Semi-tone kind of life

Happy, all I am is happy
To find that the thing that makes me tick
Is being with the people that love me
The real people
That treat every day as an adventure
Who still find joy in their pain
The people who live in the same rhythm of life
That I dance to every day.

I've been reading this book lately: "This Is Your Brain on Music"-picked up on another impulse stroll through Borders. (and I haven't yet finished the MFK Fischer book, aiyah) And getting through it quite quickly since it's a good book to tote on the commute. There are some fairly abstract concepts as well as some very technical musical theory terms and ideas thrown at the reader, but I what I'm loving is how the author, Daniel Levitin is connecting very scientific musical theory like sound waves, semi-tones and the anatomy of the eardrum to the psychology of what makes humans tick and why we like whatever particular music that we do. This is totally my type of nerd book. I'm seriously having to sit there and decipher technical concepts in my head while understanding, metaphorically, what each of these processes have to do with our enjoyment and connection to music. (and also how we can be manipulated by the emotions that we have been conditioned to either via natural selection or societal norms)

This book is really good.

For example did you know that the Catholic church once BANNED the musical interval of the augmented fourth (basically the distance between C and F#) because it was considered so dissonant that it was essentially the Devil's tone? (it's also called a tritone) Incidentally, it's the same interval that Berstein used in 'West Side Story' for Maria. I mean, if that doesn't blow your mind, I don't know what will. Levitin also discusses experiments where scientists looked at how your brain processes songs-especially songs that you know and have been conditioned to. That even if you cannot hear a note or tone in a certain song (say if you are going through the TransBay Tunnel), if you are pre-conditioned to hearing that note in the song, your brain will automatically -by memory-"hear" the note for you? (fire the proper chemical triggers)

"A dissection of music perception and creation that starts slowly and inexorably builds to a grand finish. I loved reading that listening to music coordinates more disparate parts of the brain than almost anything else--and playing music uses even more! Despite illuminating a lot of what goes on this book doesn't "spoil" enjoyment- it only deepens the beautiful mystery that is music."

David Byrne (Musician, Artist, and Founder of the Talking Heads)

Now, the more astute and highly educated musicians of you out there who happen to pass by the blog may be saying to yourselves, "Why would I want to know what makes people's brains tick when they listen to music? That's like knowing how a magic trick works! It takes all the beauty and fun out of it!" I know this because I was discussing digital effects once with an acting coach and she said she didn't want to know how things are made. But being able to step back and see the whole picture and yet know the intricate rich details that made up that picture only makes the whole that much more miraculous and amazing. (I mean, just watch the DVD extras from any of the 'Lord of the Rings' movies and see what I'm talking about) This is what I was taught to do in art class, to constantly pin up your drawing and step away from the minute details to breath and take in the entire picture and from THERE to figure out what else was needed. Similarly in music, it's an incredible feat to be able to appreciate the apparent effortless combination of sound and to know that all these different factors (rhythm, pitch, meter, timbre, volume, intervals) are evoking emotional reactions that we simply describe as 'sad' or 'scary' or 'happy'. We can go one step further and describe a sound as 'weary' or the 'simple contentment of eating ice cream'; that is the genius of the human brain.

Besides the science, as aforementioned, Levitin also explores the psychology of how music can affect moods, relationships, even child development. He explains that most children are susceptible to particular genres at a certain period of growth. Therefore the type of music you listened to at this vulnerable age left the biggest impression on you. Not bad then, for the families who insist on playing Bach to their babies. But then the greater idee that then ties all of the rest together is that we as human beings respond to stimuli that was introduced to us at a very early age as good or bad. I often wonder why there are some people that I just don't respond to in the same way that others do. Is it because they're nice? Or rich? Or humble? Or sweet? The same person who makes me laugh, irritates or annoys another.

Maybe the way that we, as human beings respond to one another is based upon biorhythms. That is to say, you as a sentient human being are grooving along at one wavelength and in order for you to be friends with someone else, they need to have a complimentary wavelength. It's all abstract true. But I started thinking about what it is that makes us all tick and the people that make me giddily, ridiculously happy-and the thought alone was enough to put me into a better mood.

In related news: Muxtape is a new online FREE way to create mixtapes to pass out to your friends- lots of neat indie mixes (like Guster, Iron & Wine and Ben Folds). Like being back in the 4th grade, but BETTER! Or like Jack Black in High Fidelity. I mean, whatever happened to mix tapes/cds anyhow? I used to LOVE getting those. That's it, for my birthday this year, all I want is a mixtape. Well, check out Muxtape anyhow. (via GalaDarling, that wunderkind of a blogstress)

Groove.
Live.
Love.