Steven Barr wrote:
> Two thoughts (after deleting the long message)...
>
> First...any new forms of, or new developments in, music (be it
> "popular" or "classical") will only become part of the "body of
> music" if enough of those who hear these novel ideas respond by
> becoming paying "fans" thereof! I wonder how many musicians tried
> new inventions/ideas/etc. only to find out that they couldn't
> attract audiences, and then abandoned them!
>
> Second...I have been reading a serious work on the relationship
> between sound (as a physical entity) and music. It postulates that
> a fair amount of what determines "music" is actually, or at least
> seems to be, "hard wired" into our brains! It suggests that there
> is a minimum degree of frequency difference that can be perceived
> by humans as different notes...and that what we think of as harmony.
> thus chords (and dischords) is dependent on the "beat notes" which
> are created by frequency differences. Thus, if we hear two tones
> a "half-tone" apart, our instinctive reaction is to find that
> unpleasant...while many standard musical intervals are perceived
> (again, naturally) as pleasant. Thus, while technology (or slide
> guitar, or "bent" notes on a harmonica...) can create an infinite
> range of frequencies, our perceptions of them are "built in" to
> our human brains!
>
> Finally, considering the list membership, and their educations
> and experiences...as well as the fact that "recorded sound" is
> probably 95% or more "music"...I think this list is an ideal
> facility for this discussion!
I have the feeling that you are discussing music in terms of the
conventional, Western variety. One need not turn to the 'exotic' music
of Japan, but only to the music of Biber and, especially, of Gesualdo
for counterexamples. Note that a composer can be important without being
popular. Virtually no one outside of a conservatory knew of Gesualdo for
four centuries, but he proved important to the development of 'modern'
classical music.
Pythagoras is credited with the term "music of the spheres", building
the same laws of harmony and dissonance you suggest. However, the music
of India and to a lesser extent also of Greece itself goes against those
laws.
Mike
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