General Music Chat

I concur. No argument there.

'Tis the mystery of the spheres.

As witnessed by Gustav Holst.
I firmly believe there is a Cosmic sound that is inherent to everything in this Universe.
On our Planet is a natural note to everything be it a dull thud or a sharper click...to experiment for yourself tap on something and find it's note on a keyboard or your favorite instrument then tap or knock on more things even outside on trees etc. and post your findings here. Some things will have a different sound or frequency due to their shape (mainly manmade)but overall theres a note that most things have.
I already know what you'll find.
Some of you will be surprised that you never noticed it before.
Hint: the note you'll find will also explain something in the music world.

'Tis the mystery of the spheres.

As witnessed by Gustav Holst.
I firmly believe there is a Cosmic sound that is inherent to everything in this Universe.
On our Planet is a natural note to everything be it a dull thud or a sharper click...to experiment for yourself tap on something and find it's note on a keyboard or your favorite instrument then tap or knock on more things even outside on trees etc. and post your findings here. Some things will have a different sound or frequency due to their shape (mainly manmade)but overall theres a note that most things have.
I already know what you'll find.
Some of you will be surprised that you never noticed it before.
Hint: the note you'll find will also explain something in the music world.

Yeah, I'm aware of Inherent Resonance, but it's good that you posted it here.

The other day I was waiting at a doctors office and this construction crew was driving these pilings in the ground next door. At first it was very annoying, but when I listened and opened my mind to it positively. It had a rythym to it and I was kind of groving to it.

That's happened to me often too. Written songs to the rhythm of windshield wipers. LOL

The Bee Gees song "Jive Talkin" was written when Barry Gibb was driving his car over a bridge that made a continuous "ka chunk a chunk" rhythm, and the rhythm inspired him, and Jive Talkin' was the result.


I also like your point about songs or sounds kind of lingering in the cosmos waiting for someone to tune into them. Inspiration. A topic worthy of it's own thread. I also believe that the "ideas" may come from somewhere else, possibly tapping into the soul of the universe, who knows? I know that I experience what I think most songwriters do, which is sitting down to write and nothing worthy comes, but other days, it seems you could write wonderful songs one after the other seemingly with no end in sight.

Are we in "tune" some days, and not others?

I don't seek perfection in powerful, moving pieces. Nor do I strive for that in my own music. Instead, I look for, and strive for, beauty. Connection to the sublime..

Yes! Awesome! It is much the same for me. Because my band plays mostly, songs that I write, I have asked them to be patient in allowing me sometimes to offer suggestions to things they sometimes play. The reason being, that sometimes what they come up with is musically fitting, but not emotionally in synch. For me, the journey we take the listener on, in spirit and emotion, is as essential as the notes being played. I want to take the listener on a journey, to connect, to move them in ways they won't forget.

And "connecting to the sublime"... Being on the road in my mother's band from the age of 12, was an interesting and enriching, but often, very lonely lifestyle. Living in places for weeks at a time, rather than years, it was not possible to have stability, to have friends that you grew up with or even knew for long periods of time. What I realized as an adult, was that music was how I communicated with God as a child. All the things I felt, all the questions I had, were expressed through the music I wrote. I could usually feel Him answering back in the same way. It kept me sane, and made me look more deeply into everything.

Thanks for your comments Craig. I gotta say the convo has elevated miles into the air over the past couple of days and I'm damn happy for it

Well, I'm just happy to see alot more people expressing things they have probably felt for a long time, but not always shared in a forum like this. This kind of exchange of thoughts and hearts, has the power to expand all of us as individuals as well as artists.

Thanks for your contribution. Always gives me plenty to reflect upon.

I once took a short college course on music therapy. It's simply amazing that people who have suffered strokes can heal faster when music is played along with their therapy. There's ample clinical evidence that stroke victims walk a lot better and easier when music is played. Our thought processes occur along rhythmic lines. Our nervous system "works" better when music is played. There's high level research going on with humans and plants. It's been proven that certain plants grow better with certain music being played (I believe symphonies worked best). I know there's constantly music going through my head (sometimes drives me crazy). Later...

