The Wonder Of It All
I sit and think about how music evolved. I wonder about the first percussion that made the next and the next. I wonder if it was wood on wood, rock on rock, or the mere splash of a stone being thrown in the water. I then wonder about the first stringed instrument. Who ever came up with that? Who came up with a fret board?
Then there are the more complicated of instruments, like pipe organs, a piano, flutes? I can not even imagine the first complicated flute. I am sure that I could do the research, but this is just a place where I ponder and share. There are so many things, objects that can be used as or construed as instruments.
The water on the edges of glasses, singing bowls, steel drums. Instruments I have never heard of as well. I love the instrument that is stringed, that I am aware Geisha's play. I don't know what it is called, and am too lazy to look it up, but what a beautiful sound it produces. That leads me to think of the music during dragon festivals.
I can not abide that music, although I am sure there are enough in the world, who step in where I step back. It is too crashy, clangy for me. I am of a mind that my music has to be soothing, when I am not listening to something in the thrash, metal, or sludge category. So edgy, metallic, crash like, sounds, grate on my nerves. I would rather run my knuckles down a cheese grater than listen to that stuff.
Another music I can't quite get into is, Polka. Just does not appeal to me. But, guess what, sssshhhh. I would watch Lawrence Welk. I laugh at myself. That's one of those shows before cable that you end up watching on a Sunday night when there is nothing on, especially during a telethon or something. As I got older, I got to where I could appreciate the instrumental music, and some of the singing stuff, if it was by a guest that appeared on the show and sang their own stuff. I am not sure if he invited guests or not?
Another thing public broadcasting got me into, when I had no other choice but to watch it, back before cable, was opera. I sat and watched an opera on afternoon, because I had already watched golf, and I didn't care for track racing. What is that called? I forget. Not the formula one racers, the other ones. I don't care enough to go look. I watched the opera, because they had subtitles, and I wanted to know the plot. I enjoyed their talent while I watched it, but thought it was funny nonetheless, because I didn't get it back then. I do now. Opera takes a lot of training, discipline, and talent? I guess.
I have been watching 'review' video's on Youtube. I watch people of different ethnic backgrounds react to music I like. I find this interesting. They are listening to music they wouldn't listen to ordinarily. I have watched a few people really enjoy music that is out of their taste range or genre. I thought, could I do that? I could not, I am too opinionated. I can say I am open to all forms of music, but really, I am too opinionated.
I find it odd that the way I listen to music now has changed since I was a youth. When I was a youth and watched anything on TV, I never heard the background music. But then again, most shows just had the canned laughter. So I guess I mean movies. Now, I will hunt down music if I watch something and it has some music in it that I like immediately. Liking music immediately is also something new to me.
Most of my musical tastes stem from my parents' musical tastes. I am 54 years old, just shy of 55, and I still have a playlist that looks like my parents would have compiled it. With them both gone, the music has taken on a deeper meaning; keeping me connected to them through their music. I have branched off into my own tastes.
My classical tastes range from people I know(when I listen to my own choices) and people I do not know, when I listen to the channel when I am in the truck driving around. I have to have low tone strings. I can not stand high, fast violin music, it sounds too screechy and nails on the chalk board to me. So the cello, really speaks to me. I like lower tones in the brass and wood winds as well. I do like tubular bells, chimes and bells, if they are in mid-range or lower. It is personal preference, but it is also because I have above average hearing. I can hear every tone on the hearing test they give you at the ear doctor's office. So good hearing can indeed make listening to music painful.
For all my low tone appreciation, I can not stand boom box bass, or whatever you want to call it. I never understood that, and it makes my ears hurt with the pressure. But I will listen to metal at top volume in a car, but I have to have the windows down. It's all weird, and more related to my ears than my actual musical taste if that makes any sense.
I am a fan of Metallica, but only up to the black album. I like everything before the Black album. I like anything they did that has Cliff Burton(bassist, now deceased) present. After his death, in my opinion, their music suffered. I feel like they lost a richness if that makes sense. I felt they became run of the mill, and I just didn't get moved by their music as much as I do by the ones that Cliff had a hand in doing.
If music gets too redundant, I will lose interest. Maybe that is why I don't appreciate rap? I am glad it's there, and that there are people to enjoy it, but it's just not in my field of appreciation. I do love me some funk though. I guess in my estimation of repetitiveness in rap, I mean the lyrics. Maybe I am not listening to the right stuff? Definitely these days, music is a waste of time. It is all corporate goo that is marketed to the die hard consumers.
I can't recall the last time I listened to a new group(for me, anyway) that I liked immediately, until....Caged the Elephant. I like almost everything I have heard by them so far. His voice, the music, the melodies. Just works. I am not like OMG!!!, but I do enjoy them. I still wait for new stuff from old favorites, like TOOL's new release. Some people do not like it because "it's not like the old stuff." Well, they are not the old guys. They are the original guys, yes, but their lives have changed as much as anyone's after all this time since they hit the scene. I never understood why you would want 20 albums of the same stuff from the same band. Have them sound like themselves enough to where you know it is them, and then appreciate their "expansion", "diversity", "venture into new areas?" I wouldn't want to hear 30 different songs that are basically one song revamped.
I still have an idea for a future blog, but I need to gather the music so that I can talk about it, as I present it here. I didn't find the song I mentioned in my most recent blog. Hopefully I will hear it again on another channel and I can hunt it down that way. I was very unsuccessful when I did a lyrics, partial lyrics search. I will also have another blog post about why/how I like the music I like. Be on the look out.
