What are you listening for when you listen to music?

[TapperMike]

One of my favorite pastimes is chasing "Famous Sounds"  I'll surf for demo's of various products which recreate the instrument sounds of famous songs.

The other day I was doing just that when I happened along a Korg Kronos video featuring the famous sounds included in the latest version. It was so inspiring it turned in to bad Karaoke night at Mike's where I'd chase down a youtube video and sing the song and then listen to another famous sound, chase down the song for it and so on and so on.  It was a highly enjoyable night for me.  (though maybe not so much for my neighbors)

 

My point is this.  Sometimes I listen for attempting to recreate the "sound" of a song.  Sometimes I listen for a glimpse at the theory / mentality / approach to performance.  Sometimes I listen to it's production quality.  Sometimes I listen because I want to transcribe a song  and only a very small amount of time I simply listen for the sake of personal enjoyment.  

 

Do you ever feel that your pursuit of music listening is less about the emotive qualities a song brings to you and more about how you think you might benefit from study?

[Rudi]

Mike, I'm almost certainly not as sensitive to tone/timbre as you are. I can't listen to music the way you describe. I get it completely, but I've focused & trained myself differently.

It makes perfect sense for what I know of you. It’s fascinating, because it explains so much about how we each have ‘created ourselves’ musically.

 

Most guitarists chase sound. I might’ve been like that if was born later, or had more money. I seem to have determined early on just to settle for the notes and let the sound take care of itself. It certainly doesn’t mean I don’t care about timbre, it’s just became a neglected area because I had so little choice about it for so long.

 

For that reason I usually practice unplugged. If I plug in, timbre can become a distraction for me and interfere with my practice.

In retrospect, this has been a counterproductive thing. I hadn’t realised that my picking style had outgrown my sound. It was only when listening back to my solo at the end of ‘It Doesn’t Matter What I Sing’, I heard that time lag had crept into my sound (all the quick alternate picking is discernibly OFF). It’s precisely this that drove me to experiment with picks for the next couple of years. I’ve spent hundreds of pounds on picks since. That obsession grew directly from that single experience. The point is, I never heard this unplugged, nor even playing live.

 

Often I listen to music to challenge me. The likes of Malcolm Arnold, Charles Ives, Derek Bailey or Anthony Braxton are essential for this. I will sometimes listen actively for a few minutes and then passively for the remainder of the piece. Following this, the difficult thing is to try to avoid other people’s music because that can drive the challenging music out of my head for the rest of the day.

 

I used to listen to the music I love for a musical ‘fix’. It was like scratching an itch. That doesn’t happen much anymore because I can hear the music in my head when I want to. For that reason I don’t put music on as much as I used to. It’s also why I have ‘worn out’ some music too.

 

This is an excellent thread.

 

 

[TapperMike]

Thanks for your insights Rudi and Rob.

 

I agree with you about musical fixes.  I find myself listening to music much less than I have in the past.  And often when I do I feel age setting in.  My age and the age of the music.  There are sometimes I feel I have to stop listening to things I've listened to for far to long.

Take Steely Dan which I love.  I purposely have avoided listening to any steely dan for the last few years.  I listened for the love of the music, I listened for the theory and arrangement behind the scenes. and I listened for performance analysis.  I also covered over 40 Steely dan songs in my lifetime.  I'm not the boy/young man I was when I first heard them and it doesn't reach the same soft spot it used to for me.  In time I'll return to Steely Dan but not immediately.

 

 

[Rudi]

Quote

 

Mike:          sometimes I feel I have to stop listening to things I've listened to for far to long.

Take Steely Dan which I love.  I purposely have avoided listening to any steely dan for the last few years.

 

 

Yes, there is some music I have never returned to. Steely Dan is one such example. I have all the albums on vinyl. I loved them all, but not felt it necessary to replace them with CD or download. I had listened to these frequently and feel I have 'exhausted the material'.

 

The same has applied to the Allman Bros Band, the Eagles, Neil Young, America, Marshall Tucker Band and more.

 

Even those that were 'extra-special' to me have been majorly neglected for the self same reason. eg: Grateful Dead, Little Feat & Traffic. 

 Having said that, the seemingly inexhaustible font of Grateful Dead live recordings has made a difference. After avoiding them for 18 or so months, this month I bought a 21 cd box of shows from 1971 that had been Radio Broadcasts. I have only listened to one show (3 cds) in its entirety. That is Harding Theatre SF 7/November/1971 which is worth the whole £21 I paid for the box. 

 

The point is this includes performances I'd not not heard before, and some of which include improvisations that went somewhere unexpected. I was delighted and surprised all over again. Hell, I miss them. 

 

I admit I have been a voracious consumer of music. I recently found a Poi Dog Pondering album called '7' that was a return to form (some later stuff had been f-ing awful) and a delight to hear. Most of this trend is me looking backward. Even current artists such as Los Lobos & Ry Cooder are long in the tooth. There again though, I have a couple of friends who have never moved on from their teenage favourites.

 

But 50% of my current music listening is from SongStuff members, which has become valuable to me. I listened to a piece by Steve Mueske yesterday. It engaged me immediately. Its unhelpful to have expectations when approaching new music, though we all do to some extent. 

 

This is a pretty damn good place. I'm going to drop a coin in the poorbox right now.

[TapperMike]

Here are some things to ponder....

 

Now the second part applies to everyone of every genre regarding the emotive value of singing / playing

 

 

When you are listening to what seems like a stirring emotional sound that pulls at your heartstrings... It's not just played it's acted.

The articulation note emphasis  timing is something that is practiced.  Like any good actor or con man they believe what they are telling you and they work towards you believing in it yourself.

[Richard Tracey]

When I listen to music - all I really want is that feeling of coming home. The music just hits that spot and makes everything else in your life fade into obscurity. Music should move you, make you feel - happy, sad, it shouldn't matter.

 

 

[Mahesh]

I would resonate with others who've mentioned about music evoking a particular emotion when listening. I look for the same thing, intentionally or subconsciously. That's what drew me to music in the first place and still to this day glues me to it.

Here's a documentary I recently watched called The Art of Listening which coincidentally borders on this very same discussion we are having here.

 

 

 

 

 

[Just1L]

I used analyze music when learning guitar long ago. I was an avid Eddie Van Halen fan and I was always listening to the little nuances in his songs. Back then it was fun, but also frustrating when I couldn't nail what I was trying to play exactly. Eventually I stopped doing that, and trying to pay Van Halen songs. It was much more fun after that. All the time I took studying did in fact improve me as a player, but I also found it zapped some of the fun out of it because I was focusing too hard. I'm not saying at all it's a bad thing to do that type of listening, but I've made a conscious decision not to do so any more. Music is one of the few things I try to keep for enjoyment only. I don't listen to a whole lot of music but when I do it is solely for enjoyment.

[Sreyashi Mukherjee]

I think, by default, music is meant to be a right-brained activity/engagement. For most of us, it will come naturally as a means to de-stress or escape from the ho-hum routine of life. Personally, for me, it's like a life-saver. I listen to music a lot and my mood decides what type I listen to. But, yes, even though I listen for enjoyment, I realize that my biggest motivation is good vocals and melodies (lyrics take the backseat for me) which I'm always on the lookout for. So, maybe in a way, I'm not completely relaxed when I'm listening to vocal pieces - which probably comprise of 95% of my curent music library. Then again, there are those moments when I suddenly realise that I've just shed a few tears.

[TapperMike]

As I age the magic heartstring pulling moments become less and less especially when it comes to new music.  Even if it's an old song by an old artist that I simply haven't heard before.   That's the one thing about jazz standards...they are subject to greater interpertation.  Every-once-in-awhile I'm awestruck.

 

 

Musically playing for myself I'm in yet another one of my topsy turvy flipflops where I'm bored to tears with what I'm playing so I go out and dabble in something else for awhile.  I don't know if it's healthy as a musician to switch genres.  We can love many styles and try to bring them into our own world but we can't be all things to ourselves let alone the rest of the world.

[Rudi]

17 hours ago, TapperMike said:

Musically playing for myself I'm in yet another one of my topsy turvy flipflops where I'm bored to tears with what I'm playing so I go out and dabble in something else for awhile.  I don't know if it's healthy as a musician to switch genres.  We can love many styles and try to bring them into our own world but we can't be all things to ourselves let alone the rest of the world.

 

It doesnt hurt, unless your core skills become neglected as you spread your style/genres/technique

 

I dabble in everything, and am a jack of all trades, but master of none.

[starise]

On 4/6/2017 at 0:59 PM, TapperMike said:

Thanks for your insights Rudi and Rob.

 

I agree with you about musical fixes.  I find myself listening to music much less than I have in the past.  And often when I do I feel age setting in.  My age and the age of the music.  There are sometimes I feel I have to stop listening to things I've listened to for far to long.

Take Steely Dan which I love.  I purposely have avoided listening to any steely dan for the last few years.  I listened for the love of the music, I listened for the theory and arrangement behind the scenes. and I listened for performance analysis.  I also covered over 40 Steely dan songs in my lifetime.  I'm not the boy/young man I was when I first heard them and it doesn't reach the same soft spot it used to for me.  In time I'll return to Steely Dan but not immediately.

 

 

 

I find myself not listening to music as much as I once did and avoiding some of the very things I once liked to hear. This thread is forcing me to question why. I really don't know. Some of it is probably tiring from the same music. When I'm mixing in the studio I might hear the same tune 200 times. In that setting I'm intentionally tearing the mix and parts apart in trying to pin down problems and get the best mix I can get. I believe I eventually tire of it and need a break. 

You mentioned listening for performance analysis. I do that more than simply enjoying music. I'm learning to play violin, so I pop in a violin CD and the first thoughts are, how did they do that? Maybe I could try this. etc. I pick apart everything I hear. I'm asking myself if I like the feel of the mix, if it has enough bass, examining the arrangement. It becomes more like a chore instead of an enjoyable thing after awhile.

I no longer  get any  adrenaline flowing listening to top 40 stations. It's time for something new. So I'm right where you are on this TapperMike.

 

Some of my most enjoyable moments are when I simply pick up a guitar or sit at a piano with no thought about production or how it will sound, and play. If it's  a good day I'll find some music  that sounds fresh. If it isn't I'll play in circles awhile and put the guitar up. I usually know when it's time to give it up.If the lake is dry there's no point in trying to get a drink. 

 

In some ways I miss the days when I had no clue about anything and I simply listened to music for the effect it had on me. I still have those moments if I let go and attempt to tune out all of the static in my head.

 

I think that in order to really be a musician you need to analyze what you do continually. This spills over into everything. 

 

On the positive side I usually enjoy analyzing  music. 

 

There are times I'm brought to tears over music, but not very often.

 

I think some of the experience is based on what our expectations are before we listen. If I turn on top 40 I'll expect the same songs I've heard for the last 30 years. This is why I like to venture into unusual music sometimes. Sometimes it's a kid playing with a drum machine or someone producing bland crap on a sampler. Other times new music takes me to another level. 

[Steve]

I listen to music that pleases me.  If a piece pleases me within the first few bars, It's a keeper. I have no set illusions or constraints on what might please me. Most of what I listen to is found online by random surfing. Sometimes, it's from reccommendations from friends. Music should be a pleasure, not a task or a challenge! It shouldn't be a chore to find something, it's there to appeal. If it does that, then you've cracked it! If it doesn't appeal, don't try finding something in it that you might imagine is there!