Music

This forum is to learn about foreign cultures and habits, because language skills are not everything you need as a world citizen...

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vijayjohn
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Music

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-06-06, 4:16

There are a lot of threads on this forum for sharing music, but we don't really seem to have one dedicated to discussing it per se. I thought maybe I'd open up a thread where we could talk about it instead of just listening to it.

I think it's fair to say the kind of music I listen to is completely different from the kinds of music most people listen to, including most nerds (including most UniLangers!). This has come up a few times, and it makes me wonder, why is that exactly? I'm sure that part of the reason is familiarity. Folk music from all kinds of countries is by far the kind of music I've heard most often. Probably another part of the reason is what my parents like. But could there be more to it than just that? Is it possible that pieces of music have specific properties that we notice and use to decide whether we like them or not? I've also been getting the impression that Indians seem to put a lot more emphasis on preserving musical traditions whereas Americans seem to put more emphasis on innovation. What makes either option more appealing than the other?

I love Middle Eastern classical music, and I was pretty fascinated to learn that when Arab scholars were translating scientific works from Ancient Greek, they also paid a lot of attention to Ancient Greek writings on music and music theory, which apparently also influenced their own music. Middle Eastern music in turn heavily influenced music in nearby regions, such as Turkey and India. Maybe that's part of the reason why Greek music often sounds so similar to music in these areas and it's not just that Turkish music influenced modern Greek music a lot. To what extent is it possible to find similarities with Middle Eastern music elsewhere? To what extent is it common for music to be strongly based on some theory, or an arbitrary set of sounds, or based on the imitation of animal sounds (this is apparently common in Papua New Guinea, for instance), or something else?

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france-eesti
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Re: Music

Postby france-eesti » 2019-06-07, 11:47

Hi Vijay, this is great you're creating this thread!
To be honest no one should be ashamed of the music they like! Do you know what I like?
Schumann!
Klezmer Music!
Anything with clarinet! (Except maybe, I dunno why, Bulgarian style...)
Ska!
Reggae
Old rock (Queen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Supertramp, the Beatles...)
Pop!

I also tend to be obsessed by one composer at a time and listen/play anything I can find from him.
My current obsession is the Czech Stamitz :D I love him! And of course I'm training his concerto for clarinet!

Anyway - music always wakes something up in you, there's no point wondering why you like it! 8-)
(fr) Native - (en) Fluentish - (pt) Fluentish when I was younger - (hu) Can sustain a conversation with a patient and kind magyar or order some beer and lecsó in Budapest - (it) On Duolingo ma posso ordinare uno Spritz ed antipasti in un ristorante :blush:

vijayjohn
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Re: Music

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-06-07, 15:58

Thanks!
france-eesti wrote:To be honest no one should be ashamed of the music they like!

Well, no. But I'm still curious as to why I like it...and/or what kinds of charateristics seem to appeal to me in a given song.

I'm also really curious about the history of music. Somehow, I get the impression that a lot of music really hasn't changed much even over thousands of years, which seems strange...or perhaps I just don't understand how exactly music evolves over time.

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Re: Music

Postby Prowler » 2019-09-03, 11:51

I wasn't much into music when I was younger. I got into music per se a bit late. Around 18 or so. Until then I mostly liked some songs and then a bunch of video game OSTs and tracks. I wasn't into any bands in particular except The Beatles for a while when I was a kid.

Around 18 I became a big metalhead for some years. And to this day I still like metal a lot, but nowadays I also like jazz, synthwave, vaporwave, a lot of rock, classical music and pop music from Japan.

I don't care much for concerts, though. Been to a few and while they were fun, I don't feel like spending money on going to more concerts in my life. Plus, you usually gotta stand(unless it's a jazz or classical music concert, I guess) and often bands and singers sound pretty bad live lol. And festivals don't appeal to me whatsoever.

Guess I could make a top 10-20 favourite artists. Lemme see:

Iron Maiden
Judas Priest
Pantera (from Cowboy From Hell onward)
Metallica (first 5 albums only)
Alice in Chains
Cream
Slayer
Bolt Thrower
Hiromi Uehara
Herbie Hancock
Phaserland
Mitch Murder
CASIOPEA
Namie Amuro
Koda Kumi
Ayumi Hamasaki
Gorguts
Death
Miami Nights 1984
Mercyful Fate

More or less this. It changes at times.

If anyone has last.fm and wants to follow me then feel free to ask me for my profile and I'll gladly follow you back as well, ofc.

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Re: Music

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-09-03, 23:30

I've never been to a concert in my whole life. I don't really understand the appeal.

