Key Messages
How Music Works: Exploring The Magic Of Music From Writing Songs To Producing Records
Experience the power of music and learn how it works from a master.
How Music Works, written by a legendary rock star, provides an in-depth look into the history, nature, and importance of music.
From writing songs to producing records and from Neanderthals to today’s top hits, this book takes you on an immersive journey through its pages.
You’ll learn about the influence our environment has on us musically – from the sounds of traffic affecting birds’ singing habits to why some clubs become vibrant hot spots while others stay in obscurity.
Even more than that, you’ll understand the potential of music in society such as its ability to fight crime and provide uplifting hope for people living in dire poverty.
Go deeper into the fascinating world of music with How Music Works!
We Are All Musicians Adapting Our Work To Fit Our Contexts
The belief that music comes from a “place within” the artist is something many people shared.
We tend to think that a musician’s ability alone determines the kind of music they make, as evidenced in how people consider Western medieval music simple because of an assumed lack of complex harmony.
In reality, however, it’s our surroundings and not our emotions or skills that largely dictate which type of music we make.
Sound frequencies hit at different lengths depending on the setting one is playing in, and those vibrations have to be taken into account when creating musical pieces – hence why building such as Gothic Cathedrals had simplest harmonies so notes wouldn’t clash.
A great example of this phenomenon is found with newer technologies’ influence on singing techniques; with microphones allowing vocalists to project their voice without having powerful lungs, singers such as Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby were able to create new vocal dynamics by singing closely “into the microphone.” And animals even responded to changes in their environment through sound – San Francisco birds raised the pitch of their singing over increased traffic noise and whales changed the frequency of their calls for ease of hearing against increased shipping noise.
It’s impossible to deny that our surroundings heavily affect what kind of musical pieces we make; not just from an emotional or technical point-of-view but environmental factors too.
The Impact Of Music Recording On How We Play And Hear Music
The advent of recording technology has drastically changed the way we create and experience music.
Ever since the first music recording was made in 1878, musicians have had to alter the ways they play instruments and sing in order to get the best sounding results.
For example, bands had to learn to play at a more consistent tempo as unsteady tempos sounded sloppier on recordings than they did during a live show.
Similarly, with no audience distraction, it quickly became necessary for players to use vibrato as this would cover up discrepancies in pitch that were extra noticeable on recordings.
Not only did it affect the way musicians crafted their sounds, but it changed how we hear music altogether.
People began thinking about pieces of music in terms of what is heard on a recording rather than what it might sound like when performed live; this meant that performances were seen as interpretations of a recorded version instead.
Though some may fear that removing the visual aspect from musical performance reduces its expression and experience to a mathematical system, Theodor Adorno expressed an alternate viewpoint: he argued that removing live performance upgrades our appreciation for the pure essence of music itself.
The Impact Of Digital Technology On Music: How It Changed Sonic Quality And Composition
Digital technology has completely changed the musical landscape.
This is especially true with regards to how music is composed and its sonic quality.
When a sound recording has been digitized, it gets divided into numerous slices that the human ear perceives as a continuous audio spectrum despite being made of distinct steps.
Additionally, digital recordings differ from analog media in terms of their sonic quality due to their finite number of gradations.
This difference is noticeable by some people who often label digital recordings as “soulless” as opposed to more technical terms like “crisp” and “clean.”
Digital technology also affects composition through quantization which makes the song’s rhythm tight and easy to edit on a screen, but this can make music sound uniform at times.
MIDI encoding has further helped keep compositions uniform, but it only works well for keyboards and percussion pads due to its lack of sensitivity for nuance in instruments like strings
The Pros And Cons Of Different Music Recording Techniques: How To Balance Control, Isolation, And Band Unity
The way a band is recorded has an immense amount of influence on the sound of the resulting music.
In the late 70s, most artists preferred to use the divide-and-isolate approach, where each instrument was isolated from the rest with acoustic treatments to reduce any sound bleed.
This allowed producers to control every aspect of the sound and combine them together during mixing or production.
However, some of the organic interplay between the musicians disappeared when recording this way, and many bands found that this hindered their musical performances.
On the other hand, there’s also an all-together-at-once approach to recording music, where all members are recorded at once without being separated by acoustic treatments.
Despite having a higher risk of producing a muddy or sloppier sounding mix, many bands prefer this method as they feel it provides more natural and inspired performances since they’re used to playing together in person.
In modern times however, it’s not completely necessary to choose one approach over another; instead multiple approaches can coexist on a single recording and affect its sound differently.
Ultimately, whether a band is recorded individually or together greatly affects the resulting music and should be considered in order for producers and engineers to get the best result for their recordings.
The Benefits Of Collaborating In Music Creation
Collaborating has been an essential part of music creation for years, and it’s as relevant today.
