The Thing - Revision history

Fizzwikiadmin: /* Origin */

2026-07-16T05:11:26Z

Origin

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:11, 16 July 2026
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	The aggressive pursuit of the Thing is notably mentioned in the principles of [[Dark Fizz]], fighting the rising amount of AI generated slop that's polluting the musical landscape.		The aggressive pursuit of the Thing is notably mentioned in the principles of [[Dark Fizz]], fighting the rising amount of AI generated slop that's polluting the musical landscape.
	=== Origin ===		=== Origin ===
	On August 19, 2021, music theory YouTuber Rick Beato hosted an interview on his channel featuring jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. Hr referred to an unmistakable musical essence as "the thing", as opposed to musical ideas that feel like filler, which he calls "the stuff".		On August 19, 2021, music theory YouTuber Rick Beato hosted an interview on his channel featuring jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. He referred to an unmistakable musical essence as "the thing", as opposed to musical ideas that feel like filler, which he calls "the stuff".

	''"Our lives went in wildly different directions, but to the very end, I was somebody he would call when stuff would get serious, because he knew I wouldn't bullshit him and also that my point of view was not too influenced by you know... the stuff. '''It was more about the thing'''"'' - Metheny on making music with Jaco Pastorious		''"Our lives went in wildly different directions, but to the very end, I was somebody he would call when stuff would get serious, because he knew I wouldn't bullshit him and also that my point of view was not too influenced by you know... the stuff. '''It was more about the thing'''"'' - Metheny on making music with Jaco Pastorious

Fizzwikiadmin at 23:34, 15 July 2026

2026-07-15T23:34:08Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:34, 15 July 2026
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	The belief that the thing is the essence of one's personal taste, and that each individual has their own thing.		The belief that the thing is the essence of one's personal taste, and that each individual has their own thing.

	[[Category:~~Fizz Lore~~]]		[[Category:Fizzosophy]]

Niggamario at 14:34, 10 July 2026

2026-07-10T14:34:06Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:34, 10 July 2026
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	[[File:The thing symbol.jpg\|thumb\|The "thing" symbol, the Latin letter thorn. (Þ þ)]]		[[File:The thing symbol.jpg\|thumb\|The "thing" symbol, the Latin letter thorn. (Þ þ)]]
	The ~~"thing"~~ is ~~an idea~~ in the [[Fizz]] community ~~inspired by rhetoric from Pat Metheny~~. ~~There's an ongoing debate about what~~ the ~~nature~~ of the ~~thing truly is~~, ~~but~~ it's ~~widely understood~~ to ~~be this mystical essence~~ that can ~~be found in "definitive" musical ideas. Those moments when~~ a ~~buildup goes perfectly into the~~ drop~~, when~~ a perfectly ~~subversive moment happens during a solo, or when a~~ melody ~~just "makes sense"~~. ~~All~~ of ~~these are examples of peak~~ artistic ~~human intention, thereby achieving the thing~~.		[[The Thing]] is a musical element captured in maximally intentional and definitive ideas, and its achievement is constantly strived for by the [[Fizz]] community in their compositions. While the name of the concept seems very broad, it's known to have a specific magic to it, and any piece of music that contains the Thing will sound like the ultimate instantiation of itself. It is also not limited to any style or genre, nor does it matter if the song is widely considered good or bad; it can appear anywhere from a seamless dubstep drop to a perfectly constructed nursery rhyme melody. The Thing is the irreducible representation of human creativity and artistic decision-making.

	Believers in the thing will insist that they can recognize it, even in music that they don't personally like. They'll say stuff like "This music isn't even my cup of tea, but that moment right there was super definitive. It has the thing."
	~~[[File:Dark Torus of Fizzosophy.jpg\|thumb\|The "thing" mentioned in the Dark Torus of Fizzosophy]]~~
	You just kind of know the thing when you see it. The melodies of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Hot Cross Buns clearly have the thing. There's a deep order to them, and they sound like an ultimate, maximized "steelmanned" version of themselves. The polar opposite of AI generated background music slop where there's no melody and the chords go all over the place but end up nowhere.