I once took a short college course on music therapy. It's simply amazing that people who have suffered strokes can heal faster when music is played along with their therapy. There's ample clinical evidence that stroke victims walk a lot better and easier when music is played. Our thought processes occur along rhythmic lines. Our nervous system "works" better when music is played. There's high level research going on with humans and plants. It's been proven that certain plants grow better with certain music being played (I believe symphonies worked best). I know there's constantly music going through my head (sometimes drives me crazy). Later...

Music is indeed healing, and powerful in many ways. The things you mention made me think about the "Mozart Effect" which suggests that listening to complex music, increases spatio-temporal reasoning for short periods of time. Because of this, some parents play Mozart for their young children, believing it will increase the child's ability to learn.

And Music "in your head" shouldn't drive you crazy....

Just watch out for the voices.

I once took a short college course on music therapy. It's simply amazing that people who have suffered strokes can heal faster when music is played along with their therapy. There's ample clinical evidence that stroke victims walk a lot better and easier when music is played. Our thought processes occur along rhythmic lines. Our nervous system "works" better when music is played. There's high level research going on with humans and plants. It's been proven that certain plants grow better with certain music being played (I believe symphonies worked best). I know there's constantly music going through my head (sometimes drives me crazy). Later...

Music is indeed healing, and powerful in many ways. The things you mention made me think about the "Mozart Effect" which suggests that listening to complex music, increases spatio-temporal reasoning for short periods of time. Because of this, some parents play Mozart for their young children, believing it will increase the child's ability to learn.

And Music "in your head" shouldn't drive you crazy....

Just watch out for the voices.

Craig the funny thing about the Mozart Effect is that Mozart's music is not complex at all. In fact people marveled at it when it was written, as they do today, largely because of its simplicity. Yet, he "connected" in a powerful way. I read a small booklet on the Mozart Effect once and it sort of expanded the idea that any non-jarring music in certain cadances and keys would do the job.

Craig the funny thing about the Mozart Effect is that Mozart's music is not complex at all. In fact people marveled at it when it was written, as they do today, largely because of its simplicity.

Au contraire, mon frère.

The magnificence of Mozart, is that his music is often VERY complex, and yet simplistic at the same time. Much in the way that a computer is exceedingly complex and yet at it's core it is merely "1's" and "0's".

His music was often whimsical, which was a reflection of his personality probably, but also very complex and brilliant.

An example might be his Jupiter Symphony (No. 41) where his use of counterpoint, is simply astonishing. Counterpoint involves weaving together several different melodies simulataneously. In the final movement of this symphony, Mozart weaves 5, yes FIVE different melodies simultaneously, and from what I have read, this feat makes this particular work, a challenge for orchestras who attempt it.

So I would offer that we are both right, and THAT is part of what makes Mozart brilliant.

As to "connecting" I wholeheartedly agree. I have a feeling that Mozart lived for his audience. That he wanted to please them. After all, he grew up travelling many countries performing with his father as a child.

Au contraire, mon frère.

The magnificence of Mozart, is that his music is often VERY complex, and yet simplistic at the same time. Much in the way that a computer is exceedingly complex and yet at it's core it is merely "1's" and "0's".

His music was often whimsical, which was a reflection of his personality probably, but also very complex and brilliant.<snip>

Wow, guess we gotta disagree about that one. Mozart always seemed so basic to me. Brilliantly basic. You can practically guess where his cadences are going to flow even if you havent heard the piece yet.

You want complex? I'll give you Shostakovitch - Stravinsky - Scriabin - Liszt - or Gorecki. As much as I love most music from all of those gentlemem, I have no doubt that a protracted stream of it played to a room of growing plants would have them withered in hours.

Wow, guess we gotta disagree about that one. Mozart always seemed so basic to me. Brilliantly basic.