Then there are the more complicated of instruments, like pipe organs, a piano, flutes? I can not even imagine the first complicated flute. I am sure that I could do the research, but this is just a place where I ponder and share. There are so many things, objects that can be used as or construed as instruments.
The water on the edges of glasses, singing bowls, steel drums. Instruments I have never heard of as well. I love the instrument that is stringed, that I am aware Geisha's play. I don't know what it is called, and am too lazy to look it up, but what a beautiful sound it produces. That leads me to think of the music during dragon festivals.
I can not abide that music, although I am sure there are enough in the world, who step in where I step back. It is too crashy, clangy for me. I am of a mind that my music has to be soothing, when I am not listening to something in the thrash, metal, or sludge category. So edgy, metallic, crash like, sounds, grate on my nerves. I would rather run my knuckles down a cheese grater than listen to that stuff.
Another music I can't quite get into is, Polka. Just does not appeal to me. But, guess what, sssshhhh. I would watch Lawrence Welk. I laugh at myself. That's one of those shows before cable that you end up watching on a Sunday night when there is nothing on, especially during a telethon or something. As I got older, I got to where I could appreciate the instrumental music, and some of the singing stuff, if it was by a guest that appeared on the show and sang their own stuff. I am not sure if he invited guests or not?
Another thing public broadcasting got me into, when I had no other choice but to watch it, back before cable, was opera. I sat and watched an opera on afternoon, because I had already watched golf, and I didn't care for track racing. What is that called? I forget. Not the formula one racers, the other ones. I don't care enough to go look. I watched the opera, because they had subtitles, and I wanted to know the plot. I enjoyed their talent while I watched it, but thought it was funny nonetheless, because I didn't get it back then. I do now. Opera takes a lot of training, discipline, and talent? I guess.
I have been watching 'review' video's on Youtube. I watch people of different ethnic backgrounds react to music I like. I find this interesting. They are listening to music they wouldn't listen to ordinarily. I have watched a few people really enjoy music that is out of their taste range or genre. I thought, could I do that? I could not, I am too opinionated. I can say I am open to all forms of music, but really, I am too opinionated.
I find it odd that the way I listen to music now has changed since I was a youth. When I was a youth and watched anything on TV, I never heard the background music. But then again, most shows just had the canned laughter. So I guess I mean movies. Now, I will hunt down music if I watch something and it has some music in it that I like immediately. Liking music immediately is also something new to me.
Most of my musical tastes stem from my parents' musical tastes. I am 54 years old, just shy of 55, and I still have a playlist that looks like my parents would have compiled it. With them both gone, the music has taken on a deeper meaning; keeping me connected to them through their music. I have branched off into my own tastes.
My classical tastes range from people I know(when I listen to my own choices) and people I do not know, when I listen to the channel when I am in the truck driving around. I have to have low tone strings. I can not stand high, fast violin music, it sounds too screechy and nails on the chalk board to me. So the cello, really speaks to me. I like lower tones in the brass and wood winds as well. I do like tubular bells, chimes and bells, if they are in mid-range or lower. It is personal preference, but it is also because I have above average hearing. I can hear every tone on the hearing test they give you at the ear doctor's office. So good hearing can indeed make listening to music painful.
For all my low tone appreciation, I can not stand boom box bass, or whatever you want to call it. I never understood that, and it makes my ears hurt with the pressure. But I will listen to metal at top volume in a car, but I have to have the windows down. It's all weird, and more related to my ears than my actual musical taste if that makes any sense.
I am a fan of Metallica, but only up to the black album. I like everything before the Black album. I like anything they did that has Cliff Burton(bassist, now deceased) present. After his death, in my opinion, their music suffered. I feel like they lost a richness if that makes sense. I felt they became run of the mill, and I just didn't get moved by their music as much as I do by the ones that Cliff had a hand in doing.
If music gets too redundant, I will lose interest. Maybe that is why I don't appreciate rap? I am glad it's there, and that there are people to enjoy it, but it's just not in my field of appreciation. I do love me some funk though. I guess in my estimation of repetitiveness in rap, I mean the lyrics. Maybe I am not listening to the right stuff? Definitely these days, music is a waste of time. It is all corporate goo that is marketed to the die hard consumers.
I can't recall the last time I listened to a new group(for me, anyway) that I liked immediately, until....Caged the Elephant. I like almost everything I have heard by them so far. His voice, the music, the melodies. Just works. I am not like OMG!!!, but I do enjoy them. I still wait for new stuff from old favorites, like TOOL's new release. Some people do not like it because "it's not like the old stuff." Well, they are not the old guys. They are the original guys, yes, but their lives have changed as much as anyone's after all this time since they hit the scene. I never understood why you would want 20 albums of the same stuff from the same band. Have them sound like themselves enough to where you know it is them, and then appreciate their "expansion", "diversity", "venture into new areas?" I wouldn't want to hear 30 different songs that are basically one song revamped.
I still have an idea for a future blog, but I need to gather the music so that I can talk about it, as I present it here. I didn't find the song I mentioned in my most recent blog. Hopefully I will hear it again on another channel and I can hunt it down that way. I was very unsuccessful when I did a lyrics, partial lyrics search. I will also have another blog post about why/how I like the music I like. Be on the look out.
Nice ruminating. When I was a kid I noticed I liked songs that had a classical music element, like Lover's Concerto-which really is Bach, Classical Gas, Just Walk Away Rene, and the harpsichord in Early in the Morning, etc. Then I noticed how much I like a good horn section, and then how much I actually love the tuba. And whistling! So many songs I love incorporate whistling. Congrats on the good hearing, mine had deteriorated over the years, but thankful for what I have, don't get me wrong.
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