	In dark ~~fizz,~~ the ~~mass awareness and pursuit~~ of the ~~thing is seen as the~~ only ~~antidote to the threatening rise of slop. Something cannot~~ be ~~slop if it contains~~ the ~~thing~~. ~~An idea can have~~ a ~~good "vibe" but still be slop~~, ~~slop can even sound good~~, ~~but slop can never achieve~~ the ~~thing~~.		'''The Counterthing''' is a dark musical element that is the complete opposite of the Thing and what it represents, and can only be achieved through AI generation, which can never achieve the Thing. The Counterthing is filled with all sorts of music ideas but also a lack of direction and a story - however, the most directionless, unnecessarily complex/boring music written by a human has an infinitely better chance of achieving the Thing.

			The aggressive pursuit of the Thing is notably mentioned in the principles of [[Dark Fizz]], fighting the rising amount of AI generated slop that's polluting the musical landscape.
	=== Origin ===		=== Origin ===
	~~In the Pat Metheny~~ interview on ~~Rick Beato's YouTube~~ channel, Metheny ~~uses the phrase~~ "the thing" to ~~describe this mystical~~, ~~cosmically important musical objective~~.		On August 19, 2021, music theory YouTuber Rick Beato hosted an interview on his channel featuring jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. Hr referred to an unmistakable musical essence as "the thing", as opposed to musical ideas that feel like filler, which he calls "the stuff".

	"Our lives went in wildly different directions, but to the very end, I was somebody he would call when stuff would get serious, because he knew I wouldn't bullshit him and also that my point of view was not too influenced by you know... the stuff. It was more about the thing." - ~~Pat~~ Metheny on making music with Jaco Pastorious		''"Our lives went in wildly different directions, but to the very end, I was somebody he would call when stuff would get serious, because he knew I wouldn't bullshit him and also that my point of view was not too influenced by you know... the stuff. '''It was more about the thing'''"'' - Metheny on making music with Jaco Pastorious

	"I've run across guys who can play all this stuff but it's like... You know... That feel thing isn't there, and the feel is the thing" - ~~Pat~~ Metheny		''"I've run across guys who can play all this stuff but it's like... You know... That feel thing isn't there, and '''the feel is the thing'''."'' - Metheny

	=== Thing Anti-Realism ===		=== Thing Anti-Realism ===

Marseraph: Included that the symbol for the Thing is the Latin letter thorn in the caption for the first image

2026-07-04T03:01:24Z

Included that the symbol for the Thing is the Latin letter thorn in the caption for the first image

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:01, 3 July 2026
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	[[File:The thing symbol.jpg\|thumb\|The "thing" symbol]]		[[File:The thing symbol.jpg\|thumb\|The "thing" symbol, the Latin letter thorn. (Þ þ)]]
	The "thing" is an idea in the [[Fizz]] community inspired by rhetoric from Pat Metheny. There's an ongoing debate about what the nature of the thing truly is, but it's widely understood to be this mystical essence that can be found in "definitive" musical ideas. Those moments when a buildup goes perfectly into the drop, when a perfectly subversive moment happens during a solo, or when a melody just "makes sense". All of these are examples of peak artistic human intention, thereby achieving the thing.		The "thing" is an idea in the [[Fizz]] community inspired by rhetoric from Pat Metheny. There's an ongoing debate about what the nature of the thing truly is, but it's widely understood to be this mystical essence that can be found in "definitive" musical ideas. Those moments when a buildup goes perfectly into the drop, when a perfectly subversive moment happens during a solo, or when a melody just "makes sense". All of these are examples of peak artistic human intention, thereby achieving the thing.

Fizzwikiadmin at 23:36, 7 June 2026

2026-06-07T23:36:56Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:36, 7 June 2026
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	=== Thing Subjectivism ===		=== Thing Subjectivism ===
	The belief that the thing is the essence of one's personal taste, and that each individual has their own thing.		The belief that the thing is the essence of one's personal taste, and that each individual has their own thing.

			[[Category:Fizz Lore]]

Fizzwikiadmin at 22:53, 7 June 2026

2026-06-07T22:53:08Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:53, 7 June 2026
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			[[File:The thing symbol.jpg\|thumb\|The "thing" symbol]]
	The "thing" is an idea in the [[Fizz]] community inspired by rhetoric from Pat Metheny. There's an ongoing debate about what the nature of the thing truly is, but it's widely understood to be this mystical essence that can be found in "definitive" musical ideas. Those moments when a buildup goes perfectly into the drop, when a perfectly subversive moment happens during a solo, or when a melody just "makes sense". All of these are examples of peak artistic human intention, thereby achieving the thing.		The "thing" is an idea in the [[Fizz]] community inspired by rhetoric from Pat Metheny. There's an ongoing debate about what the nature of the thing truly is, but it's widely understood to be this mystical essence that can be found in "definitive" musical ideas. Those moments when a buildup goes perfectly into the drop, when a perfectly subversive moment happens during a solo, or when a melody just "makes sense". All of these are examples of peak artistic human intention, thereby achieving the thing.

