[LAU] re Subconscious Affecting Music

[Patrick Shirkey]

On Mon, August 30, 2010 3:39 am, Hartmut Noack wrote:
> Am 30.08.2010 07:21, schrieb Patrick Shirkey:
>>
> [...]
>> Hence I feel it is a worthwhile use of time, resources and energy to at
>> least try to counter the damage being done by the affect of what is
>> currently considered to be acceptable standards in pop music
>> construction
>> on the greater consciousness.
>>
>> For example IMO the song "Bang Bang Bang" by Mark Ronson with QTip and
>> MDNR
>>
>> http://vimeo.com/12581076
>>
>> is a good attempt at a subversive attack on modern pop and the
>> subconscious mind of the listener but I feel it misses the mark by being
>> too well produced, having lyrics that are too abstract and complex and
>> having performers who are too good at their art and not attractive
>> enough
>> for the market.
>
> The song is nice, good OKayish pop that is welcome to me if played on
> the radio. I do not find it too subversive though. People that are
> conformist consumers can consume this as well. I do not understand the
> lyrics too well and cannot find them as text so it may be, that they
> make the tune really subversive in a way.
>

This is not the whole song but I think the bulk of the message...

"
Cruel world is sitting they got us all hitting
with late night divisions and lab aquisitions
with basement decisions defy our frequency
and you clearly decided on how to handle me

Imbecile, Imbecile
is it fake
is it real

Are we dying on our feet
Are we trying in our sleep

There’s a rumour going round that the suits are running town

if you look into the sky there are birds flying high, high, high

We’re never gonna believe in the stories that you’re weaving
We believing in the proof
We believing in the truth
We believing in each other not you, you, you

Stories, So many stories
Too many tall tales
So many tall tales

We climb the structure
You scale the ladder
You build it higher
You make us madder

So now the paradox
We bust you in the chops
You crazy ballhead

Make it dead
Do the web
Pictures on the web

Un Deux Trois
No one ever does it like that anymore
Bang Bang Bang
The feathers, why you deny everything
"

> But I do not think, that you talk about the lyrics here. You mean, there
> is something physical in the music that performs some influence on the
> minds of the listeners.
>

It could be a pavlovian response mechanism that is being triggered.

> Such effects are curiosities at best: nobody changes the way people
> think using some frequencies or rhythm-patterns.
>

I'm not sure it's a curiosity. It seems to be considered an intrinsic part
of the listening experience.


> Music can change your mind as it is a way to communicate. It is a
> language that has means to go beyond the capabilities of mere speech.
> But the same as speech it relies on a socio-cultural context.
>

I think it might go a little deeper than that. If the universe is built on
strings as string theory would suggest then we are all a vibration at the
fundamental level. Hence music is perhaps the fundamental fabric of the
universe...

> If a person living in a slum in Africa listenes to a song, he or she may
> come to the decision: "Im not gonna take it anymore - see my children
> die of curable deseases, being robbed by corrupt authorities. No more!"
> Listening to the song can result in open rebellion,riots, revolution.
> Communication amplified by music.
>
> If you or I listen to the very same song, we may swing our hips a little
> and I would say: OK another nice world-music tune, not my cup of coffe
> anyway but nice...
>
> It's economics, reccources, status - no frequency can change the social
> conditions under wich you live.
>
>> It's a delicate balance because it requires a complete commitment to
>> selling out and producing what most artists would consider total crap.
>> With the exception of having actually got into people heads directly and
>> as efficiently as possible.
>
> Music that can help to make people think about their lives must be
> authentic. An artist that is willing to give his/her audience genuine
> art can create a positive effect in a socio-cultural context. An artist,
> that betrays his/her vision on art cannot create anything beyond a
> consumable product that says and signifies nothing.
>

If we are under constant attack then it makes sense to defend ourselves
and it possible others who may be susceptible or not in a position to
defend them selves from the attack.

> Frequencies and patterns are just tools. If a certain combination of
> frequencies fits you vison, use them. If not: avoid them. Everything
> else is abuse.

This approach to music may be placing a significant limitation on the true
nature of musical expression.



-- 
Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd.