What type of music do you all prefer?

[beerijuana]

Whether something gives one goosebumps or not is dependent on whether you can identify with the concept or emotion being relayed in that particular form....if one doesn't feel it it doesn't mean one' ears are dead it just means one is not 'in tune' with it for whatever reason.

 

You missed the winky face...

 

You come across as a snob as well and don't 'get' it in spite of your 'long experience'.

Assuming my point was an appeal to authority (it was not).

 

There is no absolute frame of reference or criteria by which music can be judged qualitatively...it is unique to each individual given the many different paths we each tread through life what touches us musically.

 

The frame of reference is absolute, and unique to individuality. The terms governed by the frame set by each who perceive it, which in turn is (with the exception of the 5% of the population genetically incapable of perceiving music as ...music. See: McGill -> Daniel J. Levitin ) what establishes the depth and scope of the terms and frame available to the individual.

 

Had you read my comments and fought the reflex that leaves knee-bruises on chins you would've picked up on that very point being made. We are "wired for sound" for the basics of root tone and diatonic (with the starting point at enharmonic 4th/5th intervalic degrees) at birth, everything else develops via exposure, ...it's acquired. If what is acquired (skill wise) reaches a certain point of "learned", the brain gets wired for "extra" ability, ...both in the expression and perception of music, most notably in regards to the way both sides of the brain communicate in regards to the harmonic/melodic and rhythm (which in turn are processed by different parts of the brain anyway, rhythm is perceived/processed in the motor-control areas of the brain associated with arms and legs).

 

Vive la difference?

Indeed, one man's meat, ...as they say.

 

Mmmmm.... meat.

 

As an analogy, a person whose entire experience of cuisine is based on the frame (and terms) of 2 or 3 purveyors of fast-food, is not going to be able to relate well to the issues of "taste" with that of a person whose "taste" experience and knowledge is exponentially more varied.

 

...and vice versa.

 

Discussions on music certainly brings out the elitist in some people.

As well as conclusion jumping of Olympic proportions.

Edited December 16, 2010 by beerijuana

[Anura]

Johnny Cash. Tampa Red. Willie nelson. David Atkins, Al Hirt,

 

 

[zapatos]

The frame of reference is absolute, and unique to individuality. The terms governed by the frame set by each who perceive it, which in turn is (with the exception of the 5% of the population genetically incapable of perceiving music as ...music. See: McGill -> Daniel J. Levitin ) what establishes the depth and scope of the terms and frame available to the individual.

Which I take to mean that it is not meaningful for someone to declare that a particular genre is of higher quality, since it is only higher quality in their unique frame of reference. If someone tells me that their particular genre is of higher quality than mine because it is more complex and they are able to appreciate that complexity, that sounds to me like they are saying "my brain is more developed than yours as far as music is concerned". I can see where that attitude might come across as snobish.

Edited December 16, 2010 by zapatos

[beerijuana]

Which I take to mean that it is not meaningful for someone to declare that a particular genre is of higher quality, since it is only higher quality in their unique frame of reference.

 

Of which there are roughly 6+ Billion... yes.

 

Better, quality, complexity, ...all relative.

 

If someone tells me that their particular genre is of higher quality than mine because it is more complex and they are able to appreciate that complexity, that sounds to me like they are saying "my brain is more developed than yours as far as music is concerned". I can see where that attitude might come across as snobish.

 

When it comes down to it, ...objectively, there are no "genres", ....if you think about it, they're more a marketing tool than any kind of real measure of complexity or quality. People take their taste in music personally, ...often calling pet genres, bands and songs, "my music", as in, "...I'd rather listen to my music", your average Joe or Jane anyway.

 

Interesting choice of words, ...and just as snobby? "Their music", not written/composed by them, ...just what happens to turn their crank.

 

There's also the probability that they probably won't be able to explain their preference beyond their own understanding of it, ...same as anyone else.

 

If one's brain is better developed via an acquired skill, for any skill, ...they are probably better at it than someone who didn't have the desire, didn't put in the time and effort to acquire it.

 

If you were a heart surgeon, and you needed heart surgery, who would you prefer getting advice from; another heart surgeon, or an insurance salesman? If you go with the former, ...would that be snobbish? Elitist?