I certainly understand what you are saying. There is no doubt that Mozart loved simple melody lines (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star was one of his favorite melodies) and I think he purposefully created much of his material to be accessible, but I don't think you become appreciated as one of the world's greatest composers by turning out merely simplistic pieces. I have seen comments made by modern composers for example, that will say things like "It seems so simple on the surface, but..." and then get into all the subtleties and nuances of his transitions, and underlying themes, how he was a ground breaking composer, shattering previously held positions on what music should be.

Maybe the difference lies in which works we are talking about? He wrote some 600 works, including operas, piano concertos, string quartets and quintets, sonatas, masses and 41 symphonies. Not only did he write in all these genres, but in many of them, his work is considered among the best works in those genres.

You don't get that acclaim from writing memorable jingles.

You want complex? I'll give you Shostakovitch - Stravinsky - Scriabin - Liszt - or Gorecki. As much as I love most music from all of those gentlemem, I have no doubt that a protracted stream of it played to a room of growing plants would have them withered in hours.

LMAO!

Woah dude, several of those names are french to me, or should I say russian? LOL. But thanks, I'll definitely check them out now.

I concur that Mozart is brilliantly basic. Not just him, though . . .
.
And - I didn't always think that way . . . this realization / appreciation only came about as I gained more musical experience myself.
It's hard for me to listen to a complex piece, now, without thinking about what was involved in writing it . . .
.
There are numerous complex-sounding pieces which are obviously based on a rudimentary exploration of a song.
A slight change, here or there, and: Voila! another minute of music.
.
The trick is to make a change which is good enough to be worthy of the listener's ear . . .
. . . and, then (once it's 'good enough'), one can start REALLY getting down to work, to attempt to make it 'Great."

I wanted add a couple of points on this matter, specifically relating to the symphonic compositions of Mozart etc.

IMO music, is conceptual in nature and open to each individuals interpretation. Therefore to you Irminsul you find Mozart kind of simple, however Craig finds him complex. Who is right? Both of you are because each of you is interpreting the compositon based on how it effects your Psyche. I also believe this why there are so many genres of music, because there are so many psyche's to be effected. I further believe the brilliance comes not in the execution (playing the piece) but in it's conception (actually writing it). The piece can be extremely simple, however it is excellent in it's simplicity. Let's look at the probably the simplest, and yet most well known and catchy riffs of all time, Smoke on the Water. Why does just about everybody know that tune"? It's brilliant in it's simplicity. I hope that kind of make the point.


Now where does music come from? I truley believe music comes from the soul/spirit. What is in ones soul is manifest via music. Threfore if you can touch anothers soul/spirit, you have written a superior piece of music. However, as I stated earlier that will differ from individual to individual.

So as not to start a spiritual war I leave this open to each individuals interpretation as to what their soul/spirit contains and what it likes/needs to hear.

'Tis the mystery of the spheres.

As witnessed by Gustav Holst.
I firmly believe there is a Cosmic sound that is inherent to everything in this Universe.
On our Planet is a natural note to everything be it a dull thud or a sharper click...to experiment for yourself tap on something and find it's note on a keyboard or your favorite instrument then tap or knock on more things even outside on trees etc. and post your findings here. Some things will have a different sound or frequency due to their shape (mainly manmade)but overall theres a note that most things have.
I already know what you'll find.
Some of you will be surprised that you never noticed it before.
Hint: the note you'll find will also explain something in the music world.

It's known electric motors run in the key of C. Try it. Flip your vacuum on and hit a C chord, perfect harmony.

I have actually solo'd using the vacuum as the backing instrument. Hmm.....I should record that.

It's known electric motors run in the key of C. Try it. Flip your vacuum on and hit a C chord, perfect harmony.

Thats the inherent note i was referring to, everything in nature seems to have a resonance at or near a frequency of C.
I like to think it explains why C is the middle note on a Piano...i don't truely know if this the reason though?
If anyone does know the reason for middle C please chime in.
Aside from the fact that it's Do in the solfege Do, Re, Mi...
Could it be our human voice defaults to C?