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If I’m following this logic, the article seems to present a false equivalence between perceptions and feelings. When we hear music, we perceive things like pit
by millerjt 7y ago
If I’m following this logic, the article seems to present a false equivalence between perceptions and feelings.
When we hear music, we perceive things like pitch, timbre, duration. We don’t perceive sadness in music. Rather, certain types of music tend to cause certain types of feelings in listeners. The parts of music we do perceive are strongly bound to the music in the way the author defines. That’s how we can pick out individual instruments or have a conversation while music is playing.
Feelings are, well, more layered and do combine with those created from other perceptions. They also can last beyond the immediate perception.
Theres a great radio lab episode [1] about music, language, perceiving sound, and the connection between music and emotion. It’s such a fascinating topic.
[1] https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/episodes/91512-musical-language https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/episodes/91512...
- loons2 7y agoI'm not so sure. An audience feels the music much more intensely if the artist is feeling it. If the artist merely performs it, the audience doesn't feel it nearly as much. Great radio lab episode! re: hearing something awful becomes pleasant with repetition The first time I heard this (composed using non-chromatic scale with 16 pitches to the octave) was somewhat uncomfortable, but after hearing it a few times, it became quite pleasant. https://kylegann.com/FracturedParadise.mp3 https://kylegann.com/FracturedParadise.mp3 The explanation: https://kylegann.com/Fractured.html https://kylegann.com/Fractured.html
- meowface 7y agoAnd "feeling" it usually just means intuitively adding satisfying and interesting expression to the performance while in a flow state, which at the end of the day is just slight changes in the tempo, rhythm, dynamics, durations, etc. We're not feeling the "feeling it". We're just enjoying the new and potentially song-improving alterations that often come from a performer getting deep into a performance. If you were to take a pre-recorded piece with those exact same alterations, with no live performer (but could hypothetically make the audio quality the same as a live performance), I bet the audience would feel it just the same when you play the recording. All that matters is what the music sounds like.