Musical Matchmaking
As a kid, i remember days in math class where the teacher had us play a cooperative game called Pico Fermi Bagel. The rules were that she had though of a 3-digit number, and we would use a series of guesses to figure out what her number was. It didn't take long to figure out that while you ultimately wanted a to get a Fermi fermi fermi (everything's correct and in the right place), the best thing you could hear at the begining was bagel (none of these digits appears in any form in my number). Sometimes being wrong tells you as much as being right.
What does that have to do with music? Well, have you ever heard someone say, "Oh, i don't like that stuff, it all sounds the same"?
I believe that when people say "it all sounds the same", they don't mean anything of the kind. Your ears and mind are highly sensitive instruments. You can tell the difference between one disco song and another, even if you hate disco. So believe that what you're really trying to say isn't "it all sounds the same", but "there's something here i don't like, and it happens consistently." For instance, it took me ages to figure out that what i dislike about most classical music isn't that it sounds the same, but that it doesn't have enough stuff in the lower register. And as a person who likes a huge range of music and often likes to share new stuff with friends, i'd just like to go on the record as saying that "it all sounds the same" is the most unhelpful statement *evar*.
Of course, i should balance that by saying that i still can't figure out my relationship to blues music. In small doses, i'm in ecstasy, but in large doses i get crabby and desperate for something else. Maybe i only like blues when it's mixed with some other kind of music? If so, why?
I encourage you to think about it for yourself a little, my darlings. Think about some kind of music you can't stand. What is it that you hear happening there? What parts of that are things you hear in other stuff that you do like? What's unique to that music? Where is it rubbing you the wrong way? Sometimes i've found that what i don't like is really only found in some forms of the music, like the characteristic heavy metal growl. And you never know when finding out why you hate fusion jazz might point you towards something new, like big band jazz or belgian folk tunes.
What does that have to do with music? Well, have you ever heard someone say, "Oh, i don't like that stuff, it all sounds the same"?
I believe that when people say "it all sounds the same", they don't mean anything of the kind. Your ears and mind are highly sensitive instruments. You can tell the difference between one disco song and another, even if you hate disco. So believe that what you're really trying to say isn't "it all sounds the same", but "there's something here i don't like, and it happens consistently." For instance, it took me ages to figure out that what i dislike about most classical music isn't that it sounds the same, but that it doesn't have enough stuff in the lower register. And as a person who likes a huge range of music and often likes to share new stuff with friends, i'd just like to go on the record as saying that "it all sounds the same" is the most unhelpful statement *evar*.
Of course, i should balance that by saying that i still can't figure out my relationship to blues music. In small doses, i'm in ecstasy, but in large doses i get crabby and desperate for something else. Maybe i only like blues when it's mixed with some other kind of music? If so, why?
I encourage you to think about it for yourself a little, my darlings. Think about some kind of music you can't stand. What is it that you hear happening there? What parts of that are things you hear in other stuff that you do like? What's unique to that music? Where is it rubbing you the wrong way? Sometimes i've found that what i don't like is really only found in some forms of the music, like the characteristic heavy metal growl. And you never know when finding out why you hate fusion jazz might point you towards something new, like big band jazz or belgian folk tunes.