WBF Audiophiles and Music

[PeterA]

Yes. If music offers content and structure, what does sound alone offer that music does not that leads to disinterest in talking about music?

Tim, I am so enjoying the music on that Musica Nuda LP, particularly the cut “Guarda Che Luna”. It’s about the music for me, but at the very end of the song, there is that single bass note of a plucked string that just hangs and fills my listening room and at that moment it’s all about the sound of that note and not the music. It is marvelous.

I don’t think it leads to a disinterest in talking about music, but there’s a part of the listening experience that is about sound for me and not the music. The quality of the sound from the system in the room is what gets me to the venue.

 

[tima]

It’s about the music for me, but at the very end of the song, there is that single bass note of a plucked string that just hangs and fills my listening room and at that moment it’s all about the sound of that note and not the music. It is marvelous.

Sure. I understand what you are saying - I know that note. By asking about why music is not discussed it is not my intent to bifurcate music from sound, saying which are notes and which are sounds. That note you hear at the end of "Guarda che Luna" may have the appeal to you that it does coming as the last note of that song - a note in contet vs hearing a singular sound without the music. Would you play a record with only that final note recorded? Maybe.

My point about train sounds (which some seemed to miss) was that indeed we don't listen to the sounds of special effects, we listen to music while we claim interest in sound. While it can be interesting in and of itself, sound alone is devoid of content and context. I enjoy sound as music just as I enjoy gear that makes the music sound more realistic, whereas I do not care about sound because it causes the gear to operate. We are humans and part of that is our ability to hear sound -- audiophiles like sound because good sound is pleasing and most of the time the most pleasing sound is music. One is a means, the other an end - we should be able to talk about both together

 

[PYP]

I remember my father playing a record he said he bought when stereo became popular. It was a recording of trains and you could hear a locomotive start in the left channel pass through the middle, pass through a tunnel and come out on the right channel. To me, the locomotive sound seemed quite realistic, especially when it entered the tunnel, slowly dissapearimg as the box cars entered the tunnel, then gradually re-emerging out of the tunnel.

I don't see posts about train sounds or other sounds of the world.

My father had a similar record in mono. He would play it LOUD! Apparently a neighbor was on his, um, throne, and thought the train was coming through his house. So, he got up in an untimely way. My father loved telling that story as proof of his system's fidelity. The rest of the time he played classical music (he had exactly one Jazz record, which he gave to me eventually).

 

[PYP]

While I prefer to listen in a non-analytical way, I do enjoy reading about musicians and also the recording process (that is, books by recording engineers). New knowledge can add to our appreciation even if it isn't a conscious process or intrude during listening.

Recently, I read the latest biography of Bill Frisell. He is one of my favorite musicians and I have been listening to him for a long time without knowing much about him. After all, I thought I knew him via his music (compassionate, humorous, sometimes irreverent guy who wanders through genres at will).

It was so much fun to read the biography and listen to the music (via Qobuz) he first heard that got him started down his path as well as his albums as they are mentioned in the book. Especially after reading the sections that feature comments from other musicians who discussed what they heard (a wonderful feature of the book). Of course, being musicians, they had great insight into his playing and place in history, but often they concluded what I or any dedicated fan would hear: something both mysterious and strangely familiar in his music.

Subsequently, I listened to his music. I don't consciously think about what I have read and yet it has increased my appreciation for his music.

 

[tima]

It was so much fun to read the biography and listen to the music

Yes. People sometimes think of composers as hunched over medieval manuscript illustrators, but they are real people with real lives. I find reading about composers can enhance my appreciation for their music. It can bring music out of a solitary listening experience into the real world.

... nice cat

 

[PYP]

Yes. People sometimes think of composers as hunched over medieval manuscript illustrators, but they are real people with real lives. I find reading about composers can enhance my appreciation for their music. It can bring music out of a solitary listening experience into the real world.

... nice cat

and the composer/musician, of course, lives within a social and temporal context. Would Hendrix have played the guitar differently if he lived in a different time and didn't drop acid? Probably best to consider those two separately Reading about Thelonious Monk, it becomes clear that he was both a product of his social context and also a singularity.

 

[Kingrex]

I watched a whole show on Billie Eilish. I still don't like her music. Maybe 2 songs are ok. I read about Lady Gaga after I got her duet with Tony Bennett. I still don't like her other music. Not even po po po poker face.

 

[PYP]

I watched a whole show on Billie Eilish. I still don't like her music. Maybe 2 songs are ok. I read about Lady Gaga after I got her duet with Tony Bennett. I still don't like her other music. Not even po po po poker face.

what do you think about their vocals (not Anthony - you get a pass once you hit 95)?

 

[Kingrex]

what do you think about their vocals (not Anthony - you get a pass once you hit 95)?

Lady Gaga sings well. She has talent and is a solid business person.

Eilish is a boor. Her brother appears all the tallent. He seems to make the music. She is more the person who needs the fame. I don't know if she sings well or not. I can't listen long enough.

 

[brad225]

I watched a whole show on Billie Eilish. I still don't like her music. Maybe 2 songs are ok. I read about Lady Gaga after I got her duet with Tony Bennett. I still don't like her other music. Not even po po po poker face.

I agree about Lady Gaga and others today. The few times you hear them sing some Jazz or older standards that have wonderful voices.
I just don't need to watch some ware a meat dress and sing pop songs.

