Your Music Choices and Why??? (1 Viewer)

[jcroy]

For clarification, I should be more specific as what I mean by "academic" when it comes to music.

When a piece of music doesn't elicit any strong emotional response in me, it is not automatically in the "junk" pile for me.

If I still have any lingering interest, subsequent listenings of it will have me attempting to figure out what key/scale it is written in and what the repeated note/chord progressions are.

Back in the day when I use to play guitar (or briefly piano), I would sometimes attempt to transcribe the song by ear.

 

[Malcolm R]

I think sometimes the "why" is largely irrelevant, and sometimes inexplicable other than "I like it."

A certain sound may just appeal to some, but not others. I find just the "sound" of a song may appeal to or annoy me. It has little to do with the genre or the lyrics.

Over the years I've enjoyed songs from most every genre.

 

[John Dirk]

Well, @John Dirk , since one of the pieces I mentioned that seems to have prompted you to start this thread was Mahler's 2nd Symphony, I figured I'd post this excerpt. The full symphony is feature-film length, usually running about 100 minutes, but here's the final 15 minutes or so. I first heard this sometime in High School, and it was a mind expanding experience. I've seen it performed live twice, and a third might be coming in a couple weeks. It's not a small feat to pull this one off, and I doubt I'll ever have the opportunity to experience it how it's truly supposed to be performed, like it is here. BTW, this is Gustavo Dudamel with the Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. Youth performers playing one of the most challenging pieces of music ever composed, and doing a hell of a job of it.

Yes. This was my childhood. I don't think @Mike Frezon will mind me mentioning that one of the things we discovered on our "journey" was that we both played oboe back in the day. I have a deep love for classical music in all forms. It is a large part of who I am today.

 

[John Dirk]

I have a lot of Diana Krall in my collection, including a lot of HD audio. While she can be a bit "pop" for my tastes at times, this is truly one of the all-time greatest moments in Jazz.

Listening to this while I write. Very nice yet different than what I might have otherwise planned.

 

[John Dirk]

As far as rap, hip hop, disco, country and western, I'd rather stick a pencil in my eye !

This is exactly what got Mike and I going back and forth about a year ago. Personally, I would never dismiss an entire genre outright. There are simply too many facets.

 

[John Dirk]

And while I found the experience of listening to rap/hip-hop interesting, I sheepishly admit that I came no closer to personally appreciating it as an art form. I feel bad about that, as I like to think I've got an open mind, but there are aspects of it that just don't work for me.

But, I don't like opera either.

No need to be "sheepish." You listened and I did the same. Just think what we could have in today's world if this concept were applied unilaterally .

 

[Josh Steinberg]

We used to have “mix” parties in college and in the years immediately afterwards. Everyone would bring three songs, any genre, any style, any artist, you picked out three songs you wanted to share, and everyone did the same and we’d go around a circle with everyone getting their turn at doing three. Depending on the size of the party sometimes you could go two or three times. It was a great way to be exposed to a variety of music and also to learn why different things mattered to different people. I miss having that kind of time and doing that kind of sharing. Sometimes it can be a bit much when someone gives you an entire album or mixtape to sort through, but “hang with me and check out these three songs I like” is a much easier bar to clear.

 

[John Dirk]

Apologies. I just realized I have not contributed much context regarding my own musical tastes. Well, for me there are no boundaries. There used to be when I was younger but nowadays I believe boundaries of every sort only serve to divide. Hand me something today and I'll listen to it, no matter the genre. Will I like it and continue to listen? That is what I was really trying to uncover with this thread but, in my case the answer is likely "YES."

I grew up playing oboe in my High School band before I knew people were supposed to have different musical tastes because of their race, economic background, etc. I loved every minute back then. You may have heard The Nutcracker but I performed it in front of hundreds.

I've found incredible music over the years across many genres. I remember being teased in my teens because I listened to and loved songs by artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and [believe it or not] Men At Work and I also loved material by Miles Davis, Prince and even Tchaikovsky.




The thing about music [to me anyway] is it's eternally available. Why not sample as much as possible in the limited time that YOU have?

 

[JohnRice]

One musician who always makes me smile is Django Reinhardt. This is one of my faves.

 

[jcroy]

I think sometimes the "why" is largely irrelevant, and sometimes inexplicable other than "I like it."

For the longst time, this was the the question I was always trying to answer for myself from transcribing a piece of music into its constituent parts.

I started off transcribing stuff I already knew, such as Thin Lizzy, Kiss, etc ... Hard rock (or metal) wasn't all that difficult to figure out, and seemed kinda boring from a technical playing perspective.

Somewhat more interesting was stuff like Michael Jackson's "Beat It" or Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me". Somewhat different attempting to transcribe something that wasn't written for a guitar originally. (For the longest time, my point of reference for the technical structure of a "hit song" was how similar it was to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" or Thin Lizzy's "Bad Reputation" or "Boys are Back in Town". As strange as this may sound in hindsight).

I wasn't really into classical music heavily, but I spent a lot of effort and time at transcribing stuff from Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi, etc ... Unfortunately I didn't gain much insight from this nor jazz. I only got an appreciation for technical playing difficulty + speed.

 

[John Dirk]

For the longst time, this was the the question I was always trying to answer for myself from transcribing a piece of music into its constituent parts.

I started off transcribing stuff I already knew, such as Thin Lizzy, Kiss, etc ... Hard rock (or metal) wasn't all that difficult to figure out, and seemed kinda boring from a technical playing perspective.

What do you mean by "transcribing?

 

[John Dirk]

I'll mention two disparate sources that have expanded my exposure to and interest in several styles of music that were not part of my normal, mostly rock and roll diet of music. (If I understand the purpose of this thread correctly. )

Perhaps not. What do you listen to and appreciate these days and how have you arrived at that point?

 

[jcroy]

What do you mean by "transcribing?

Figuring out what notes/chords are being played, and the timing. Basically a lot of trial and error in attempting to replicate the piece of music.

I didn't have any sheet music for a lot of stuff I was transcribing.

 

[JohnRice]

As in, playing by ear, then putting it down on paper.

 

[Walter Kittel]

To followup on John Dirk's clarification as to the purpose of the thread.

How I arrived....

A good friend of mine put a fair piece of money into his 2 channel audio system this last year. He is retired and the gear was something he had wanted for a number of years. (He, and I for that matter, aren't getting any younger, so he indulged himself.)

Two McIntosh single channel MC611 amplifiers feeding
Two Bowers and Wilkins 802 D3s.
Can't remember the cabling for the speakers but let's just say its worthy of those components.

What I have appreciated...

Most of my listening these days involves going to his place and listening to his music and I usually bring along something to listen to as well. Mostly in the rock genre. I can honestly say that I've heard things on his system, with recordings / songs that I know quite well, that I've never experienced previously. The treble portion of recordings in particular is where the system is revealing in ways that just astonish me.

Let It Bleed is probably my favorite Rolling Stones album and there are things in the second track Love In Vain that just made the track jump out of the speakers. It sounded like a completely different recording on my friend's system. Just a plain jane CD from my collection, BTW.

We listened to an SACD of Abbey Road that was pretty special. Another SACD which we listened to that comes to mind is Fleetwood Mac's Rumors and while they aren't one of my favorite groups, the recording came through well and had some nice passages.

My buddy and I both love Pink Floyd and maybe the best listening session we experienced together was probably a tie between Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here.

Some other notable listening sessions involved Are You Experienced? - a personal Jimi Hendrix favorite, and Steely Dan's Aja and Gaucho - which to borrow a notable line from the album was 'perfection and grace'.

In terms of this listening it is not really exploratory in terms of new music - just reveling in old favorites that have been brought to life by my friend's system

I've been thinking about what to take over the next time for a listening session and R.E.M. and Cream are probably going into the mix.

