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Musical tastes


Thaddeus Smith

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one afternoon, I had the music blaring, standing on my balcony drinking a cold beer. a couple walks by and I decided to be sociable (a rarity) and I say hi and then the a new song comes on ... I hear these voices singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes ...."  I raced inside to stop this ... turns out my daughter had downloaded some kids music for my granddaughter when she was staying with me. She didn't tell me and wasn't the best way to find out. 

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11 hours ago, Thaddeus Smith said:

I feel I should include this when I share my personally curated music library with people...

It's interesting what we actually do share on this forum. 

 

I mean, look at the opinions on just about any subject here...but the music itself.  And we don't really share that much about how we like even the hardware that reproduces the music--something that I believe is appropriate for this type of forum.

 

I've always been a bit mystified why this is, but in the final analysis I think it comes down to fear of social rejection.  Why shouldn't we have many different threads on the music we love here?  It's a lot better than arguing about Corona virus and when we think it's good to return our children to school.  And having different threads for at least different genres, and artists or ensembles/groups themselves is even better.  I know there are a lot of people here that could benefit from another person's point of view about the music itself.  We learn about audio reproduction, but little about the music we each play on our systems--choosing instead to "be popular" by suppressing what we really like to listen to.

 

Klipsch loudspeakers bring a particular capability to the music that small, direct radiating loudspeakers can't reproduce very well.  I know that a lot of people here apparently listen at sound pressure levels (SPLs) well above what I'd enjoy, but the fact remains that Klipsch loudspeakers attract a certain unique listener type.  Shouldn't the forum reflect this?  (I'm not referring to RTM, since very little discussion actually occurs about the music there--only the sharing of album covers, ostensibly to what someone is currently listening to.)  There is a generational aspect to music tastes, and I think we shouldn't shy away from that.  Churches reflect this generational aspect.  Perhaps this forum would enjoy newly found life and many more active members if we did...?

 

There are forums that do talk about the music--notably Steve Hoffman's forum. For whatever reason, I don't believe that the Klipsch company founder would have wanted the current state (i.e., not really talking about the music itself).  At one time he had his own RTR-tape music company so that he could provide his customers with higher quality recordings (...and John Eargle was actually one of his "signed artists").  That was ~60 years ago. 

 

The function that music plays in our lives really hasn't changed much since then. If anything, we listen more to personal music devices, including smartphones and earbuds.  Wouldn't it be a more useful forum if everyone shared what they loved to listen to?  If people don't like certain genres or artists, they can switch to a thread (or create a new one) whose music they do love. It might initially put a greater load on the moderation of the forum while it gets kicked off (like Hoffman's forum), but I believe moderation volunteers are available to tap for music forums.

 

Chris

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1 hour ago, Chris A said:

I've always been a bit mystified why this is, but in the final analysis I think it comes down to fear of social rejection.  Why shouldn't we have many different threads on the music we love here?  It's a lot better than arguing about Corona virus and when we think it's good to return our children to school.  And having different threads for at least different genres, and artists or ensembles/groups themselves is even better.  I know there are a lot of people here that could benefit from another person's point of view about the music itself.  We learn about audio reproduction, but little about the music we each play on our systems--choosing instead to "be popular" by suppressing what we really like to listen to.

Well stated!  Nobody should fear social rejection over the music they choose to listen to and like.  I listen to a wide variety, not as wide as some, but pretty diverse.  I get the occasional "you like that", but personally don't care, I like what I like.  If the music makes you feel good, it is good.

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A few years ago, I posted that I owned more than one album from a pop artist (which I'll save her name for the moment) who was known to use Auto-Tune on her recordings. 

 

After demastering for the extreme clipping that's present on all pop/rock albums since about 1991, I found that I enjoyed listening to her and her band for a certain kind of music aesthetic that I'd call "high school pop".  As time went on, it turns out that she actually had several paid composers (like country and pop stars use) to write most of her hits.  It was this, plus the fact that she was singing in tune (as opposed to many other pop and country stars that couldn't stay on pitch) that made her music tolerable for background music when I was doing monotonous tasks at work, etc.  Except for her first album, after demastering, her albums have average dynamic range of 13/14.  Nowadays, I don't listen to her music (not really), but for the time and purpose, It worked. 

 

Her name: Avril Lavigne.  She actually can't sing on pitch, but Auto-Tune takes care of that small detail... :unsure2:  Do I care that Iain (seti) doesn't think she's worth listening to?  No...not really.  I'd listen to Dylan if they hooked him up to Auto-Tune (within reason, of course)...

 

Chris

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Now, now...every subject has its scholars--and others that aren't... 

 

We need a more inclusive environment to get the hermit crabs to come out of their shells... 🦀

 

:biggrin2:

 

Chris

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I remembered a scene from a movie (lord--it was 25 years ago)...Mr. Holland's Opus.  Here the text of that scene:

 

Quote

- Mr Holland?|- You're late.
And you left your clarinet here|the other day.
Yeah, um...|if you know anyone who wants it...
I'm giving up the clarinet. I'm just|goofing everybody else up anyway.
So, um... I just wanted to say thanks.|Thanks for trying.
Is it any fun?
I wanted it to be.
You know what we've been doing wrong?
We've been playing the notes on the page.
Well, what else is there to play?
There's a lot more to music|than notes on a page.
These guys, for example. [He starts playing Louie, Louie...I believe]
Now... they can't sing,
and they have absolutely|no harmonic sense, and they"re...
they"re playing the same three chords|over and over again.
And I love it.
- Do you?|- Yeah.
Yeah!
Why?
- I don't know.|- Yeah, you do.
- Because It's fun?|- That's right.
Because playing music|is supposed to be fun.
It's about... heart.
It's about feelings and...moving people|and something beautiful and being alive,
and It's not about notes on a page!
I could teach you notes on a page.|I can't teach you that other stuff.
Do me a favor.
Pick up your clarinet...and play with me.

Chris

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I am completely baffled and confused by this thread, and claims we do not share musical tastes.

 

I would guess that at least half, if not more, of all my posts have been about music.  Duh. What is Right This Minute about if not about sharing musical tastes.  In this section alone there are at least two ongoing musical threads involving vinyl and cds/digital.  Almost every day somebody posts something, or mentions a piece of music in an ongoing thread.  There have been dozens of threads about classical, jazz, rock , female vocalists, reggae, blues, etc. You name the genre and there have been threads and post about it.  Oh and what about Members Weekly Music Recommendations, which lasted several years until some software revision killed it.

 

It's all about the music.  You Lounge lizards should get out around the Forum more.

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On 8/1/2020 at 2:13 PM, thebes said:

I am completely baffled and confused by this thread, and claims we do not share musical tastes.

 

 

 

It's all about the music. 

I do love the way Klipsch reproduces my tunes but, to me, it is all about the music. I was very happy, iirc, when I heard Motown on my transistor radio. And the 3 nightly hours Ronnie McCoy would play album cuts on KNAC back in the '70's on my mom's table radio. The music.

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On 8/1/2020 at 10:37 AM, Chris A said:

I remembered a scene from a movie (lord--it was 25 years ago)...Mr. Holland's Opus.  Here the text of that scene:

 

When my son was first trumpet in the Chattanooga Youth Symphony *, the conductor at the time , was a friend of Michael Kamen and had planned to have him come to guest conduct the CYO. His passing due to a heart attack was  certainly unexpected as we were hoping to meet him.

 

I liked a lot of his music.

 

* a bit of bragging...

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