What does music do for you on an emotional level?

Lewian wrote: I still don't get it. How is there a conflict between being manufactured and real? Chances are you wouldn't say a hammer and a nail are not real; also a painting or sound waves are pretty much as real as it gets, aren't they? So the source is real, your perception is real (it can probably be physically traced in your brain), your being moved is real, so what is not real?  Are you saying that it is not real (in the sense of not being an objective fact) that musical piece XYZ is, say, "happy"? But obviously happiness is a subjective sentiment, so shouldn't be ascribed to the piece itself but rather to its reception by a specific person, for whom, again, this is very real (for a given point in time). The thread question expresses this properly ("what does it do for you"), so what's your issue with that? (I'm asking out of philosophical interest by the way. I suspect you have some background or at least interest in that direction, so I try to figure out whether what you're claiming here is of interest to me - not assuming that it is nonsense just because it doesn't make sense to me at first sight.)

Lewian wrote: ExittheLemming wrote: My temperament or choice of what I listen to is not determined by my emotional reaction to any given piece of music. It's art and might be perceived as happy, sad and all points in-between but just because it moves me doesn't make it real.  How is being moved not real?

My temperament or choice of what I listen to is not determined by my emotional reaction to any given piece of music. It's art and might be perceived as happy, sad and all points in-between but just because it moves me doesn't make it real. That said, I would probably be inconsolable if I had to live my life without music

Edited by JD - September 04 2021 at 11:48

Logan wrote: ^^^^ Paul, I know some Les Baxter, including that track. I like it. Sven Libaek's Imner Space is one of my favourites of a certain kind of loungey ilk I like and Stringtronics with Mindbender. Roger Roger, who was with Mindbender, is one of my favourites of the "easy-listening" tropica variety. A have a fair amount of library music of that ilk in my collection Lewian wrote: Logan wrote: I'm reminded of your not like Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom. In that case Wyatt was dealing with the trauma and paralysis from his accident, and again I see it as life-affirming and so poignant. The circumstances make the album all the more special to me, and generates an empathetic response in me. That said, I loved Rock Bottom before I even knew the history behind it. Interestingly I knew the story before getting the album, but the album itself, which I love a lot and to which I feel a strong emotional connection, never reminded me of that story. I thought of it maybe once or twice when listening more superficially, but when I listen to it with full awareness, the story is never there for me to be felt or thought of. Strange, eh? People make different connections and are wired differently. Art itself is so interpretive and each listener's experience will not be quite the same and not quite the same for the same person at different times. It's not something that I am as aware of when listening to Rock Bottom as with Bowie's condition when listening to Blackstar, nor can I say that it's always in mind when playing that stony behind. Knowing Wyatt's story just made the album all the more poignant to me whether I'm consciously, subconsciously or at all thinking about that when listening to the album or not, or if it's when I'm talking about it with others. Just thinking about it alone, or just discussing it, adds an air of poignancy to the album whether I'm listening to it or not. Often my greater appreciation of albums and emotional resonance can be linked to a story -- be it what I was doing when I heard it, if it's a soundtrack and I associate the music with the film or that it speaks to my story (including my experiences with those I know and care about) in some way as I perceive it. That said, just the name Rock Bottom alone would remind me of what happened.

It's a good point that people process music differently. This is something that took me a long, long time to realize. Music is such an individual listening experience, and that's why I wanted to know how others might experience it.

^^^^^^^^to Psychedelic Paul...

Edited by Guy Guden - August 31 2021 at 21:32

^^^^ Paul, I know some Les Baxter, including that track. I like it. Sven Libaek's Imner Space is one of my favourites of a certain kind of loungey ilk I like and Stringtronics with Mindbender. Roger Roger, who was with Mindbender, is one of my favourites of the "easy-listening" tropica variety. A have a fair amount of library music of that ilk in my collection

Lewian wrote: Logan wrote: I'm reminded of your not like Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom. In that case Wyatt was dealing with the trauma and paralysis from his accident, and again I see it as life-affirming and so poignant. The circumstances make the album all the more special to me, and generates an empathetic response in me. That said, I loved Rock Bottom before I even knew the history behind it. Interestingly I knew the story before getting the album, but the album itself, which I love a lot and to which I feel a strong emotional connection, never reminded me of that story. I thought of it maybe once or twice when listening more superficially, but when I listen to it with full awareness, the story is never there for me to be felt or thought of. Strange, eh?

People make different connections and are wired differently. Art itself is so interpretive and each listener's experience will not be quite the same and not quite the same for the same person at different times. It's not something that I am as aware of when listening to Rock Bottom as with Bowie's condition when listening to Blackstar, nor can I say that it's always in mind when playing that stony behind. Knowing Wyatt's story just made the album all the more poignant to me whether I'm consciously, subconsciously or at all thinking about that when listening to the album or not, or if it's when I'm talking about it with others. Just thinking about it alone, or just discussing it, adds an air of poignancy to the album whether I'm listening to it or not. Often my greater appreciation of albums and emotional resonance can be linked to a story -- be it what I was doing when I heard it, if it's a soundtrack and I associate the music with the film or that it speaks to my story (including my experiences with those I know and care about) in some way as I perceive it. That said, just the name Rock Bottom alone would remind me of what happened.