Sister SF: Article: Music and Perception

Music and Perception.
By Maragret Noble

Introduction

Ever wonder why it is that your chest throbs to deep bass while your soul cringes at cheesy melodies? Or is it the reverse for you? No matter what your musical preferences are, it is a solid bet that some form of music makes you crazy with pleasure. In this new column, we're going to take a good hard look at that mad and crazy love we all have for electronic music. Along the way, we will be throwing in some science, art theory, psychology and just plain speculation. It is a freak show when things get broken down but it also a good ride.

Brainwrecks

The system is bumping and you're sailing on the waves of the most amazing mix of your entire delirious life. But what's that? A bit of confusion to your eardrum, something's slipping and the sound no longer makes sense. Ooooops, you're in the middle of a trainwreck. That is to say, you are in the middle of two records playing simultaneously and blatantly out of sync. Whether you experience this as the audience or the DJ, the bottom line is that you get lost. What were once melodic waves of musical pleasure have now become a chaotic disturbance to your soul. So, what is really in a trainwreck?

If you were just your average alley cat then all music would sound like a trainwreck. It is not your ears that do the interpreting but your big noggin that perceives music. When Fido the dog listens to music all he hears is discontinuous, random noise. It doesn't matter if it is Mozart, Miles Davis or Digweed; all your dog hears is complete non-sense. But, you might wonder if it is the same for the melodic songbirds? However, it turns out that their natural groove is merely monotonous repetition. Even when you think your can hear a pinch of a melody, it turns out that it is your brain doing the musical composing, not theirs.*

Our brains tune in to makes sense of patterns. Ever wonder why 'experimental music' is sometimes just plain irritating? The composers may look like they are having fun clanking cans and whaling non-sense but more likely they are just as puzzled by their own music as you are. This is because we need recognizable patterns in order to grasp the music as a unified piece. Our brain separates the various layers of sounds and organizes them. It is precisely the relation between each note that characterizes the music and moves you.* Think of it, a little bass…here comes the high hat, do I detect a melody? It all makes beautiful sense when done well but turns miserably sour when botched up.

Besides trainwrecking how else do we confuse and disturb the brain? Well, experience a mix of two records that are out of key and watch the destruction ensue. Better to push over the cross-fader quickly than to continue mixing in disconsonant tones. This pain resembles something close to fingernails down a chalkboard. Additionally, just plain bad sound quality is another way to punish the ears for liking electronica. When you're dependent on gadgets for musical clarity it is essential to pay attention to the signal output. Be gentle on the highs or all will be sorry. And, because we need to localize sound to get it, the reverb or delayed sound sometimes delivered can also effectively destroy (or enhance?) the original sound. Unfortunately for most of us, those in the reigns often insist on high volumes without consideration of possible distortion. The problem is that this usually results in missing the most interesting parts of the music!

But, suppose all records are in key and the sound quality is good. One record bumping and the other one is slowly fading in, you don't know what it is but something is off for a hair of a second. That brief cringe (that you quickly forget about) is the tiniest slip of beat. That is what's truly amazing about our brains; we detect even the finest details when we are tuned in. So, what's bottom line? Well, if you're a DJ then sharpen your skills so you can say what you need to without disruption. And, if you're going to see a DJ then make sure to avoid the ones spending more time clowning the crowd than doing the business!

Article by Margaret Noble.

*Cited from Robert Jourdain's book, Music, The Brain and Ecstasy.