Famous songwriting teams like Lennon and McCartney or Jagger and Richards show us how powerful collaboration can be.
Nowadays, collaboration doesn’t even require people to be in the same room.
Musicians can transfer digital music files back and forth electronically to create records, just like Brian Eno and David Byrne did with Everything That Happens Will Happen Today.
Working together has many creative benefits too – ideas are improved, collective improvisations lead to exciting places, and control is shared so everyone can concentrate on their tasks.
Clearly, collaborating is an important part of music’s essence and can be an aid to creativity.
The Decline Of Record Sales Brings Flexibility To The Music Industry
In the modern music industry, record sales have dwindled drastically since 1999 when digital distribution was introduced.
So much so that only 2.1 percent of all album released in 2009 sold more than 5,000 copies and in 2006 just 35 albums sold over a million units within one year.
This has inevitably caused major physical retail chains like Tower Records and Virgin Megastores to close down resulting in most mid-level artists being unable to make money off their royalties which won’t even cover a record’s production costs.
However, this changing landscape also means that the music business has become more flexible.
Famous musicians are now choosing to work independently of traditional record label deals; Radiohead and Madonna being two examples who went this route.
Additionally, with home recording and digital distribution now readily available at the connect of a button, some are taking the self-written, self-produced and self-marketed DIY route to make their own music without having to answer to anyone else measures.
All of these alternatives gives us an insight into how declining record sales have made the music business more flexible giving artists options they wouldn’t be able to consider before.
How Venues Like Cbgb Create Vibrant Music Scenes
If you’ve ever felt the roar of a live music crowd, you know that venues matter.
They can be the backdrop for a vibrant music scene to arise or just an uninspiring biker bar.
For example, the famous New York club CBGB originated as a biker bar in 1974 and soon developed into famous musical hotspot thanks to its accommodating staff and excellent sound system.
Creating a scene requires an attentiveness to detail from the venue owners.
Musicians should be well compensated and also allowed to get in free on their nights off to ensure a steady audience presence.
The physical architecture of the venue is also important; it should be small enough to give patrons an intimate experience yet large enough to fit everyone comfortably.
Also essential is having uneven walls and high ceilings that promote good sound quality; this allows performers and audiences alike to feel as though they’re part of something larger than themselves.
By keeping these things in mind, a suitable venue can easily become a hub for local talents and all it takes are few simple principles being put into practice by its owners.
The Value Of Music Making: Encouraging Amateur Creativity To Empower Communities And Fight Poverty
Encouraging amateurs to make music is more than just a fun hobby- it can have far-reaching social and cultural benefits.
For years, music education has focused on teaching people to consume music, rather than creating their own or appreciating others’ contributions.
Unfortunately, this has resulted in drastic downsizing of arts programs in US schools in most states.
However, encouraging amateur music making can be incredibly powerful.
It provides a sense of empowerment for individuals who create something and strengthens the bond between themselves and their communities when playing together in bands.
On an even larger scale, it can help fight crime and poverty as seen with Carlinhos Brown’s initiatives in Candeal and El Sistema’s program in Venezuela.
Music becomes a moral force that changes peoples’ lives for the better beyond simply being emotionally or intellectually moved by it.
Therefore, we should prioritize amateur creativity not only from an entertainment standpoint but also from a cultural one, allowing more individuals to reap its positive effects both personally and socially.
Music Is An Inseparable Part Of The Human Experience And Has Stood The Test Of Time
Far from just being a form of entertainment, music is deeply rooted in the fabric of our species.
Historians have theorized about music’s origins, giving credence to sounds both made by mothers to children and similar noises found in nature and from animals.
These theories are based on evidence from 45,000 years ago which showed Neanderthals playing flutes that produced notes found on modern-day pianos today.
Children even show preferences for certain musical harmonies much earlier than previously thought, as evidenced by their ability to detect dissonant and stable chords.
Even more impressive is an infant’s recognition of melody; they know a familiar song even if it is played in an unfamiliar key or instrument!
It turns out that music has a profound impact on psychological well-being as well – with currents studies suggesting that those with certain brain damage can function better with the help of music!
This paved the way for therapies such as Melodic Intonation Therapy to emerge.
All these discoveries point towards one fact: music really is part of what makes us human and it significantly affects our mental health.
Wrap Up
The final summary of How Music Works is that music is deeply powerful and has the power to bring people together.
It can be a self-empowering tool, and now more than ever with modern technology, there are endless possibilities for getting music out into the world.
For those looking to take their music hobby further, the actionable advice is to empower yourself by learning how to play a musical instrument.
Studies show that regular active participation in music stimulates various brain functions, so grab an instrument and start jamming!
