and stirs them, making us feel and think, perhaps differently then we would without music. In movies music is used to enhance and develop anxiety, love, excitement and a full array of impulses, indeed without it movies would be much less substantial. In our everyday lives we use music to celebrate our existence and moods, especially in my case. Music is an integral part of myself and my life, without music I may as well cease to exist.
     Over the last couple of years, I've developed a sort of rating system that measures songs, albums and artists on a personal scale. I call this system the CDE rating system, which is explained below. My last trip to California landed me in a discussion with a couple friends, one of whom worked at HSX and was very involved in the music industry. I explained to them this rating system I use, and they had mentioned hearing something about it before. If indeed this is an existing system then I apologize for using it without proper accreditations, please let me know and I'll offer that credit appropriately. However, to my knowledge, this is a rating system I've developed on my own, based on how I personal rate music.

     The CDE Ratings: This system is called CDE because each letter represents one of the rating categories. The letters stand for Complexity, Drive and Epic. At first glance that may not seem to make much sense, but each category is explained in more detail below. Each category is rated with a number from 1 to 7, 1 being an exceptioanlly poor rating and 7 being an exceptionally high rating. The overall rating is calculated by adding each of the three categories together for a total. Additional points may be meritted based on other outstanding factors such as humor. Most overall ratings will never reach 20 as this is considered an exceptional album/song/artist in every category. I'm not a believer that there is any 'perfect' music in this world. Anyway, on to the categories:
     Complexity: This category of course measures the detail and overall level of the music's complexity. It also is checked against the 'Pop Formula' for originality and variance from being a commercial 'sell-out'. The reason for this is that some musicians are only interested in money while others have a real passion for music. This difference reflects strongly on the complexity and originality of the artist's work. Classical and Techno usually express strong Complexity.
     Drive: Often having to do with the beat and pace of a song, drive isn't only just how fast a tune is, but how much it grips you and pushes you along. This is usually the 'catchiness' of music, the ability to make you tap your feet and work it's way into your heart and mind. Music with high drive is excellent for emotion control, though I think it's important to note that driving tunes aren't necessarily happy or upbeat at all. Ska and Alternative tend to have high Drive.
     Epic: Measures the musical ability to take you somewhere or tell a story. This often has to do with the lyrics of a song, but can also be measured without lyrics if the song has an outstanding ability to express being in a situation or place. Epic is perhaps the most conceptually difficult category to grasp as it mainly has to do with personal experience and interpretation, though I think certain songs or musicians tend to have this quality in mamy people. Folk and Rap/Country usually express strong Epic qualities.

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All images and page designs are © 1998, 1999 Timothy Partee
Page last updated: October 16, 1999 - Contact Mr. Partee at: tpartee@furcen.org