- WAlter,

 

[JohnRice]

To followup on John Dirk's clarification as to the purpose of the thread.

How I arrived....

A good friend of mine put a fair piece of money into his 2 channel audio system this last year. He is retired and the gear was something he had wanted for a number of years. (He, and I for that matter, aren't getting any younger, so he indulged himself.)

Two McIntosh single channel MC611 amplifiers feeding
Two Bowers and Wilkins 802 D3s.
Can't remember the cabling for the speakers but let's just say its worthy of those components.

What I have appreciated...

Most of my listening these days involves going to his place and listening to his music and I usually bring along something to listen to as well. Mostly in the rock genre. I can honestly say that I've heard things on his system, with recordings / songs that I know quite well, that I've never experienced previously. The treble portion of recordings in particular is where the system is revealing in ways that just astonish me.

Let It Bleed is probably my favorite Rolling Stones album and there are things in the second track Love In Vain that just made the track jump out of the speakers. It sounded like a completely different recording on my friend's system. Just a plain jane CD from my collection, BTW.

We listened to an SACD of Abbey Road that was pretty special. Another SACD which we listened to that comes to mind is Fleetwood Mac's Rumors and while they aren't one of my favorite groups, the recording came through well and had some nice passages.

My buddy and I both love Pink Floyd and maybe the best listening session we experienced together was probably a tie between Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here.

Some other notable listening sessions involved Are You Experienced? - a personal Jimi Hendrix favorite, and Steely Dan's Aja and Gaucho - which to borrow a notable line from the album was 'perfection and grace'.

In terms of this listening it is not really exploratory in terms of new music - just reveling in old favorites that have been brought to life by my friend's system

I've been thinking about what to take over the next time for a listening session and R.E.M. and Cream are probably going into the mix.

- WAlter,

Is he set up to play HD files? If so you should check out HD Tracks. Some particular classics that have especially opened my eyes are Chicago Transit Authority, Supertramp's Crime of the Century and Tull's Aqualung.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Is he set up to play HD files? If so you should check out HD Tracks. Some particular classics that have especially opened my eyes are Chicago Transit Authority, Supertramp's Crime of the Century and Tull's Aqualung.

I believe his main playback source is an Oppo Blu-Ray player. (I don't recall the model, but it was in the middle of the pack chronologically speaking.) I went to the HD Tracks web site and I'll pass the information on to him and let him see if it holds his interest.

I'm a little bit surprised to see you mention Aqualung. I love the album, but I've always been disappointed with the recording, at least on the CD. It always felt muddy and there was too much hiss (IIRC - it has been sometime since I have listened to that album.)

- Walter.

 

[JohnRice]

I believe his main playback source is an Oppo Blu-Ray player. (I don't recall the model, but it was in the middle of the pack chronologically speaking.) I went to the HD Tracks web site and I'll pass the information on to him and let him see if it holds his interest.

I'm a little bit surprised to see you mention Aqualung. I love the album, but I've always been disappointed with the recording, at least on the CD. It always felt muddy and there was too much hiss (IIRC - it has been sometime since I have listened to that album.)

- Walter.

An Oppo is perfect. I use a BDP-103 fed into an external DAC. Music is stored on a flash/hard/solid state drive connected to a rear USB. You can control playback with the app.

Most stuff on HDTracks has been remastered. I was surprised by how great Aqualung sounds, as well as CTA. Crime of the Century always sounded great, and the 192/24 remaster is mind boggling.

I have other suggestions from them, if anyone is interested.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'm intrigued you mentioned CTA from HD Tracks, John.

I might just give that a DL.

 

[Edwin-S]

I listen to whatever happens to interest me or catches my ear.

A fave Diana Krall song of mine is this one:



I really get a kick out of composer Yoko Kanno's work. She works in a wide range of styles. She can go from this:



to this (in collaboration with Origa):



to this (in collaboration with Steve Conti/Shanti Snyder):



I think her work is fantastic.