My wife thinks I don’t listen enough to her- seems a common theme for husbands
When I listen to my system.......
As I have stated many times, I listen to the musicianship and the composition. As I listen to SRV, just as an example, there are three musicians working together to create a "performance". How is it that anyone can put tone, sound staging, or anything else with the "sound" before the performance. There is much information on our recordings, and generally, many of these recordings are just so so with the fidelity. In fact, why do many listeners only listen to top notch recordings of higher fidelity, of the "sound", rather than appreciate those qualities I look and listen for. Is it because I was a singer / vocalist in my youth? Is it because I was around musicians who shared the joy of "music"? Is it because at a very early age, I was introduced to big band music and eclectic performances by so many, via my dad (he would have been 100 today; happy birthday dad). Yes, I consider myself an audiophile, because I spend money on gear and am careful with my dedicated room....my system allows me to hear more of the performance. But, it is the "music", the "performance", that matters most to me. I suppose I am feeling a bit nostalgic today, because of my pops. I am bringing this up again, because I do not understand the mentality of folks who listen differently than I. I know this subject might be ad nauseum to many, but some of the folks I used to design systems for, became less interested in the music, and more about the sound, placing the music and performance secondary, or not at all. I am just venting. If you would like to add to this post, I welcome all thoughts. No judgement from me. I wish everyone well. Enjoy! MrD.
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My father had his issues, but one outstandingly good thing he did was to expose my twin brother and me to music from the first days home after we were born. There are some amusing pictures of Michael & I sitting in our twin high chairs, throwing food around (no more than 2-3 yrs old), rocking to Duke Ellington or Count Basie LPs. We also heard all the Beethoven symphonies, some Brahms, Mozart, and lots of Bach. As soon as we could walk we were instructed in how to safely play LPs, and did so incessantly. I didn’t know it then, but I had quite a case of synesthesia: whenever I heard music and closed my eyes, I hallucinated wild colors and architectural/geometric shapes. I thought everyone did that. I experienced music then as a deeply moving rabbit hole I had trouble climbing out of when it was done. Other than the playback gear and lower incidence of synesthesia, very little has changed. |
I can see where this might be a double edged sword. Although on a good evening or afternoon music can move me quite deeply, to obtain what you sre describing always took/takes ingesting chemicals, and I will say that I enjoy(ed) it immensely. However, I can also see where this could become problematic:
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"to obtain what you sre describing always took/takes ingesting chemicals" You're quite right. Later on, when I was in college, I fully explored those chemicals. Sometimes those experiences were wonderful ... occasionally the opposite. But in any case, hallucinations from mescaline or LSD seemed a bit familiar to me, in quality if not degree. |
@desktopguy , I meant to also say that adding music to the equation could turn it into a world I didn’t want to leave. I remember the first time I really truly ’heard" Legend Of A Mind, I was like, ". . . yeah, maaaaan . . . nowww I get it . . .". Anyway, I remember a discussion of synesthesia some time ago, and at the time I thought I might have a mild form of it. Letters of the alphabet all do have certain colors for me, and therefore, for me, all words have a color. Also as far as music goes, it does induce colors in my mind; however, not nearly as profoundly as what you described.
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