What is music to you?

[Warbalist]

I posted this on my tumblr http://warbalist.tumblr.com/, but this the main community at which it is aimed, so I'm reposting it here, in technique because it causes you to think a bit more about how you write, or at least it does to me.

Because Dr. Dissonance told me to, here is one of my thoughts on music:

What is music to you?

What does it mean to you?

I enjoy asking these questions almost as much as I love to hear people's answers to them. Of which I have heard many over the years, but, to me (and I could be wrong about this) they all seem to boil down to one word: communication.

Think about it: one person may say “an expression of my feelings” while another might answer “my attempt at bringing others to an altered state of consciousness”, but both of these need a kind of communication for them to work.

Now, communication is a broad subject. We see it in signs, in the hand gestures of others, in the tonality of someone's voice, in someone's face, on billboards, on commercials, and lastly in what is actually said or written. Between 60% and 90% of communication is nonverbal. Why? Because these nonverbal forms of communication are far more visceral, charged with emotion, and of these nonverbal forms of communication, music tends to be near the top of the list of things which are emotionally charged. What makes it so powerful?

Music has the ability to bring up deep-seated thoughts and emotions we didn't even know we had, flay them open, dissect them before our eyes, and put them back in the deep, dark recesses of our minds before we realized what we have just felt. This is an extremely powerful ability and can coerce us into doing things we had previously not had the desire to do. Like dance, or cry, or fight, or accidentally break our bones in a mosh-pit (which just might have happened to me....numerous times....). This powerful act of persuasion brings up far more interesting and useful questions.

What is the music I'm listening to telling me?

But more importantly for us musicians who are trained to not be bullied into what others' music tells us:

What is my music telling others? What does it say about me? Is my musical communication clear? How can I effectively communicate what I want through my music in order to more intensely connect with the hearts and minds of others?

Do you have any answers to these questions? What does music mean to you? What is it to you?

[Warbalist]

Good one, Kyoga. An "Imaginary Soniscape" if you'll allow the Sigh reference. Allowing others to hear and see with your own eyes and ears. Very interesting.

Who's next?

[soultensionbenjamin]

A bunch of melodies and harmonies giving me imagery.

[Warbalist]

A bunch of melodies and harmonies giving me imagery.

Simple, elegant and to the point. Music causes wild, visual imaginings in the receiver.

Who else has the guts to answer a wall of text?

[konsolN]

Music is a array of more or less reproducible sounds that I or others are willing to listen too

[MorteMcAdaver]

WHAT IS A MUSIC? A MISERABLE LITTLE PILE OF MELODIES! BUT ENOUGH TALK! I agree with Kyoga.

[Anforium]

Music to me is an expression of emotion through melody, harmony and rhythm. If you are not expressing some sort of emotion through your music(whether that be love, hate, anger, happiness etc.) then you are doing something wrong.

Some examples (my opinion)
Emotionless music:
90% of pop music today (Ke$ha, Katy Perry etc.)
Mainstream "radio friendly" rock (nickelback)
Crappy country music
Note: I actually quite like some country, mostly live stuff, but most of the stuff that plays on country radio is shit and all sounds the same.

Emotional music:
Rush
Rush
Rush
Dream Theater (lots of people would disagree, but honestly, listen to The Best Of Times and About To Crash and try not to get teared up!)
Van Halen
Electronic (various genres) that is done well.
Jazz (there's nothing quite like a live jazz show!)
Opeth
Becoming The Archetype
Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden
Rush
Rush

That was all my opinions and alot of that music I listed may not be to your taste but my point is that music is an expression of emotion and if it fails to do that than I don't consider it good music.

[colortwelve]

Music is poetry for the ears.

Music is a carefully crafted array of techniques within whatever limitations you choose to impose upon yourself, or within no limitations whatsoever, with the intention of making a listener experience something. Not always necessarily to feel, just to experience. Some songs aren't emotional in their own right, but they remain good songs because they can manage to incite some sort of reaction from the listener - 'Reptile' by Skrillex may not be emotional of its own accord, but it can incite nostalgia, excitement (of any vector, kind or unkind, depending upon the state of the listener), and so on. Some songs send mixed messages, like many of Between the Buried and Me and Opeth's music, which frequently shifts from unfettered aggression to placid meditation, mournful lamentation, or irrepressible celebration, in which case the music is more about impressing a sort of experience upon the listener, and not so much about communicating any single sentiment.

In either case, this means that music is a language both universal and deeply personal, as it may speak the same thing to anyone who listens, but it does so in such a way as to leave its every word open to interpretation - music belongs to everyone, but the way you listen to it is yours alone. This causes a concern about artists who go into music with a very specific intention for a very specific message, and to those who create music in this way, I'll say only that music with so specific an intention will get old quickly, unless it's catchier than half the Billboard 200.

And this would be a nice time to stop waxing philosophical and segue into the aural aspect of how I define music, and it's essentially this: Anything with rhythm, melody and deliberate organization counts as music in my book. That is to say, most bass music falls into my definition of the aural aspect of music, but John Cage does not.

Basically, if you can tap your foot to it, hum along, and walk away with a lasting impression, it's music.