 

Nice heart, Mr. Clark, ...it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

 

So, yeah, ...if someone I have reason to respect, musically (because they've earned it, ...respect being one of those snobby earned things), ...makes a listening suggestion to me, ...I'm more likely to take it seriously even if it's something I've never heard of -> than if my insurance salesman, ...or a heart surgeon for that matter, tells me to check out the new Lady Gaga track (popularity notwithstanding).

Edited December 16, 2010 by beerijuana

[zapatos]

When it comes down to it, ...objectively, there are no "genres", ....if you think about it, they're more a marketing tool than any kind of real measure of complexity or quality. People take their taste in music personally, ...often calling pet genres, bands and songs, "my music", as in, "...I'd rather listen to my music", your average Joe or Jane anyway.

 

Interesting choice of words, ...and just as snobby? "Their music", not written/composed by them, ...just what happens to turn their crank.

 

There's also the probability that they probably won't be able to explain their preference beyond their own understanding of it, ...same as anyone else.

 

If one's brain is better developed via an acquired skill, for any skill, ...they are probably better at it than someone who didn't have the desire, didn't put in the time and effort to acquire it.

I agree with all of this.

 

If you were a heart surgeon, and you needed heart surgery, who would you prefer getting advice from another heart surgeon, or an insurance salesman? If you go with the former, ...would that be snobbish? Elitist?

Wouldn't be snobbish or elitist at all. And that is because we can objectively measure who of the two is better at heart surgery. If the objective is to have the patient live, then after the salesman kills all his patients, we can say the heart surgeon is better at heart surgery.

 

But what is the objective of music? Is it to be complex? If it is, then I'll agree that more complex music is better than less complex music.

 

For me there are many things that I use to judge the quality of music, and complexity is only one of them. If I had more music training at an earlier age then maybe what falls under my heading of quality music would be different.

 

So, yeah, ...if someone I have reason to respect, musically (because they've earned it, ...respect being one of those snobby earned things), ...makes a listening suggestion to me, ...I'm more likely to take it seriously even if it's something I've never heard of -> than if my insurance salesman, ...or a heart surgeon for that matter, tells me to check out the new Lady Gaga track (popularity notwithstanding).

And so you should. But I think you would be doing it because of one of the things you mentioned, such as having identified them as having a similar listening skill to yours. If I was a singer, then perhaps the ability of the singer would be the determining factor for me in determing the best music. And that would determine who I'd respect.

 

And if the thing that most moves me about music is the message/poetry/awesome guitar solos/whatever, then the person whose suggestion I'd be more likely to listen to is the person I've identified as being similar to me.

 

I respect the skill and cognitive abilities you have, but they don't help me enjoy the music any better.

 

So....

 

To me, the music I listen to is better than the music you listen to, because I like my music. But I wouldn't think of telling anyone that my music is objectively better than theirs.

[Moontanman]

My feelings about music are similar to the late Great Justin Wilson's views on Wine.

 

I drink red wine because I like red wine, I drink it with fish, with pork, with beef and crawdads. Not because it's the correct wine for those things but because it's what I like, you drink what you like...

 

Johnny Cash. Tampa Red. Willie nelson. David Atkins, Al Hirt,

 

 

Anura, do you ever listen to Maria Muldaur? I picked up her "Waitress in a Donut Shop" LP the other day at the record store, on vinyl, mint condition, good album too "It ain't the Meat it's the Motion!"

[beerijuana]

I respect the skill and cognitive abilities you have, but they don't help me enjoy the music any better.

 

With one exception, ...I may suggest things you might like, that you would otherwise be unaware of because my potential source pool may be that much wider.

 

No guarantees that you'll like it because I do, or for the same reasons, ...but one never knows if they like the taste of something until they taste it, ...and we can't taste things we aren't exposed to.

 

I've been privileged to work with a lot of different musicians, producers, songwriters from around the world (I used to be a session musician), from diverse ethnic backgrounds, cultures, etc. In this sense, ...I'm a node in a network that has a huge upstream structure, which is why I've never used the term "my music" (unless it's actually my compositions), ...so if you do give the Silk Road Ensemble (itself a node in a huge upstream network of ethnically diverse music), a listen; whether you like it or not, ...you have just become a node (in THAT particular network) yourself, at least in that you can experience something you otherwise would not (if you hadn't otherwise heard of it).

