Music or noise?

[superbadgirl]

(Bear in mind that while I adore music, I don't really know proper terminology...)

Just had a discussion with D., in which he struggled in vain to understand how I could call what I listen to music. To him, music includes classical composers, a bit of jazz, and very little else (here he admitted to enjoying Linda Ronstadt). What perplexes him about rock, alt, hip hop, country and every other genre on his "do not listen" list is the beat. Once he hears the beat of a song, it appears that is all can hear and to him that is simply noise and irritating. As he put it, it's like someone asking, "How are you doing?" over and over and over. And over. He hears nothing else in the song, just the repetitive background.

I tried to explain to him that I usually really enjoy the beat when it's coupled with a decent melody and preferably cool lyrics. He, naturally, did not agree and said that it was all just noise, noise, noise, noise, noise!

As he left, I cranked up Muse's Supermassive Black Hole which made him say, "Oh dear. Oh dear, I find that greatly distressing" in a voice wholly reminiscent of Milton Waddams and made me laugh at him maniacally.

Comments

[tejas.livejournal.com]

While that's heavier than I tend to like, I don't get people who feel that way. I have a good friend who can't stand any amplified music at all. (Or so she says... I always have to wonder just what she's heard to base that opinion on, but that's another story altogether.) Your guy's complaint strikes me as very odd, though. Almost makes me wonder if there's some sensory issue in play here because I can't imagine not being able to follow both the driving beat and the melodic line. That song, for example, has a great deal of contrast. Very odd.

[superbadgirl]

Hey, I don't appreciate all kinds of music myself...and I definitely don't like all music at all volumes. ;)

I tried to suss out what D.'s issue was in greater detail, but I ended up at a loss.

[khek.livejournal.com]

That is odd...but I wonder if D has some kind of hearing problem or a sensory problem. If he enjoys classical music, there's often repetition and sometimes (think William Tell Overture) drums and a rhythmic beat.

I have a problem trying to listen to music with static. Even the tiniest bit of static, and I have to change the channel. I wonder if it's something similar, only many times magnified.

[superbadgirl]

That is odd...but I wonder if D has some kind of hearing problem or a sensory problem. If he enjoys classical music, there's often repetition and sometimes (think William Tell Overture) drums and a rhythmic beat.

I didn't bother pointing that out to him, as he seemed very low blood sugary and agitated when he started the conversation. I figure that would have made him worse. ;)

Cu-ute icon!

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

I was about to say something about sensory issues as well, same as tejas.

It could be he's sound sensitive, or his mind latches onto retitious sounds and can't block them out or shove them into the background, or integrate them into the rest of the sound that's happening.

I can't stand music that's turned up above a certain level, either (like Tejas' friend) - but that's because I get severe ringing in my ears afterward, and I can't hear anything else, either. Again, it's preference and physical overload.

[superbadgirl]

It could be he's sound sensitive, or his mind latches onto retitious sounds and can't block them out or shove them into the background, or integrate them into the rest of the sound that's happening.

Yeah, it's starting to look that way. I wonder what that's called.

I like loud music, but I don't like SUPER loud music.

[sgtsiler.livejournal.com]

That severely shortens the list of classical music as well and eh, jazz without a beat? Apart from the real modern *coughcrapcough* jazz I can't think of much.
If you can't get past the beat, it must be hard to find music you can stand.
Then again, easy torture method for you. ;-) It's always nice to know your friends buttons. O:)
*Slides over a cd Slagerij van Kampen, Dutch all percusion band.*

[superbadgirl]

I've given up trying to understand D.

But, yeah, now that I know it bothers him...when he's bothering me I now know the best method to bother him back. ;)

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

Aw, poor guy...

When MW first started listening to bands like Nickelback or even 3 Doors Down, to me that sounded like just so much noise. *g* I loved Nickelback's How You Remind Me and Too Bad, but the rest of their music, especially the earlier CDs, sounded like so much pounding and screeching. After a couple of years *g* of listening to it, though, it was as though suddenly it all became clear to me, and I could hear the music in there. (I will confess that I was not into popular music for a *long* time. I rarely even listened to my classic rock. I was more into folk music at the time.)

Now I listen to Nickelback and it's all melody and guitar to me, and I wonder why I couldn't hear it before. But of course, by the time I got into Nickelback, MW had already moved on to Alice in Chains. My MIL described them thus: "These guys sound like they're drunk." *g* Then it was Metallica and then the bands he's into now that sound like so much drum-pounding, really, really fast guitar with very little melody, and then singers who don't scream...they...what is that? LOL I heard it once described as "cookie monster vocals" and that's it exactly! LOL

So...somehow Alice in Chains wormed their way into my mind and then my heart and now their music is so familiar to me, that it's like home and comfort and everything good even when they're singing something bad. Then Metallica... Who wouldn't like Enter Sandmand? *g* It's such a cool song, but it was impossible for me to escape them, and now I like nearly everything by them.

And now...Sepultura, Pantera, and a few other bands. And...this is the music that MW writes and plays and records.

I love Refuse/Resist by Sepultura and overall I like their sound, but sometimes I just can't listen to it. The same for Pantera. They have two pretty songs: Cemetary Gates which is epic and Hollow which is sad (and both lack the cookie monster vocals...mostly) and one song with a good groove (Walk), and I love them all, but...the rest of it mostly still sounds like a bunch of pounding and screaming/cookie monster and guitar solos. I often can't tell one song from another, except when I can. But still, I do like it sometimes. I went through a phase where that was all I was listening to, and I loved it, but it still hasn't invaded me totally yet. *g*

I'm sure they'll all be my new favorite bands in a year or two when MW has moved on to something else. *g*

But poor D. I can understand his feelings. I love some rap music, but I have a problem with loud bass... It hurts my ears. When there is a loud bass, it becomes all fuzzy and it's painful and I can't hear anything else. The static of that invades my consciousness and jars my spine.

In my car, I usually have the bass turned way low and the treble up much higher. *g* I cannot stand it when other people have that LOUD bass thing on their cars. I was out today driving in traffic, and some guy near me had the bass in his car so loud I could hear it over my music, and it wasn't just annoying, it was ruining my life! LOL I wish I were kidding. I just cannot stand it. I am not upset about it now, but at the time, I can remember thinking about how when I got home, I was going to post in LJ about how I'm against the death penalty, but I'd be in favor of it for anyone who has that loud bass thing on his/her car... I don't really think that, but it was an attractive thought until I finally got back on the highway and left that guy in the dust. hehe

And...LOL Did you even read all this? LOL

[betacandy.livejournal.com]

I'm with everyone on the sensory thing. There's some very repetitive songs/pieces in absolutely every genre. Then there's other stuff that's not.

But classical does not have a beat maintained by drums. The other genres he mentions do. Makes me think it's something to do with drums.