so.. what is music?

probably a question i find it harder and harder to find an answer to. the way music can affect you, it's amazing really. what is music? where does it come from? why does it affect us the way it does?

so, how did it start out.. some prehistoric guy found he could do a awesome electronic music breakbeat solo with some sticks and stones? singing/howling?

i think it started out as a hybrid with storytelling. like tribes sing the stories of their village and ancestors. i think it maybe has something to do with mothers and soothing songs for babies.. wonder if ppl from the stone age did that.

one thing that astounds me with music, as an amateur music creator myself, is how simple it really is.

up and down, that's basically it. the pitch of notes, vertical scale, together with tempo, the horisontal scale. nothing can ever be anything except up and down, more or less intense, slower or faster. effects, synthesis, playing melodies, it all seems to come down to this.

almost everything in the universe works like this though i guess, you could say everything's just vibrations and atoms etc. but the emotional impact of music is still very interesting, and i'm sure there's millions of books on the subject but it'd be cool to discuss the subject.

i feel music is alot about recognition though. you like certain genres because of your association with them. i like most genres, and appreciate music that is technically good and well performed, but it's very few tracks that _really_ get to me. i mean "sending shivers down your spine" good.

usually it seems to be the association with a movie, feeling or moment or imagination that triggers the mindstate and really makes the track special. i think alot of it has to do with nostalgia, or just the desire to be in a certain emotional state. the differences of various genres are just so huge.

music feels like singing in a way, just that it's the instruments that tell the story. i think it's so awesome how individual keys have such peculiar feel to them.. then again i think the western style of music, the 12 note octave etc is probably due to our brains and ears adjusting to this, in the eastern countries there are instruments with far more notes per octave.

creating music is really amazing.. i used to hate my own music but as i'm getting more secure with doing it i feel i enjoy my own music more than other peoples music. it's almost like a language. just love sitting down at the piano and letting my hands flow and play whatever i feel like playing.

i really feel free when i make music.

it's a bit harder making music digitally as there's obstacles in the way of the creative outlet, but the hard work really pays off when you have a track that you're satisfied with.. again, there's always room for improvement, which only increases the enjoyment.

Sometimes i feel like getting into music making has destroyed the joy abit as there's always tons of frustration and thinking too much into technical aspects etc (which you pretty much have to), and sometimes it feels like it destroys the experience of enjoying music.. but other times it's easier to let go and you feel you can truly enjoy a track more when you can discern different elements of it, "get an idea of it" so to speak, feel closer to the creators idea and emotion.

i hear tracks so much differently now compared to when i didn't make music, this is really really apparent when i listen to tracks i liked 2-3 years ago.

what are your thoughts?

your mom is sweet musics.

it started at the beginning of time: 1989.

Interesting that birds sing using the chromatic scale too though... So the fundamentals are definetly rooted in nature...

Rhythm seems to represent the central nervous system (heart rate)...

Harmony seems to involve starting somewhere neutral, creating a dissonance of some sort, then resolving the issue...

...and that's actually the same structure a drama, comedy or film script goes for...

A melody's a bit like dialogue too - You've usually got a questioning phase and then an answer...

I think music and art are like our versions of assembly code... Our minds ultimately work on patterns, forms, geometry, etc... so even when we read a book where x happens, followed by y, then you arrive at z... it all ends up some abstract thing anyway - music's just shortcutting.

music is everything, man :omg:

music need not have anything to do with pitch or tone.

"the orginisation of auditory material"

to paraphrase someone whom i can't remember

its a bunch of sounds in order

my definition is "sound with intent"

and intent can be either in the creator, or in the listener.

  acid1 said:

its a bunch of sounds in order

what's order, man?

i believe there is no solid definition of music, of course there's the whole 12 note scale thing but then you get to stuff like noise (which can be debated whether it is music or not)

so music to one person can be nothing to another

  disco_epilepsy said:

so music to one person can be nothing to another

right, and thats basically what I mean by intent of the listener.

perhaps sound that was created to be listened to

music is cool and stuff

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eyeda: An I don't fucking love music, i just use it to escape

music = notes and stuff

Kcinsu's definition is pretty spot on though.

I like this definition:

"(Music is) an unfolding of the development of our consciousness using sound as the medium." - Bob Moog

  acid1 said:

its a bunch of sounds in order

  Kcinsu said:

my definition is "sound with intent"

 

and intent can be either in the creator, or in the listener.

That's basically how I define it.

The definition in the dictionary is really only half the picture.

seriously can't you come with a little more to the topic than just semantics? :P i mean, where do you think music originated, why do you think it affects us so much, how do you think music will sound in the future? what is good music to you? how do you feel about creating music, has it changed the way you listen to music?

just semantics? Thanks.

you're welcome. i meant semantics, as in there seems to be a focus on the topic name (definition of music) when i was referring to several different ideas in music.

okay, great, you think music is sound. thanks.

no, its sound with intent. and that implies a lot of things. if you actually thought about what it means, instead of simply reading it, and going "great" maybe you'd realize its more then just semantics.

instead of getting mad at people for not sitting around with you, hypothosizing where music came from, and what it means, why don't you go read some books on the psychology/philosophy of music, or read a music history book or something, if you're serious enough about the topic to get snappy at anyone who isn't discussing it properly enough for you.

christ, i'm just curious what you people think about these things

  Derelic7 said:

what is music?

Sound with intent. and intent can be either in the creator, or in the listener.

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where does it come from?

humans. both as creators, and as listeners. We decided/discovered that sound should have/can meaning.

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why does it affect us the way it does?

Thats way too big a question, I suggest reading books on the psychology/philosophy of music. Paulie Walnuts, I think, is on the right track with what he said in his first post.

