Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian E Coleman
I) So my first question is what is music? Does it have to be produced by a human? Would you consider a birds song music? Whale music? Wind chimes? The Ocean? Is music simply sound? Or does it have to be an art form, with a message or a concept?
|
I always think of music in the simplest terms as being a combination of sounds designed to elicit an emotional response. Even that, though, doesn't fully sum it up. Sounds are definitely an important quality in music, but just as effective is the proper use of silence. The silence evokes a mood as well, and it is deliberate - being that way by design can make it fall into the category of music in my mind, although not necessarily music that I enjoy; the enjoyment and emotional response for any given person is completely subjective. Also, there is beauty in the sounds of nature, and of sounds which aren't designed to be musical in nature. I think that those aren't music by their own design, but by how the listener subjectively interprets those sounds. One person could just hear birds and think, "Oh, birds. Whatever," whereas a completely different person can have a very strong response to the "bird-song" and interpret the sounds as something more. I suppose in that way, it is music.
Really, I suppose what I'm saying is music is what you make it - if you hear a train and it elicits a response from you, and you personally pick out the complexities within any given sound and are affected, that's music to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian E Coleman
II)
So what do genres mean? How do we use them? How should we use them/should we at all? And what's the future of this whole concept. Are we just going to get where the point where there will be so many different sounds and concepts that there would be too many genres to remember (and I'm all for that).
|
Genres are just classification. I feel that things are lumped into genres when they're something that appeals to a large group of people who like other artists within a given group. There's not necessarily a necessity for it, as classification isn't really ever a necessity, just a human urge for order, but it's not a bad thing. And if there are too many genres to remember in the future, so be it. The classification system itself doesn't necessarily have to be important, although some people do think it is in some way, shape, or form.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian E Coleman
III) Last question: Why do we like music? Is it just the patterns? What makes some music better to us than other music, and is music better the more complex it is, or is that complexity deeper than the sounds being produced and more about the emotions that are created by it. Is difficult music better... etc, etc. ???
|
I would imagine this is different for everyone. I have a friend with whom I was talking about music recently, and he likes the lyrics and effective vocal delivery in the majority of music he listens to. I personally like a little bit about everything that's appealed to me over time, but I'll definitely have to say this all varies greatly from person to person.