2. music
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music , mind , thought and emotion

There is not a society on this planet, nor probably ever has been, which is without some form of musical expression, often closely linked with rythm and dance. My question is less concentrated on the latter two however.
What I am pondering boils down to:
What is music and what does it do to us
Why do we differentiate music from random noise so clearly and yet can pick up certain samples within that noise as musical.
By listening to music, we find some perhaps interesting, some which we would call musical. What differentiates "musical music" from "ordinary music" and this again from "noise"?
In a more general sense again:
If music has impact on us, what is the nature of our receptors for it. Or better: Who, what are we, that music can do to us what it does?
What would be the nature of a system, which practically all of us would agree upon, that it imparts musicality best?
And finally, if such a sytem would exist, can this quality be measured?
detlof
ozfly
887 posts
 
Interesting observation Onhwy61. Is perception and measurement the same? Perhaps so, in some ways. I was referring to the objective sense of scientific measurement. Certainly, air pressure can be measured by either the ear or an instrument, but that does not measure the music itself. In other words, art itself cannot be measured objectively though certain perceptions of art can be. Thanks for the clarification.

We'll likely need to leave the discussion of soul for another time and place. My personal belief is that the soul extends beyond the mind. The general proposition about the inability to measure art does not rely on that, or I belive any, specific interpretation of soul.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
Ozfly, your starting to scare me.
ozfly
887 posts
 
Unsound, if it's any consolation, I'm starting to scare myself. Maybe it's time for a nice single malt!
unsound
7,329 posts
 
I'm with you, cheers!
gregm
3,407 posts
 
I second the malt. Another note, to repeat what I have written elsewhere; I astart enjoying music the most when my cognitive part intervenes the least. Then, I listen to the music rather than pondering on HOW am I perceiving/listening to the music (the "HOW" includes the system, the recording...).

Strange: As an art, music is particular in that it requires TWO types of musicians in order to be experienced: the composer AND the performer. Cheers!
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