 

This is why I find the thread title a bit of a loaded question, especially in regards to the qualifier, "type".

 

What type of music do I prefer?

 

In the words of the immortal Duke Ellington:

 

"there are two types of music: good music and bad music, I like good music"

 

But what is the objective of music?

 

From the standpoint of "tasting" it? ...I would think that a major factor would be how broad ones source pool is. The more things one can contrast and compare, the more refined their taste (however subjective it may be) will be.

Edited December 16, 2010 by beerijuana

[Doc. Josh]

classic, 80s-90s hits and some newer music mix's

[jpzzzxxx]

rap metal

[SarahPerez10]

I like classical, jazz and rock music!!!!!

[ajb]

The occasional Goth Rock...

 

Now and again I listen to goth rock, "beauty and the beast" artists and similar. Internet radio is great for this.

 

NIN

 

Same thing here really, occasionally I will listen to them. Hurt I guest is my favourite song. The Jonny Cash version is OK, I was surprised by how many people thought he wrote it.

[mississippichem]

Now and again I listen to goth rock, "beauty and the beast" artists and similar. Internet radio is great for this.

 

 

 

Same thing here really, occasionally I will listen to them. Hurt I guest is my favourite song. The Jonny Cash version is OK, I was surprised by how many people thought he wrote it.

 

NIN is awesome. Great highway music.

[imatfaal]

NIN is awesome. Great highway music.

 

NIN - just reminds me of original Quake - not saying that is a bad thing

[A Tripolation]

NIN is awesome. Great highway music.

 

I dislike the Trent Reznor bandwagon. I'm not saying that you're a part of that, but there's something disturbing about listening to the same music as a 13-year old girl.

[mississippichem]

I dislike the Trent Reznor bandwagon. I'm not saying that you're a part of that, but there's something disturbing about listening to the same music as a 13-year old girl.

 

Yeah, I just think NIN songs are catchy and are well written pop songs (this might be an oxymoron). Trent Reznor worshipers are almost as annoying as Thom York worshipers. Both receive far too much credit and are hailed as musical geniuses but both are really just "pretty good" pop writers. Reznor has great production quality though. I've got respect for that seeing as how he records his own stuff.

[the tree]

I dislike the Trent Reznor bandwagon. I'm not saying that you're a part of that, but there's something disturbing about listening to the same music as a 13-year old girl.

Two groups of people can like the same things, y'know. Really good music doesn't need to be shouldn't be age or gender specific.

[StringJunky]

Two groups of people can like the same things, y'know. Really good music doesn't need to be shouldn't be age or gender specific.

 

I agree...I'm 48 years old and it's not been unknown for me to like the output of teenybopper bands..if it sounds good it is. The good thing about getting older is growing self-assurance about what one likes and not having to comply with the expectations of one's peers.

[kristina221]

Alice in chains, The 69 Eyes, Metallica, The Sisters of Mercy, Opeth, Enya, Bauhaus, Pink Floyd, RHCP, few Nightwish's songs, Tristania, Vivaldi, Disturbed, Apocalyptica, Maksim Mrvica, Moonspell, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sirenia, Simon & Garfunkel, Siouxie & The Banshees...

[Gallstones]

I think it would be more accurate for me to list what I don't like rather than what I do--because I like many different styles of music. Even so, I find that I mostly enjoy and mostly buy that of the greater rock type. And to be honest, some of my favorite bands produce......crap. But I don't care.

 

What I don't like is brassy jazz, and the contemporary pop types, disco, some others. However, even within the categories of music I don't like, I can usually find a song or an artist whose music I enjoy. I discover them most often by recommendation from someone.

 

Thing is, even those styles I don't normally like, I can enjoy when in the right context. Live performances tend to facilitate that more easily than recordings.

 

Recent discoveries, and bands/artists that I am currently listening to nearly everyday since are the Black Keys, The National, John Grant, Imogene Heap, Live, Dan Sartain.

 

Old favorites include k.d.lang, Texas Tornadoes, Zepplin, Leonard Cohen, Nick Lowe, Poets of the Fall, Rammstein (helps me with my German), Staind, Them Crooked Vultures, Audioslave,.......I could go on.