[ChromaticChaosPony]

Music to me?

It's the main reason I haven't gone crazy and killed myself and everyone around me yet.

[Anforium]

Music is poetry for the ears.

Music is a carefully crafted array of techniques within whatever limitations you choose to impose upon yourself, or within no limitations whatsoever, with the intention of making a listener experience something. Not always necessarily to feel, just to experience. Some songs aren't emotional in their own right, but they remain good songs because they can manage to incite some sort of reaction from the listener - 'Reptile' by Skrillex may not be emotional of its own accord, but it can incite nostalgia, excitement (of any vector, kind or unkind, depending upon the state of the listener), and so on. Some songs send mixed messages, like many of Between the Buried and Me and Opeth's music, which frequently shifts from unfettered aggression to placid meditation, mournful lamentation, or irrepressible celebration, in which case the music is more about impressing a sort of experience upon the listener, and not so much about communicating any single sentiment.

In either case, this means that music is a language both universal and deeply personal, as it may speak the same thing to anyone who listens, but it does so in such a way as to leave its every word open to interpretation - music belongs to everyone, but the way you listen to it is yours alone. This causes a concern about artists who go into music with a very specific intention for a very specific message, and to those who create music in this way, I'll say only that music with so specific an intention will get old quickly, unless it's catchier than half the Billboard 200.

And this would be a nice time to stop waxing philosophical and segue into the aural aspect of how I define music, and it's essentially this: Anything with rhythm, melody and deliberate organization counts as music in my book. That is to say, most bass music falls into my definition of the aural aspect of music, but John Cage does not.

Basically, if you can tap your foot to it, hum along, and walk away with a lasting impression, it's music.

That's pretty much what I meant by emotion. I used it as more of a general term for anything that impresses a feeling onto the listener or reminds them of something.

[Dr_Dissonance]

Music to me is as a bloke named John Blacking defines it.

'Humanly Organised Sound'

But to elaborate more, music is something that evoked something within you. Whether it's the need to dance, an overwhelming feeling of joy or the sudden emptying of one's bowels, music is humanly organised sound that triggers responses in our head.

One thing which I really like to emphasise is the fact that it is ANY humanly organised sound. I get and know of a lot of folk who define it as absolutely needing a melody, or typical classical structure.
I say nay!
Music can be full of atmosphere too, without melody or traditional harmonies. One of my favourite pieces ever is more to do with sound than melody or any kind of traditional harmony. Heck, a lot of the harmony is based on those wind multiphonics you keep hearing. And the little sections which use 4 bass drums being quietly played (like that little bit at 7.20, HOLY WOW!) are more emotive than a large majority of what I listen to. That's why I love this piece. There's a huge amount of emotion in something considered to be unemotional.
That's the sign of good music. Music that evokes something from you. In any way!

That is music to me. Humanly organised sound that evokes something from you.

[WavesOfParadox]

I used to think this piece was ridiculous, but after having the philosophical question "What is music?" lingering in my thoughts for a while, I can't help but be glad this was made.



It sitting right on the border of "not music", yet when you think about it, a more perfect piece has never been made.

[WavesOfParadox]

And this would be a nice time to stop waxing philosophical and segue into the aural aspect of how I define music, and it's essentially this: Anything with rhythm, melody and deliberate organization counts as music in my book. That is to say, most bass music falls into my definition of the aural aspect of music, but John Cage does not.

Basically, if you can tap your foot to it, hum along, and walk away with a lasting impression, it's music.

Please don't make generalizations about John Cage; 4'33" was just one piece, he did many more things that do count as music in your definition.

[colortwelve]

And this would be a nice time to stop waxing philosophical and segue into the aural aspect of how I define music, and it's essentially this: Anything with rhythm, melody and deliberate organization counts as music in my book. That is to say, most bass music falls into my definition of the aural aspect of music, but John Cage does not.

Basically, if you can tap your foot to it, hum along, and walk away with a lasting impression, it's music.

Please don't make generalizations about John Cage; 4'33" was just one piece, he did many more things that do count as music in your definition.

Okay, I'll concede that I could pick a better example, but last year in philosophy we did take a week or two to look at 'music' that wasn't music - 4"33', some of Schoenberg's work, and a particularly terrifying piece called 'Hyperprism.' The impression it left on me was that there are certain 'composers' that like to play with the boundaries of what counts as music, and that just doesn't sit well with me personally.

[WavesOfParadox]

some of Schoenberg's work

Ugghhhh do not get me started on Schoenberg. Schoenberg is my second favorite composer, just behind Stravinsky.

[Beetie Swelle]

Welp, everybody above me already said what I thought in words much better than mine were going to be.

To me, music is a sort of communication that can transcend boundaries like language and culture. Music can express a part of the musician, and the listener can hear that music and (at least partially) understand what the musician aims to express, regardless of the differences between them.

[Warbalist]

That is music to me. Humanly organised sound that evokes something from you.

I like this a lot.

To me, music is a sort of communication that can transcend boundaries like language and culture.

My thoughts, exactly.

