how/what do you hear and recall?

[steve-bbb]

ok here goes

when you hear music how would you describe your own personal experience of it and how does you recollection of it come back at you?

we often make many assumptions that we all perceive things pretty much the same but from person to person there are always some subtle and surprising differences

personally i hear it in very great detail and even from about age of 3 or 4 there was always something that seemed to grab my attention with the bass lines - as for recall i seem to be able to recall it in my head in a tape recorder fashion exact as the recording (to draw an analogy i would describe it similar to people who have photographic recall of visual scenes and imagery)

.......

Edited May 11, 2012 by steve-bbb

[Silvia Bluejay]

I tend to notice either the melody - usually only if the singer is awesome, say Halford, Dio, and similar - or the bassline - as in, I start humming that, not the melody, and I will recognise the song by its bassline the following time I hear it.

It usually takes me a few listens before I manage to appreciate the song in its entirety.

I have known drummers describe a song only through its rhythm, and heavy metal guitarists describe a song via a succession of memorable riffs.

I reckon that most musicians apply some sort of "filter", i.e. they concentrate their attention on their main instrument while listening to a new song. I know that, as a musician, I now do just that to a far higher degree than I used to when I was only a keen listener.

Edited May 11, 2012 by bluejay

[discreet]

Judging by how my previous band heard original recordings (with a view to covering them) people hear very different things when listening to the same recording! It never failed to surprise me that the guitard (for example) couldn't tell the difference between guitar played in the lower register and bass played in a higher register!! WTF??

Edited May 11, 2012 by discreet

[chrismuzz]

For me it's guitar riffs, solos, bass tone, and any bass bits that are at all audible time signatures, vocal lines and style.

I'm crap with lyrics

[icastle]

I tend to filter out the lyrics.

I'm not known for my love of poetry and skip past all the 'the leaves were falling like a golden carpet' stuff that appears in fiction.

Rhythm is always top of the list for me.

[BassTractor]

It depends on the music for me.

In rock or pop, I listen for stuff that I just happen to like. That would normally be the harmonic and rhythmic drive, but might be just one nice interval, a chord progression I have a weak spot for, or whatever rocks my boat. As far as instruments go, despite having been a keyboards guy for 45 years, I mainly listen to the bass and the drums. Melody is not my force, and I'm totally lyrics-deaf.

Recollection depends on the song. Some stuff will never be remembered even after dozens of listenings, whilst other stuff sits "photographically" in my brain after just one listen.


When listening to classical music, there's both the composition and the interpretation.
As to the interpretation, I listen for whether the artist has anything new and interesting to say about the work, has balls enough, sensibility enough and enough prowess to show both the analytical side and the "lyrical" side of it, in a personal yet balanced way. (I don't know if this makes sense, and bravely hide behind the fact that it's almost two o' clock now, and I should def. be sleeping.)
As to the composition, I'm rooting with the composers, and don't want them to fall into traps they set up themselves. So I tend to be an active listener in that I concentrate on the rhythmic and harmonic machines, and "talk" (in my head) to the composers as the music unfolds, as in "Do NOT repeat this II, V, I now. At least use a VII, or else you're gonna have to land this movement prematurely."

I have little recollection of the piece until after many listenings, but I'm a bloodhound for quality, often being able to pinpoint the composer on basis of sheer compositional quality, like: "The composer of this late Renaissance music is so good, it can only be Monteverdi. Or: each time this composer is confronted with a problem he created himself, he'll quickly run back to the root key. So it must be Vivaldi."


bert

[Dad3353]

First year of grammar school, the music teacher played a classical music record, asking us all to listen, and to note the different sections. Once over, all our hands went up when asked "How many sections did you notice..?" My chums replied "2, Sir" or "4, Sir"; I had to reply "264, Sir...".
The intention had been for us to remark the separate movements of the symphony (don't recall which one...); I had been identifying almost every theme or phrase.
Perhaps it's me...

[jay]

Before I picked up a bass at about 14, a song was a "whole" it was one unit and I never even considered picking it into separate parts, the song was either good, or it sucked, there was never, "that song sucked...apart from the awesome bass line". Now I mainly respond to a nice chord progression/bass line or rhythm in general, and can never listen to lyrics, can't even tell what singers are saying half the time, and don't really care as long as they're in tune. Never ever been a fan of the singer songwriter stuff. Although i'm infinitely glad I picked up a bass, I wonder if i've lost a certain innocence of being able to just listen to a song, without thinking about how its been made, and reducing it to its component parts and devices?

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='jay' timestamp='1336785114' post='1651193']
I wonder if i've lost a certain innocence of being able to just listen to a song, without thinking about how its been made, and reducing it to its component parts and devices?
[/quote]

Oh yes, indeedy. I wish I could unlearn [i]everything[/i] and go back to the time when a good song just overwhelmed me in its totality. TBH, I'd give up playing, just to get that back.

