Klarinet Archive - Posting 000049.txt from 1998/08

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Classical Music and Young People
Date: Sun, 2 Aug 1998 22:05:40 -0400

At 10:24 AM 8/2/98 -0700, you wrote:
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
>:But if you define all sound as music, subject only to your own value
>:judgement of whether or not it is beautiful, what we are left with is NO
>:definition at all! I might think the sound of a passing rustbucket 1975
>:Pontiac with no muffler is wonderful, but it in no way qualifies as music!
>:The sound MUST be organized, not random, to be considered music.
>:Otherwise, beautiful as it might be, it is still just pretty sound.
>
>I guess there is just a difference of opinion here.
>
>Some people hearing a sound long lost, whether that be of the engine of an
>classic Cadillac or of a forest, we often use the term "That's Music To My
>Ears", and I take that to heart. It's Music to My Ears, and not necessarily
>anyone elses.
>
Ah, yes, a nice figure of speech, but only a metaphor, not a definition of
music.

>Also, how do you define random sound? Obviously the birds and crickets are
>making some sort of defined effort to put their chirps in some sort of
>sequence, whether it be mating call or a call for friends, animals are not
>idiotic, and they do have minds of their own. (and I cannot believe that
>some people say humans are the only ones with a soul) Wind Rustling is just
>a nice background noise.
>
>Think of it as a piece that jumps from 6/8 to 3/4 to 7/4 to 12/8 to 4/3...
>every measure. And if you listen closely, whether it be the engine of a car
>or the birds in the forest, you will find an organized pattern.
>
I guess I was a little too broad in my definition. How about "organized by
human logic." By my definition, animals do not make "music," although
their mating calls, etc., may SOUND musical to our ears, and we may copy
their sounds in making music. The sequences they produce do communicate
certain things to others of their species, but the fact that it sounds like
music to us is, to them, purely coincidental.

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://members.wbs.net/homepages/z/o/o/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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