Eerie Beauty of Music
Music. Just this one simple word brings to mind many things. For some it is just a distraction that helps enhance the mood during movies while for others it is a mood changer. For some it is the lifeblood that helps them advance through their day, and for others, it is the life that their day advances through. But no matter the effect that music has on it's listeners, everyone can agree that music has a mysterious beauty about it.
Be it speed metal or classical music, music has an eerie affect on it's listeners. For example, watch the scene in Lord of the Rings where the nine companions are running across the wilderness with the sound on. The musical theme gives a feeling of power and adventure and the sweeping strings and brass help establish the theme firmly in the viewer's mind. However, when the sound is muted while watching the movie, the sense of awe and power isn't established the same way. Of course there is still the epic shot of the nine companions running across the wilderness, but it doesn't carry the same weight as when the musical score was behind the shot.
What is this mystery that surrounds music? I would love to state firmly that music taps into some primal instinct and has the ability to alter the chemical balance of the brain and change moods of the listener (which I'm sure it does). But I don't have any medical or scientific proof to back this theory, only personal experience.
I can certainly say that music does affect my moods. I can be in a very surly mood and throw on the song "Suppertime" from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown and immediately find myself in a better mood after the song ends. Or I could be in an extremely tired mood, but if I throw on Psy's "Gangnam Style" I'll find myself invigorated with new energy. This effect might only stem to myself, but I can certainly say that music does affect my moods.
And that is why I am happy to claim that I will find myself entering into the work field with a degree in music. Of course it will be a BS in "Worship Leading" but what's most important is that I will be a graduated student with a degree that states "I know what I'm talking about for the most part when it comes to music interaction." Or something like that. I definitely didn't go through five years of university to find myself in the middle of nowhere knowing nothing about my chosen field.
What angers me about the music realm is this: it is such a cutthroat environment and in order to see your music succeed in this realm, you have to have the right connections. It doesn't matter if you don't have any talent (*cough cough* Justin Beiber *cough cough* Rebecca Black *cough cough*) you just have to know the right people. Software manipulation makes it possible to manipulate a terrible sound into something good.
For a good representation of this, let's jump in our "way back machine" and go back about two years ago to the superbowl halftime show. If you've heard music from the Black Eyed Peas, some (not all) of their music is decent (and I use "decent" in the loosest way) if you enjoy that genre of music. They put out some decent songs that got popular and aren't a one hit wonder like Flobots or Eiffel 65 (the former wrote "Handlebars" and the latter wrote "Blue (Da Ba Dee)." I know I'm dating myself with these but they were some pretty popular songs when I was growing up). But around comes the Superbowl and the Black Eyed Peas have to play their music and "sing" their music live (if you can call Fergie's screeching "singing"). But what came out from the group was an amalgamation of horrible rhythm and terrible "singing." In my opinion, the only thing that saved their entire performance was the fortunate appearance of Slash (the guitarist for Guns and Roses).
But why, if their music was so "good" on the recording, did thier live performance flop so much? Because dear children, the Black Eyed Peas have very little talent, and their sound engineers have too much talent. As stated above, their sound engineers are able to alter the screeching of Fergie so much that it makes it bearable, and alter the rhythm enough to get all of the perfomers in sync with one another. So much work is done on their album that by the time it get's released, more than 90% of the work was done by sound engineers.
Contrast that noise with the music of the London Symphonic Orchestra. The London Symphonic Orchestra is one of the most reputable orchestras across the globe. Even auditioning for the London Symphonic Orchestra is considered to be the peak of many musicians' careers. Most of their performances are flawless as those who don't perfom perfectly within the first few practices are often dismissed.
Now contrast the London Symphonic Orchestra with the Black Eyed Peas. One contains the best musicians in the world, and the other contains several musical hacks that managed to make it because of the studio engineers that they work with. One group gets paid enough to live comfortably and the other group gets paid enough to live in million dollar houses. Ironically it's those with no talent that make the millions. Take one look at that situation, and you have exactly what is wrong with today's music realm.
I apologize for going on a tirade about crappy music, but it's just something that bothers me. So many people with no talent make it in the music world while often, those who do know their trade often barely survive even with a secondary job. Maybe it's just my passion for music that angers me so much, but our ears deserve much better than the crap we hear on the pop radio stations.