[color=#ffffff].[/color]

Edited May 12, 2012 by skankdelvar

[jay]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1336785508' post='1651195']
Oh yes, indeedy. I wish I could unlearn [i]everything[/i] and go back to the time when a good song just overwhelmed me in its totality. TBH, I'd give up playing, just to get that back.

[color=#ffffff].[/color]
[/quote]

Would you really go that far? Although I do think there is something to be missed, being a part of music kind of makes up for it, also you can still appreciate music in a different way, when you can tell the genius thats gone into a song, even if it does turn you into a bit of a music snob

[musophilr]

Bluejay makes a lot of sense. I'm a guitarist before anything else and I tend to notice & analyse the guitar stuff first. Then the bass, then the keys. I'm usually aware enough of the rhythm to tell you the time signature, but I'll probably try to guess the key first from listening to the way the rhythm guitarist voices his chords.

Music that I don't analyse includes Tudor church music, and the more complex forms of jazz. In the words of Sir Thomas Beecham, I just "like the noise that it makes"

[steve-bbb]

[quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1336814273' post='1651354']
and the more complex forms of jazz. In the words of Sir Thomas Beecham, I just "like the noise that it makes"
[/quote]

whilst liking the crazy noise i find i i can analyze it and read the movement of a good solo like a book - prob why im such a big fan or mr holdsworth = similarly pat metheny has written some beautiful 'simple' tunes but i do like just as much the wild guitar solos on the roland guitar synth too

[steve-bbb]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1336785508' post='1651195']
Oh yes, indeedy. I wish I could unlearn [i]everything[/i] and go back to the time when a good song just overwhelmed me in its totality. TBH, I'd give up playing, just to get that back.

[color=#ffffff].[/color]
[/quote]

strangely i do sometimes get recollection not just of the tune itself but also the time/setting of when that tune made its first big impact

for example - i can distinctly recall the moves 'flowers in the rain' on the wireless at about age of 5 - and if i recall it in my memory then im hearing it not only associated with that setting but also crystal clear in its entirety and for some reason it is a pop tune that i never tire of - i find i f i have to learn a song then i will listen in depth and may spot things hidden away in the arrangement that werent at first noticeable but most of the time its all there but predominantly the bass lines and chord progressions

Edited May 12, 2012 by steve-bbb

[Judo Chop]

I remember the melody mostly, but I hear songs in my head as if I'm listening to them on the radio too.
I don't like to pick a song apart and analyse it, it takes the fun out of the song for me then.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Jack Cahalane

[Ed_S]

I hear whole songs. I remember guitar solos and I take cues and song structure from the lyrics, but I've never been particularly fond of 'deconstructing' songs to find the exact constituent bits because it always ruins something for me; I always find a bit that I don't like but didn't notice before, but will now hear every time. In terms of playing other people's songs, if I listen to the end result and it matches up to the fond memory of the whole, then it's good... sometimes better!

[discreet]

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1336816982' post='1651410']
strangely i do sometimes get recollection not just of the tune itself but also the time/setting of when that tune made its first big impact
[/quote]

This is why a lot of people still listen to the music of their youth. Particularly the teenage 'discovery' years (concerning sex and drugs and yes, rock 'n' roll), when certain songs had a really huge impact emotionally and were linked with monumental events and life changes... this is why we often remember not only the song but the situation we were in when it was first heard... IMHO.

[Lozz196]

I generally de-construct songs, and then focus on the part that I like the best. Of course I naturally listen out for the bass, but in general, my ears make the decision for me.

I remember the first ever song where I did this though, and it`s what I think sent me on my path to playing bass (even though I thought Sid Vicious and JJ Burnell looked immensely cool).

The song - Seasons in The Sun, by Terry Jacks - very punk rock huh? But the bass is so important to that song, and it was that sound that I always gravitated to in songs.

[discreet]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1336822005' post='1651518']
I generally de-construct songs, and then focus on the part that I like the best. Of course I naturally listen out for the bass, but in general, my ears make the decision for me.

I remember the first ever song where I did this though, and it`s what I think sent me on my path to playing bass (even though I thought Sid Vicious and JJ Burnell looked immensely cool).

The song - Seasons in The Sun, by Terry Jacks - very punk rock huh? But the bass is so important to that song, and it was that sound that I always gravitated to in songs.
[/quote]

I remember Terry Jacks too. A sad song! For me it was 'The Only Living Boy In New York' by Simon and Garfunkel. Only discovered much later it's a Joe Osborn line. Still gives me the old hair/neck tingle even today.

[icastle]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1336822306' post='1651530']
I remember Terry Jacks too. A sad song! [/quote]

It very nearly justifies my early forays into Wombledom.

[discreet]

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1336825102' post='1651587']
It very nearly justifies my early forays into Wombledom.
[/quote]

I'd forgotten about that! How could I not remember you're a womble?

[icastle]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1336825467' post='1651594']
I'd forgotten about that! How could I not remember you're a womble?
[/quote]

Trust me, it get's worse.
I'm sure you'll find the thread...