 

[Walter66]

Elish and Gaga are modern pop music, electronic dance music and some ballads. Nobody knows how their real voices sound like, its all processed and auto tuned so they are able to hit the notes perfectly. No possiblility to judge about the sound with that music, one likes it or not.
There is even not any complication in the music, its just simple three accords melodies.

So you can say, this is trivial music in a way it's aimed to please the listener everywhere, in an elevator, shopping malls, doctor waiting rooms, railroad stations. Play this and the majority of listeners will feel better than without music. But it has no other value, no intelect, no complicated structures, no nothing. Its just being composed to sell and make money for the artist and company. No message, no other intention. I call that well being music or sometines acoustic garbage.

 

[Daverich4]

I remember my father playing a record he said he bought when stereo became popular. It was a recording of trains and you could hear a locomotive start in the left channel pass through the middle, pass through a tunnel and come out on the right channel.

My Dad had records of ping pong as well as the trains. The first time I heard stereo was from my Dad’s receiver tuned to one station and a table radio turned to another station. One station played the left channel and the other played the right channel.

 

[Cellcbern]

Elish and Gaga are modern pop music, electronic dance music and some ballads. Nobody knows how their real voices sound like, its all processed and auto tuned so they are able to hit the notes perfectly. No possiblility to judge about the sound with that music, one likes it or not.
There is even not any complication in the music, its just simple three accords melodies.

So you can say, this is trivial music in a way it's aimed to please the listener everywhere, in an elevator, shopping malls, doctor waiting rooms, railroad stations. Play this and the majority of listeners will feel better than without music. But it has no other value, no intelect, no complicated structures, no nothing. Its just being composed to sell and make money for the artist and company. No message, no other intention. I call that well being music or sometines acoustic garbage.

FYI: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210520-the-coded-messages-in-pop-songs

 

[brad225]

Elish and Gaga are modern pop music, electronic dance music and some ballads. Nobody knows how their real voices sound like, its all processed and auto tuned so they are able to hit the notes perfectly. No possiblility to judge about the sound with that music, one likes it or not.
There is even not any complication in the music, its just simple three accords melodies.

So you can say, this is trivial music in a way it's aimed to please the listener everywhere, in an elevator, shopping malls, doctor waiting rooms, railroad stations. Play this and the majority of listeners will feel better than without music. But it has no other value, no intelect, no complicated structures, no nothing. Its just being composed to sell and make money for the artist and company. No message, no other intention. I call that well being music or sometines acoustic garbage.

Have you heard LGG sing what I was describing? She has a wonderfully trained voice.

 

[Kingrex]

Yes. People sometimes think of composers as hunched over medieval manuscript illustrators, but they are real people with real lives. I find reading about composers can enhance my appreciation for their music. It can bring music out of a solitary listening experience into the real world.

They weren't hunched over a candle lit page working 50 to 60 hours till they dropped. They didn't work for their pay then.

I watched the Mozart show on Netflix or some streaming service. I was surprised he was so normal. I do assume most people who are that focused are not as functional in other area of life.

 

[Kingrex]

Have you heard LGG sing what I was describing? She has a wonderfully trained voice.

The first Tony/Lady album Cheek to Cheek is really good. The second Love For Sale is good. But you can tell Lady G has taken control of the production. Tony has slipped with his Alzheimer to far to be as much an influence.

 

[tima]

I watched the Mozart show on Netflix or some streaming service. I was surprised he was so normal. I do assume most people who are that focused are not as functional in other area of life.

Some talk about 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. Amadeus made Mozart's talent seem effortless, a divine gift.

 

[Kingrex]

Some talk about 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. Amadeus made Mozart's talent seem effortless, a divine gift.

It did indicate he constantly thought about new scores to put to paper. He seemed to work hard. He was a bit of a slouch when it came to producing for his benefactors. But he jumped at making a piece to highlight a friends tallent. He was an artist. You can't make them work. When it comes out it comes out.

 

[Al M.]

Some talk about 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. Amadeus made Mozart's talent seem effortless, a divine gift.

As far as I know, Mozart actually did write effortlessly. His hand manuscripts mostly have few corrections and are neat, whereas Beethoven's manuscripts are often messy. Mozart wrote his remarkable "Linz" Symphony (#36) in just four days, and it's a masterpiece, one of his best works in my view. He did labor more on his rightly famous and also masterful "Haydn" string quartets (dedicated to that cpmposer) for quite some time.

 

[wil]

Elish and Gaga are modern pop music, electronic dance music and some ballads. Nobody knows how their real voices sound like, its all processed and auto tuned so they are able to hit the notes perfectly. No possiblility to judge about the sound with that music, one likes it or not.
There is even not any complication in the music, its just simple three accords melodies.

So you can say, this is trivial music in a way it's aimed to please the listener everywhere, in an elevator, shopping malls, doctor waiting rooms, railroad stations. Play this and the majority of listeners will feel better than without music. But it has no other value, no intelect, no complicated structures, no nothing. Its just being composed to sell and make money for the artist and company. No message, no other intention. I call that well being music or sometines acoustic garbage.

Digitized Auto-tuned voices make me want to run for the hills.

The Music Industry has always produced 99% straight Garbage — but there will thankfully always be some gold produced by the outsiders.