Just something to think about next time you are about to drop $13 on the new Ke$ha album.
Be it speed metal or classical music, music has an eerie affect on it's listeners. For example, watch the scene in Lord of the Rings where the nine companions are running across the wilderness with the sound on. The musical theme gives a feeling of power and adventure and the sweeping strings and brass help establish the theme firmly in the viewer's mind. However, when the sound is muted while watching the movie, the sense of awe and power isn't established the same way. Of course there is still the epic shot of the nine companions running across the wilderness, but it doesn't carry the same weight as when the musical score was behind the shot.
What is this mystery that surrounds music? I would love to state firmly that music taps into some primal instinct and has the ability to alter the chemical balance of the brain and change moods of the listener (which I'm sure it does). But I don't have any medical or scientific proof to back this theory, only personal experience.
I can certainly say that music does affect my moods. I can be in a very surly mood and throw on the song "Suppertime" from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown and immediately find myself in a better mood after the song ends. Or I could be in an extremely tired mood, but if I throw on Psy's "Gangnam Style" I'll find myself invigorated with new energy. This effect might only stem to myself, but I can certainly say that music does affect my moods.
And that is why I am happy to claim that I will find myself entering into the work field with a degree in music. Of course it will be a BS in "Worship Leading" but what's most important is that I will be a graduated student with a degree that states "I know what I'm talking about for the most part when it comes to music interaction." Or something like that. I definitely didn't go through five years of university to find myself in the middle of nowhere knowing nothing about my chosen field.
What angers me about the music realm is this: it is such a cutthroat environment and in order to see your music succeed in this realm, you have to have the right connections. It doesn't matter if you don't have any talent (*cough cough* Justin Beiber *cough cough* Rebecca Black *cough cough*) you just have to know the right people. Software manipulation makes it possible to manipulate a terrible sound into something good.
For a good representation of this, let's jump in our "way back machine" and go back about two years ago to the superbowl halftime show. If you've heard music from the Black Eyed Peas, some (not all) of their music is decent (and I use "decent" in the loosest way) if you enjoy that genre of music. They put out some decent songs that got popular and aren't a one hit wonder like Flobots or Eiffel 65 (the former wrote "Handlebars" and the latter wrote "Blue (Da Ba Dee)." I know I'm dating myself with these but they were some pretty popular songs when I was growing up). But around comes the Superbowl and the Black Eyed Peas have to play their music and "sing" their music live (if you can call Fergie's screeching "singing"). But what came out from the group was an amalgamation of horrible rhythm and terrible "singing." In my opinion, the only thing that saved their entire performance was the fortunate appearance of Slash (the guitarist for Guns and Roses).
But why, if their music was so "good" on the recording, did thier live performance flop so much? Because dear children, the Black Eyed Peas have very little talent, and their sound engineers have too much talent. As stated above, their sound engineers are able to alter the screeching of Fergie so much that it makes it bearable, and alter the rhythm enough to get all of the perfomers in sync with one another. So much work is done on their album that by the time it get's released, more than 90% of the work was done by sound engineers.
Contrast that noise with the music of the London Symphonic Orchestra. The London Symphonic Orchestra is one of the most reputable orchestras across the globe. Even auditioning for the London Symphonic Orchestra is considered to be the peak of many musicians' careers. Most of their performances are flawless as those who don't perfom perfectly within the first few practices are often dismissed.
Now contrast the London Symphonic Orchestra with the Black Eyed Peas. One contains the best musicians in the world, and the other contains several musical hacks that managed to make it because of the studio engineers that they work with. One group gets paid enough to live comfortably and the other group gets paid enough to live in million dollar houses. Ironically it's those with no talent that make the millions. Take one look at that situation, and you have exactly what is wrong with today's music realm.
I apologize for going on a tirade about crappy music, but it's just something that bothers me. So many people with no talent make it in the music world while often, those who do know their trade often barely survive even with a secondary job. Maybe it's just my passion for music that angers me so much, but our ears deserve much better than the crap we hear on the pop radio stations.
Just something to think about next time you are about to drop $13 on the new Ke$ha album.
Comments
Post a Comment