Edited March 2, 2011 by Gallstones

[jadef7]

Manowar, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, DIO, Motorhead,... that kind of thing. \m/

 

yes!!!!!!!!!!! i love manowar and dio and motorhead!! very good music

but then again, i will listen to anything, depends on the point in time haha

[ajb]

yes!!!!!!!!!!! i love manowar and dio and motorhead!! very good music

but then again, i will listen to anything, depends on the point in time haha

 

 

Rock on \m/

[lemur]

Two groups of people can like the same things, y'know. Really good music doesn't need to be shouldn't be age or gender specific.

 

 

I agree...I'm 48 years old and it's not been unknown for me to like the output of teenybopper bands..if it sounds good it is. The good thing about getting older is growing self-assurance about what one likes and not having to comply with the expectations of one's peers.

 

I'm not quite that old yet, but rate of age-change speeds up as you get older, doesn't it? Anyway, I notice that while I can appreciate new pop music, I am not driven to listen to music as much as I was when I was younger, so the number of songs/artists I consume are less than they used to be.

 

I have finally checked out Lady Gaga after successfully avoiding the buzz until now. I got hooked on Born This Way because of the theological mythology at the beginning and something about the song that I couldn't figure out at first that caused me to keep searching my mind for what it was. Finally, I figured out that it sounds like Express Yourself by Madonna. Has anyone else noticed this similarity between these two songs?

Edited March 6, 2011 by lemur

[Moontanman]

Rock on \m/

 

 

Still looking for that blue jean, baby queen

Prettiest girl I ever seen

See her shake on the movie screen, Jimmy Dean....

 

James Dean!

 

Rock On!

 

Another thing about the experience of classical music which I think is special is the delightful sense of the mind being drawn in by the vast complexity of everything going on simultaneously in a good symphony and then held captive, helpless in the overwhelming sense of intricate structure filling the mind from every direction. When I listen to popular music I simply can't understand how people can enjoy it since it is just too thin to produce this interesting sensation of the paralysis of thought and sensation. Just the constant drumbeat of the same thin melody supported by an overly loud and invariable rhythm in the background repeated over and over again with no comprehension of the need to play repetition off against variety. Instead of the experience being like listening to complexity and intelligence in motion, as it is with classcial music, with popular music the experience is like being in a boiler factory where some loose handle keeps banging against the side of a pipe.

 

 

It's quite obvious Marat that you have not been talking to the right people or listening to the right music on the right equipment. Listen to Magic Man by Heart (actually the whole Dream Boat Annie LP) or Desire Walks on LP by Heart or if you want a hit that will send chills up your spine but it almost never played in it's entirety on the radio listen to "Love is like Oxygen" by Sweet or if you like more mainstream Rock then "Don't fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult or "Veteran of a Thousand Psychic Wars" personally I think the reason most people fail to feel the complexity of rock music is both the radio programs that only played 3 minute songs and the joke of Hi Fidelity music being played on a transistor radio.

 

I listen to my music through a Mitsubishi power amp, 150 watts per channel at 8 ohms (they used to call those amps welders specials), An Adcom control amp, Shure V-15 Type IV cartridge and Infinity 1.5 4 ohm speakers. There is distinct difference between album rock being played on a real stereo system and the shortened compressed versions listened to on a cheap turn table or broadcast on the radio. Lots of album rock that will make you feel those goose bumps if it is played with the similar dynamic range that classical music is usually listened to, whole album cuts listened to on equipment that can do them justice is a great ride. "Take a Ride on Heavy Metal, it's the only way you can travel down that road....." (sound tracks are often good too....)

 

Oops, I have repeated myself, but what the hey it's a slow morning

Edited March 6, 2011 by Moontanman

[jadef7]

Rock on \m/

 

DIE FOR METALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

BLADES OF STEEL

"QUIT MY JOB THIS MORNING, SAID FOREVER , I WOULD HOLD MY HEAD UP HIGH!'

[Xittenn]

I had already mentioned my love for Portishead and Eclectic Jazz styles but there is one thing that upsets me rather often about compositions in this category and that is unlike Dubstep the songs do not go on forever. Like the song Portishead - The Rip(not really a jazzy Portishead song eg. Pedestal) why does it end? The answer should not be three, no

Edited March 14, 2011 by Xittenn