Re: What we listen for


"Michael Mossey" <michaelmossey@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1138466955.171213.310950@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[snip]

....I tend to listen to the way it was recorded in recordings too.
>> Plus I listen for bow noise, breath, and stuff like that in live
>> performances (I don't listen FOR them, but maybe I'm inclined to notice
>> them
>> more than others). So I think it would vary greatly depending on the
>> person.
>
> The things you mention here might be described as 'intellectual' or
> 'analytical', if we were to fit them into a category.

Why do so? Do they need to be categorized? :-)
But I mention these becuase they are concrete things that can be heard by
others. The Aesthetic values of a work are not something I "listen for" -
they either just hit me or they don't. So I tend to listen for bow noise
whether I care for the work or not. Caring for the work only causes me to
remember it longer, or listen to it repeatedly. Doesn't necessarily have the
same effect on others.


>
> Just wondering if you have noticed this variable youself. In other
> words, music is a process and as such can evoke other processes in the
> world,

No, the music doesn't do that. YOU do that. Music is just sound. What it
evokes is what I choose to let it evoke (though some of those choices are
based on learned patterns of response). Give 10 people from different
cultures who have not heard Ravel's Bolero adn don't tell them even the
title, and it will evok different images in all of them.

and processes can include the operation of a machine on the one
> hand, or something quite different such as the movement of an animal.
> There are any number of other processes.

Sure. Ravel said Bolero is supposed to evoke (or at least it was inspired
by) the machines in has father's factory. But most people don't think of
that. Just the title leads them into various directions. I tried it in class
one time (though some students had heard it, but not many as they were
non-majors) and got everything from a caravan slowly treading across the
desert into battle to waves lapping the shore and then a storm blowing up. I
imagine a lot of the responses were guided by films they had seen with
similar musical effects during certain scenes (though no one got Bo Derek
:-)

But for me, not all of it is impressionistic. Some of it I just appreciate
on a "it's just there" level. It evokes nothing in me other than the sounds.

[snip]

>> You realize that Brandenburg's are Bach, not Mozart? You may have meant
>> that
>> but put the two sentences in close proximity - little confusing.
>
> That's why the 'also' was there, but okay, it was a little confusing.

Ok, I thought the also was the clue too :-)

Best,
Steve


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: What we listen for
    ... > ...I tend to listen to the way it was recorded in recordings too. ... So I tend to listen for bow noise ... > evokes is what I choose to let it evoke (though some of those choices are ... Ravel said Bolero is supposed to evoke (or at least it was inspired ...
    (rec.music.compose)
  • Re: What we listen for
    ... > ...I tend to listen to the way it was recorded in recordings too. ... So I tend to listen for bow noise ... > evokes is what I choose to let it evoke (though some of those choices are ... human feelings or relationships. ...
    (rec.music.compose)