Mr Robert Fripp, I heard you answer this question back in 1979. Responding to a member of the audience, you said, "It reminds me of what a master of mine once said - that music, like art, seems to come from a place more real than life itself. And it is only bequeathed unto a few people in each generation. People such as Mozart, and Beethoven, and that talented young man at the Isle of Wight," whereupon you began to play Purple Haze. This is only one of many clear memories I have of a wonderful evening, in which you were kind enough to come out and meet your audience. Much appreciated, sir. 🙏
'One note, struck truly, is a symphony' - I have this wisdom (hand written by Mr Fripp) framed and hung on my wall. It inspires me everyday; every time I pick up an instrument; every time I press 'record'. We may struggle to define 'music' but we know it when we hear it
I was intrigued to hear what David would say and I was not disappointed! And I think I could tell from David's body language that this was something that matters to him and it is quite brave to speak on a subject that matters to you with the kind of humility that David brought to it. One of the things I really like about David's definition is that it allows for the possibility of 'bad' music. I also think that the additional phrase including the musician as the audience beautifully completes the definition. Naturally I also really liked Robert's definition, expressed as a metaphor - which tells us something important about definitions - they do not just represent the thing defined, they communicate its essence. Thanks for putting all this online.
Music is a communication between the maker and the listener, which perforce lives in both the context of the maker, which includes their internal and external setting and state, and that of the listener. If communication can't happen, as when the listener's attention isn't available, you might reduce their experience of it as a physics event, vibrations washing across them with no information being received. However, I don't think the inattentive are totally missing out. The subliminal effect of music exists, which is why companies spent so much money making it happen. It might not be presented in the manner intended by the maker, but then it rarely is, totally. Even at an in-person concert where people paid serious cash to attend, people will divide their attention between their friends, their food, perhaps their phone. So, for me, it's music when the intent of the maker is to make music. It's effectiveness is up to the listener.
Talking about music is to some like 'talking about a god'...form your own opinion, find what speaks to you & dont be afraid to venture to where your ears take you...
Our engagement with music is too often exploited, pulling at the joy we have derived from it by playing it as muzak, in order to gain our favour: please like this establishment, enjoy this film, buy our foodstuff, have a good night out, a great holiday.
The notes are there but the music is not there is a very true statement. I can play all the notes but not the music….my daughter who is a professional Violinist can do both beautifully.
Without dialectic consensus, the best thing you can do is try to fish for a cryptic/poetic one-liner that makes somehow sense. Nice, sometimes funny, but hardly satisfying.
Music is temporally organized sound and silence, a-referentially communicative within a context. Emphasis is on the temporal and communicative aspects of music. Music is an essentially temporal art [music as virtual time (S. Langer) - music as articulating our emotional dimension (J. Reimer)]. In listening to music, there is always some sort of response, some kind of behavioral change, indicating that we "received" and/or participated in the creation of something. What is received is an intention communicated in terms of patterning/configuring/organizing (akin to the prosodic aspect of language - "prosody: the rhythmic and intonation aspects of language"). The importance of context is a direct consequence of music as communication. All communication involves shared and unshared knowing, and this is what we will broadly refer to as context. Analogously to abstract animation, the potential of music to communicate a-referentially, that is without necessarily having to refer/point to anything other the sounds themselves, distinguishes it from linguistic communication. Music may be seen as a "noun-less" language, made just from verbs (potential, motion, action, narrative: time).
Mr Robert Fripp, I heard you answer this question back in 1979. Responding to a member of the audience, you said, "It reminds me of what a master of mine once said - that music, like art, seems to come from a place more real than life itself. And it is only bequeathed unto a few people in each generation. People such as Mozart, and Beethoven, and that talented young man at the Isle of Wight," whereupon you began to play Purple Haze.
This is only one of many clear memories I have of a wonderful evening, in which you were kind enough to come out and meet your audience. Much appreciated, sir. 🙏
Music is the bridge between the noumenal and the phenomenal. 🎶🙏💗 Ty Maestros
'One note, struck truly, is a symphony' - I have this wisdom (hand written by Mr Fripp) framed and hung on my wall. It inspires me everyday; every time I pick up an instrument; every time I press 'record'. We may struggle to define 'music' but we know it when we hear it
That makes total sense, Mr. Fripp.
I was intrigued to hear what David would say and I was not disappointed! And I think I could tell from David's body language that this was something that matters to him and it is quite brave to speak on a subject that matters to you with the kind of humility that David brought to it. One of the things I really like about David's definition is that it allows for the possibility of 'bad' music. I also think that the additional phrase including the musician as the audience beautifully completes the definition. Naturally I also really liked Robert's definition, expressed as a metaphor - which tells us something important about definitions - they do not just represent the thing defined, they communicate its essence. Thanks for putting all this online.
music is what light sounds like...
It comes down to the quality of attention paid to it:
Music is noise you want to listen to; Noise is music you don't want to listen to.
Whatever it is; Try not to feel in it’s presence
Music is a communication between the maker and the listener, which perforce lives in both the context of the maker, which includes their internal and external setting and state, and that of the listener. If communication can't happen, as when the listener's attention isn't available, you might reduce their experience of it as a physics event, vibrations washing across them with no information being received. However, I don't think the inattentive are totally missing out. The subliminal effect of music exists, which is why companies spent so much money making it happen. It might not be presented in the manner intended by the maker, but then it rarely is, totally. Even at an in-person concert where people paid serious cash to attend, people will divide their attention between their friends, their food, perhaps their phone.
So, for me, it's music when the intent of the maker is to make music. It's effectiveness is up to the listener.
Talking about music is to some like 'talking about a god'...form your own opinion, find what speaks to you & dont be afraid to venture to where your ears take you...
Our engagement with music is too often exploited, pulling at the joy we have derived from it by playing it as muzak, in order to gain our favour: please like this establishment, enjoy this film, buy our foodstuff, have a good night out, a great holiday.
Cranes!!!
AS per Zappa, paraphrasing: the best way to decorate time.
Don't overestimate yourselves as artists often do.
The notes are there but the music is not there is a very true statement. I can play all the notes but not the music….my daughter who is a professional Violinist can do both beautifully.
Without dialectic consensus, the best thing you can do is try to fish for a cryptic/poetic one-liner that makes somehow sense. Nice, sometimes funny, but hardly satisfying.
CATS.
Music is temporally organized sound and silence, a-referentially communicative within a context.
Emphasis is on the temporal and communicative aspects of music. Music is an essentially temporal art [music as virtual time (S. Langer) - music as articulating our emotional dimension (J. Reimer)].
In listening to music, there is always some sort of response, some kind of behavioral change, indicating that we "received" and/or participated in the creation of something. What is received is an intention communicated in terms of patterning/configuring/organizing (akin to the prosodic aspect of language - "prosody: the rhythmic and intonation aspects of language").
The importance of context is a direct consequence of music as communication. All communication involves shared and unshared knowing, and this is what we will broadly refer to as context.
Analogously to abstract animation, the potential of music to communicate a-referentially, that is without necessarily having to refer/point to anything other the sounds themselves, distinguishes it from linguistic communication. Music may be seen as a "noun-less" language, made just from verbs (potential, motion, action, narrative: time).