Personally, if anything, music is my mystical experience. It's something that makes me feel spiritual; it doesn't matter if its a symphony, glitch track, or whatever. I often sway back and forth on my spiritual stance... between atheist and agnostic. Music is one of the major things that leans me toward agnosticism, as it moves me that much... as cheesy as that may sound.

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so, how did it start out..

probably with vocal sounds, and beating on things, but again, I'd advise you to read a book on music history, as again, this is way too big a question.

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i think it started out as a hybrid with storytelling. like tribes sing the stories of their village and ancestors.

so people suddenly started singing? just like that? define singing.

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i think it maybe has something to do with mothers and soothing songs for babies.. wonder if ppl from the stone age did that.

interesting idea. Seems to be possible.

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one thing that astounds me with music, as an amateur music creator myself, is how simple it really is.

up and down, that's basically it. the pitch of notes, vertical scale, together with tempo, the horisontal scale. nothing can ever be anything except up and down, more or less intense, slower or faster. effects, synthesis, playing melodies, it all seems to come down to this.

 

almost everything in the universe works like this though i guess, you could say everything's just vibrations and atoms etc. but the emotional impact of music is still very interesting, and i'm sure there's millions of books on the subject but it'd be cool to discuss the subject.

well, anything can be broken down to a simple process. But then you're not really discussing what music REALLY is, what is behind it etc.

up/down forward doesn't really explain much about what music IS.

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i feel music is alot about recognition though. you like certain genres because of your association with them.

I'm sure its a part of it... but what about music that is unlike anything you've ever heard of before? You might argue that its still in the up/down forward realm, so its recognizable... ok, perhaps, but thats at a very basic level, and I don't think thats what you meant by "music is a lot about recognition."

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but it's very few tracks that _really_ get to me. i mean "sending shivers down your spine" good.

i think its because there are far more mediocre musicians then there are genius ones. Also, if you look at music as a form of communication, it could also be because its not always easy to find someone who is communicating in the same "language" (referring to emotions, not genre) that you do.

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usually it seems to be the association with a movie, feeling or moment or imagination that triggers the mindstate and really makes the track special. i think alot of it has to do with nostalgia, or just the desire to be in a certain emotional state. the differences of various genres are just so huge.

for me, I experience music mostly on a completely abstract level. Music never ever makes me see images, or something tangible. Sometimes it makes me think of specific emotional states, which I've probably experienced in the past already, but for the most part, I feel like I am in a different level of reality when I listen to music. I see things, and I feel things that are completely beyond words and this world. Again, probably sounds cheesy, but just saying how I feel it.

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music feels like singing in a way, just that it's the instruments that tell the story.

was that supposed to read "instrumental music feels like singing" or "music feels like story telling"?

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i think it's so awesome how individual keys have such peculiar feel to them

seems to make sense though. the keys have different structures, so it would make sense they have their own particular feel.

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i think the western style of music, the 12 note octave etc is probably due to our brains and ears adjusting to this, in the eastern countries there are instruments with far more notes per octave.

non-western music is awesome. I think the future of western music lies outside of the 12 note system (ironic isn't it?)

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creating music is really amazing.. i used to hate my own music but as i'm getting more secure with doing it i feel i enjoy my own music more than other peoples music. it's almost like a language. just love sitting down at the piano and letting my hands flow and play whatever i feel like playing.

i really feel free when i make music.

I agree, except I don't play piano. In fact, I haven't played an instrument for several years. I played drums for 4 years, and bass for 3-4. Play a LITTLE bit of piano (not really enough to say I really play it). But they way you feel when you are playing, is how I feel when I'm composing.

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it's a bit harder making music digitally as there's obstacles in the way of the creative outlet, but the hard work really pays off when you have a track that you're satisfied with.. again, there's always room for improvement, which only increases the enjoyment.

I actually feel the opposite. Writing music on a computer fits into how I think, much more then playing an instrument. I get looks of disgust everytime I say this, but oh well: I'm glad I don't play an instrument, at least not as a means for composing. I feel that if you compose with an instrument, it limits what you can do. You are thinking within the physical limitations of the instrument/your ability on that instrument, or, on the other side of things, you can become focused on your instrument/your ability and it takes over the writing process (ie a virtuoso will write a lot of virtuosic music, because they are a virtuoso. not always the case, but often enough). Sure it can aid you in composing, I'm not saying it can't. I'm just saying, I am completely happy with my method of writing music: completely thought out. I don't sit at a keyboard, and have my hands move instinctively to 12 years of training on the piano. Again, not saying this happens to everyone, but I think it's a rare few that can actually make their hands follow their brians, and not their brains follow their hands, if that makes sense.

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Sometimes i feel like getting into music making has destroyed the joy abit as there's always tons of frustration and thinking too much into technical aspects etc (which you pretty much have to), and sometimes it feels like it destroys the experience of enjoying music.. but other times it's easier to let go and you feel you can truly enjoy a track more when you can discern different elements of it, "get an idea of it" so to speak, feel closer to the creators idea and emotion.

I thought like this at one point, but it passed. I can go into listening mode, and critical listening mode, as I feel. Thats not to say there won't be something that seems so out of place, that it won't throw me back into critical mode.... but really, the modes should be related I think, otherwise everything you'd listen to, would sound good to you.

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i hear tracks so much differently now compared to when i didn't make music, this is really really apparent when i listen to tracks i liked 2-3 years ago.

same here, but only for the better.

better?

stupid quote limits

  mrx said:

  acid1 said:

its a bunch of sounds in order

what's order, man?

itz whata give 2 u

muzik iz gay

music is a framework made of sound used for communicating intent and emotion.

auditory control