	Believers in the thing will insist that they can recognize it, even in music that they don't personally like. They'll say stuff like "This music isn't even my cup of tea, but that moment right there was super definitive. It has the thing."		Believers in the thing will insist that they can recognize it, even in music that they don't personally like. They'll say stuff like "This music isn't even my cup of tea, but that moment right there was super definitive. It has the thing."
			[[File:Dark Torus of Fizzosophy.jpg\|thumb\|The "thing" mentioned in the Dark Torus of Fizzosophy]]
	You just kind of know the thing when you see it. The melodies of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Hot Cross Buns clearly have the thing. There's a deep order to them, and they sound like an ultimate, maximized "steelmanned" version of themselves. The polar opposite of AI generated background music slop where there's no melody and the chords go all over the place but end up nowhere.		You just kind of know the thing when you see it. The melodies of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Hot Cross Buns clearly have the thing. There's a deep order to them, and they sound like an ultimate, maximized "steelmanned" version of themselves. The polar opposite of AI generated background music slop where there's no melody and the chords go all over the place but end up nowhere.

Fizzwikiadmin: Created page with "The "thing" is an idea in the Fizz community inspired by rhetoric from Pat Metheny. There's an ongoing debate about what the nature of the thing truly is, but it's widely understood to be this mystical essence that can be found in "definitive" musical ideas. Those moments when a buildup goes perfectly into the drop, when a perfectly subversive moment happens during a solo, or when a melody just "makes sense". All of these are examples of peak artistic human intention..."

2026-06-07T05:40:21Z

Created page with "The "thing" is an idea in the Fizz community inspired by rhetoric from Pat Metheny. There's an ongoing debate about what the nature of the thing truly is, but it's widely understood to be this mystical essence that can be found in "definitive" musical ideas. Those moments when a buildup goes perfectly into the drop, when a perfectly subversive moment happens during a solo, or when a melody just "makes sense". All of these are examples of peak artistic human intention..."

New page

The "thing" is an idea in the [[Fizz]] community inspired by rhetoric from Pat Metheny. There's an ongoing debate about what the nature of the thing truly is, but it's widely understood to be this mystical essence that can be found in "definitive" musical ideas. Those moments when a buildup goes perfectly into the drop, when a perfectly subversive moment happens during a solo, or when a melody just "makes sense". All of these are examples of peak artistic human intention, thereby achieving the thing.

Believers in the thing will insist that they can recognize it, even in music that they don't personally like. They'll say stuff like "This music isn't even my cup of tea, but that moment right there was super definitive. It has the thing."

You just kind of know the thing when you see it. The melodies of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Hot Cross Buns clearly have the thing. There's a deep order to them, and they sound like an ultimate, maximized "steelmanned" version of themselves. The polar opposite of AI generated background music slop where there's no melody and the chords go all over the place but end up nowhere.

In dark fizz, the mass awareness and pursuit of the thing is seen as the only antidote to the threatening rise of slop. Something cannot be slop if it contains the thing. An idea can have a good "vibe" but still be slop, slop can even sound good, but slop can never achieve the thing.

=== Origin ===
In the Pat Metheny interview on Rick Beato's YouTube channel, Metheny uses the phrase "the thing" to describe this mystical, cosmically important musical objective.

"Our lives went in wildly different directions, but to the very end, I was somebody he would call when stuff would get serious, because he knew I wouldn't bullshit him and also that my point of view was not too influenced by you know... the stuff. It was more about the thing." - Pat Metheny on making music with Jaco Pastorious

"I've run across guys who can play all this stuff but it's like... You know... That feel thing isn't there, and the feel is the thing" - Pat Metheny

=== Thing Anti-Realism ===
The belief that the thing isn't real, and is just something a bunch of people made up.

=== Thing Non-Cognitivism ===
The belief that the term "the thing" doesn't describe a mystical phenomenon, but still vaguely refers to a specific musical property that is yet to be properly defined.

=== Thing Subjectivism ===
The belief that the thing is the essence of one's personal taste, and that each individual has their own thing.