Music is a array of more or less reproducible sounds that I or others are willing to listen too

Haha, "willing to listen to," too true.

to me it means many things.

first off its a way to express emotion for me...

another thing music is to me is a way to have fun and forget about life.

lastly i do it to also waste time.

Expression of one's self, but do you know how to express yourself so another can truly understand?

An escapist experience. So true. Music does help you transcend and touch more than what you can see. (Man, that sounded cheesy.)

When I was 12 I picked up the guitar for no good reason and now it's my main means of making money, expressing myself and moving people, emotionally! It's never a waste of time, especially if you're able to alter someone's state and help them through a rough patch. I can't even express in words how much Beethoven helped me through my younger years.

That was all my opinions and alot of that music I listed may not be to your taste but my point is that music is an expression of emotion and if it fails to do that than I don't consider it good music.

A lot of the music you listed gets played at clubs at a high volume and the people there are genuinely having a good time. Are you saying that this music isn't good because there really isn't emotion in it or because you do not like the shallow, frivolous emotions they portray? I'm not defending Ke$a by any means, but we all feel and interpret music differently, each of us according to our genes and upbringings. By your own logic, I shouldn't consider at least one of the artists you mentioned as good music, and yet I still do because this simple fact remains: their music expresses something that connects with somebody, even if it is "Woo! I like to get drunk at the club and pass out in a pool of my own vomit, and now I gotta get checked for AIDS! Wooo!"

Music is poetry for the ears.

Music is a carefully crafted array of techniques within whatever limitations you choose to impose upon yourself, or within no limitations whatsoever, with the intention of making a listener experience something.

colortwelve, you win my favorite post award. Composing with the listener in mind in order to force them into an experience of your own design. POWER!

But, seriously, I like that you used the word "experience", as it interrupted my normal thought process.

Music to me?

It's the main reason I haven't gone crazy and killed myself and everyone around me yet.

I'm sure you're not alone in this sentiment, my friend.

[CommandSpry]

Music is something to listen to.

[Warbalist]

CommandSpry...
...
...
YOU'RE HIRED!

[Motivfs]

Music to me, I'll put it simple, Life.

But in more context, Kyoga basically hit every nail with what it is to me as well, especially the story part, I don't just like putting "Two and two together", I like to have an idea in the back of my head of what I'm telling, which would end up going with the title of course. I want my music to have MEANING, and it does not need vocals or words to express it, the instruments can do that well enough, it's up to the listener to interpret.

"Motivfs", my producer name, even has a story behind it.

[Dr_Dissonance]

and a particularly terrifying piece called 'Hyperprism.'

Hyperprism (by Varese) isn't music? Last time I checked it had the basic fundamentals...

Personally, I love Hyperprism. It was the one of the first major percussive pieces and has been a major staple in percussive/orchestral repetoire.
I think it's considered music. My definition definitely fits it!
But so does the narrow-minded definitions of 'it needs melody, rhythm, harmony, etc'. It has all ofthem! It just sounds different...and I can think of much crazier pieces that really do push the boundaries of everyone's definition.

I personally think that pushing the boundaries is great, because that's how we got to music today. I imagine back in the day of Bach, people's idea of music was far more strict than today. The reason we get music we have today is because someone decided to challenge those ideas and push the boundaries.
We wouldn't have atonal classical
We wouldn't have heavy metal
We wouldn't have pop
We wouldn't have dubstep
All music we know today was created by someone pushing the boundaries of music and rewriting the definition.
That's why I love pushing the boundaries of music. My definition might be 'Humanly organised sound that evokes something from you', but it might change in the future, who knows!

[Anforium]

@Warabalist

I expect more out of music than you do. I consider that music compete crap,yes. I could give a shit if people get drunk to it or have a good time. I like music that has real meaning and takes real talent to produce. Also, I expect the artists to write their own music, not pay others to do it for them.

[WavesOfParadox]

"I consider that music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all, whether a feeling, an attitude of mind, or psychological mood, a phenomenon of nature, etc….Expression has never been an inherent property of music. That is by no means the purpose of its existence."

-Igor Stravinsky (from his autobiography)

[SoaringFlight]

Everything.

[Freewave]

And this would be a nice time to stop waxing philosophical and segue into the aural aspect of how I define music, and it's essentially this: Anything with rhythm, melody and deliberate organization counts as music in my book. That is to say, most bass music falls into my definition of the aural aspect of music, but John Cage does not.

Basically, if you can tap your foot to it, hum along, and walk away with a lasting impression, it's music.

Please don't make generalizations about John Cage; 4'33" was just one piece, he did many more things that do count as music in your definition.

Okay, I'll concede that I could pick a better example, but last year in philosophy we did take a week or two to look at 'music' that wasn't music - 4"33', some of Schoenberg's work, and a particularly terrifying piece called 'Hyperprism.' The impression it left on me was that there are certain 'composers' that like to play with the boundaries of what counts as music, and that just doesn't sit well with me personally.

Sometimes how music is made IS the concept attempted to be communicated. It might not be as listenable or enjoyable to most but pushing what is music and what it can be is important. Most of the time it may be feeling or a message but other times its as much about the creation.