I think I'm finally starting to understand the connection between some forms of music from the US and some from various African countries. I can kind of hear some commonalities between African music like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTuLacyijE8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKu6fxM7P8A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpjM1PY6tok
And the blues scales and this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0_eRVroLqs&list=PLEKZKgEsQU4odDOamfj7mC8u71vG4A48D
I'm starting to think that maybe the reason why I've been having trouble appreciating most American music is its long history of cultural appropriation, which is also fundamental to its formation. It's basically black music that white people took and combined with other music.

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Prowler
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Re: Music

Postby Prowler » 2019-09-18, 20:05

vijayjohn wrote:I've never been to a concert in my whole life. I don't really understand the appeal.


Unfortunately, I avoid saying to people that I don't go to concerts anymore and that I'd rather listen to music at home or watch a football game at home instead of at the stadium. People usually either tell me I haven't been to enough good concerts or games or that I'm not a "real" metalhead or fan of my own football team, but a plastic/gloryhunter instead. OR they tell me my opinion is "shit". So yeah, I avoid telling people that I don't care for such events because 8 times our of 10 someone will say the things I mentioned above and I don't feel like putting up with that crap when I'm having a decent conversation with someone. I do know and have talked to people before who also have never been to concerts before, so you're definitely not alone on this one.

Metal is a genre full of elitism and "I'm a bigger fan than you!" people looking for cred/approval. Which is funny because a lot of metal is supposed to be anti-conformist. Yet it's a very elitist and cliquey genre. And a way for people to measure their levle of "trveness" is by listing how many bands they've seen live, even going to concerts of bands they're not too crazy about just for the +1 entry as if it's a Pokémon to collect.

Thing is, there's also A LOT of metal fans who live in countries or places where attending metal concerts isn't exactly feasible. Like this Korean guy I know. How is he supposed to see any of the major bands playing in Korea? Let a lone more obscure black and death metal bands? And elitists will probably tell him that he's not a "trve fan" but a "poser" instead. And tbh, so what if some people are "posers" and only wear Metallica and Slayer t-shirts because they like a couple of songs by them? Is it really that big of a deal? :roll:

vijayjohn
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Re: Music

Postby vijayjohn » 2019-09-20, 4:48

Is <trve> how they spell it?

awrui
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Re: Music

Postby awrui » 2021-01-21, 12:12

Question: Why is Taylor Swift so popular?
I don't get it. I've read some comments on youtube, that she's a poet and so on, but her lyrics are just so random. Also, her music feels so commercial and soulless to me... Is it because she's thin and blonde?
Is there anyone here who can explain this mystery to me?

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Osias
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Re: Music

Postby Osias » 2021-01-21, 13:16

I have no idea.
2017 est l'année du (fr) et de l'(de) pour moi. Parle avec moi en eux, s'il te plait.

karlar
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Re: Music

Postby karlar » 2021-04-07, 13:44

vijayjohn wrote:There are a lot of threads on this forum for sharing music, but we don't really seem to have one dedicated to discussing it per se. I thought maybe I'd open up a thread where we could talk about it instead of just listening to it.

I think it's fair to say the kind of music I listen to is completely different from the kinds of music most people listen to, including most nerds (including most UniLangers!). This has come up a few times, and it makes me wonder, why is that exactly? I'm sure that part of the reason is familiarity. Folk music from all kinds of countries is by far the kind of music I've heard most often. Probably another part of the reason is what my parents like. But could there be more to it than just that? Is it possible that pieces of music have specific properties that we notice and use to decide whether we like them or not? I've also been getting the impression that Indians seem to put a lot more emphasis on preserving musical traditions whereas Americans seem to put more emphasis on innovation. What makes either option more appealing than the other?

I love Middle Eastern classical music, and I was pretty fascinated to learn that when Arab scholars were translating scientific works from Ancient Greek, they also paid a lot of attention to Ancient Greek writings on music and music theory, which apparently also influenced their own music. Middle Eastern music in turn heavily influenced music in nearby regions, such as Turkey and India. Maybe that's part of the reason why Greek music often sounds so similar to music in these areas and it's not just that Turkish music influenced modern Greek music a lot. To what extent is it possible to find similarities with Middle Eastern music elsewhere? To what extent is it common for music to be strongly based on some theory, or an arbitrary set of sounds, or based on the imitation of animal sounds (this is apparently common in Papua New Guinea, for instance), or something else?

Great ides, but for some reason I can't find any threads with where I can listen to it.


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