Re: Why it has to be played loud

[Kevin Austin <kevin.austin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Perception, you see, is a cultural phenomenon, and is based upon learning and memory. There are musical cultures where many of the sounds are based on inharmonic structures (Bali). Western ensemble music too is based on inharmonic (dissonant [sic]) structures, such as the sound of an inharmonically vibrating set of strings (piano), or large groups of instruments that play heterophonically (such as the first violin section of the Berlin Philharmonic.

I propose a sound that is not well-known in most of the world, the "tune" being Little Bob Maximus. 
http://www.matfrygbr.co.uk/sounds/Bristol_bells.mp3

In some communities, Xenakis' piece, Bohor is considered revolutionary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0ZKpISpF2U

In another life, I would have sat in lots of pubs in London, or beer parlors in Munich listening to Lili Marlene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUsePoATbrU. The band would be "out of tune" [sic], and out of time, but most listeners [sic] would prefer either the english or the german song, at around 3 minutes to being force to endure Act II of Parsifal, or a slow movement of a Berwald Symphony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlbP1UA3ArU&p=A4926CB844E51802&playnext=1&index=39

For those new to Berwald, his cousins were Mendelssohn and Schumann, and he was an uncle of Bruckner.


Regarding why "imho" more people prefer poutine to tofu, I think it has to do with the high levels of fat and salt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poutine
With regards listener preferences for pre-1900 concert-music, "imho", greater familiarity with the language.

Schoenberg Op 19 http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Schoenberg+Op+19&aq=f requires that the hearer listen. It's a bit like reading Ulysses.

... and what has western tonality got to do with sound?


Kevin



On 2010, Sep 25, at 8:38 AM, reinifrosch@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Matthew,
> I agree. I did not write that so-called classical music is "nothing more than resolutions of dissonances" -- but that feature is an important component. It explains "IMHO" why most listeners prefer pre-1900 (or so) concert-hall music to post-1900 one. 
> Reinhart.
> 
> ----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----
> Von: mccabem@xxxxxxx
> Datum: 24.09.2010 23:45
> An: <AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Betreff: Re: Why it has to be played loud
> 
> hi all,
> [...]
> also, i think if we reduce so-called "classical music" to being nothing 
> more than resolutions of dissonances, we are missing the large-scale 
> formal structures that makes music from 1600-1900 beautiful.  the true art 
> in traditional western art music is in the key relationships and form, not 
> localized resolutions of dissonances.
> -m
> [...]
> > On Thu, 23 Sep 2010, reinifrosch@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:> Old guys with undamaged 
> > hair cells have the advantage that they can fully> enjoy classical tonal 
> > music with its change from dissonant to consonant> chords and back. According 
> > to the Helmholtz consonance theory that> change is due to the presence or 
> > absence of beats generated by pairs of> partial tones of almost equal 
> > frequencies. These partials tend to be> soft, and their frequencies tend to 
> > be high. [...]
> -------
> dr. matthew mccabe  <mccabe_matthew@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> visiting assistant professor  ::  music technology  ::  columbus state university
> office:  schwob school of music 2706  ::  phone:  706-452-1337 :: fax 706-256-9555
> -------
> Reinhart Frosch,
> CH-5200 Brugg.
> reinifrosch@xxxxxxxxxx .
>