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Does music affect you more profoundly than any other media?

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DostoyevskyClone

Captain
Captain
I just happen to be listening to Armin Van Buuren's 'A State of Trance 2008' and am absolutely loving it. Semi-religious experience kind of loving, that is.

I used to frequent the boards here a bit as an avid TNG/DS9 lover and have since come back. I'm finding that music over the last year or two affects me far more profoundly than other "media" and I'm curious to see who feels the same. I never remember music (any genre) being a particularly popular topic around here (I guess I'm basing this largely in terms of the number of threads you tend to see related to music vs. threads related to TV, movies, video games, etc.) Even though I've never really been a big message board guy, I always thought people at TrekBBS were pretty cool and had their head screwed on straight and I always enjoy reading people's thoughts and opinions here. I thought it would be cool to get talking to like-minded people.

My favorite artists: Huey Lewis & The News, New Order, Rush, David Sylvian, The Smashing Pumpkins, Depeche Mode, and The Cure...

Other artists I like: Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, Thrillseekers, Black Tie Dynasty, Rupesh Cartel, Nirvana, Erasure, Recoil, Indochine, A Covenant of Thorns, Carbon Based Lifeforms, Seal, Zwan, Billy Corgan, Bronski Beat, Nine Inch Nails, Talk Talk, Dolphin Brothers, Kings of Convenience, Color Theory, Chris Isaak, Jimmy Buffett, Don Henley, Jon Secada, The Other Two, Morrissey, The KLF, Failure, Rammstein, B! Machine, The Corrs, Agency X, The Police, Yaz, Peter Gabriel, Peter Schilling, The Pixies, and Aphex Twin...

Artists I'm just getting into: Shiny Toy Guns, Ladytron, and Xiu Xiu.
 
Music gets to the parts other media formats can't reach.
It is a brilliant that everyone likes different stuff.
A good place to find people who like the stuff you like is http://www.last.fm
Can I recomend The Stone Roses.
 
I'm afraid that I have a very poor relationship with music. When it moves me, it really moves me. But, by and large I'm not a music lover. Sometimes even the music I like just turns to noise. I think I'm pretty odd in my relationship with music but I never really got into it as a teenager the way many, if not most other people do. I know a great many people say their lives would be much pooer without music, but not me. Images are much more important to me. They can move me, not in ways that music can't, but much more frequently. Over the years there have been times when I've been embarrassed about my lack of musical awareness, and at times, my dislike for it. When people get into conversations about music I don't really have much to say. These days though I just acknowledge that it's an artform I struggle with, and I feel much happier.
 
I'm not a big music person (my ipod is a 30G but I've only got about 1,400 songs on t and I think I'm about done) but music is a bit like odors...they can really evoke the memory unlike anything else.
 
I know that the op is mainly talking about listening to music, but I think the power and effect of music is sometimes overlooked.
I saw a special on music in the movies narrated by Richard Dreyfuss where they showed some scenes without and with music; and the difference was profound, at least to me.
 
Oh gosh- I love music.

But it's more that I like music in conjunction with images. Like what paudemge said, the movies would be absolutely nothing without music/soundtrack.



Also, I see music. Every single noise or sound I hear, I also see. Often times, I'll remember a song by how it looks rather than by how it sounds.

You know the visualizations on Windows Media Player? It's a bit like that, except very specific noises, sounds, notes have specific shapes and textures. And it's 3D.
 
Nardpuncher made me smile, because my response on seeing the subject was that smells (but only smells) can evoke more powerfully than music.

When I buy a soundtrack after having seen the movie, I use it as background while I work or play, and it's like I'm subliminally watching the movie even when I'm not consciously aware of the music. And when I'm aware, it makes me smile or cry as I remember especially emotional parts.

I've bought soundtracks a few times before seeing the film too, based on the composer and me interested in the story. Those are unique experiences where when I sit down to watch the film, it's already a familiar friend to me.

I don't listen to songs much because I often find it too strong, and I can't concentrate over most of them, but I love the cadence of the voices and rhythms.

Edit: listening to Solaris 2002 now. It always calms my thoughts to equilibrium, so I can reboot.
 
paudemge said:
they showed some scenes without and with music; and the difference was profound, at least to me.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I actually remember my friend telling me about that documentary. I once saw a documentary on the making of Empire Strikes Back. The scene where they freeze Han in carbonite was shown before and after the music was added. It was amazing how much difference the music made, especially in therms of the music cue to the emotion.
 
I think that the reason there are so many art forms in existence (fine art, music, theater, film, print, etc) is because each has it's place. Each has the potential to fill a hole in the human spirit. And which one 'works' at any given time is subject to change, depending upon the needs of the individual in that moment.

I have always been a big fan of art, music, film and the printed word. I love all of them because they are mediums that can inspire us, educate us, provide us with perspective, and quite often, leave us very much enriched as human beings.

I can't really say that I have a favorite or that one effects me more profoundly than another, because they provide different experiences.

How can you compare standing in front of Michelangelo's David with listening to Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto #2? Both, in my experience, are incredibly moving experiences. But I can't say as I prefer one over the other. I'm greedy - I love both.

And to take it a step further, how can you compare these experiences of deep beauty with, say...watching a film like Apocalypse Now? I don't think anyone who has ever seen Apocalypse Now would deny that this film effects you. Speaking only for myself, I walk around for days after watching this film, struggling with the horror I feel - a renewal of the shocking realization that man's potential for inhumanity and brutality toward his fellow man really knows no bounds. It's a horrifying reality to confront!

Does this film effect me? Yes. Absolutely. And ultimately in a good way, because it reminds me that there IS a horrible abyss out there that is SO easy to fall into - 'regular people' fall into it all the time, in fact. And that is a good thing to be reminded of from time to time.

But listening to a Mozart's Requiem...or marveling at the incredibly rich use of color by Renoir in his art...those are wonderful experiences. These works are, after all, the treasures of humanity. And to take one of the treasures of humanity out of it's box and appreciate it, marvel at it..desire to become a part of it. Those moments are priceless.

In short - it's all good. It just depends upon what a person needs at any given time to feed his soul.
 
When you think about Apocalypse Now, do you not immediately remember Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, then of course my mind drifts over to Bugs Bunny and Blues Brothers.
 
It does. And my feeling is that music must somehow connect us to subtle vibrations
in the fabric of the Universe, thus touching our souls in ways no other media or art can.
 
I don't know if I would say it moves me more profoundly than all other art forms, because I've found that I'm getting rather weepy in my old age and seem to tear up at the drop of a hat at TV shows, movies, music, etc., but it certainly does evoke powerful emotions.

The other day I was listening to The Departure by Michael Nyman from the outstanding 'Gattaca' soundtrack on my iPod while out walking, and it made me start crying on the spot, which was awkward (I had to do the cough and swipe manuever ;)). It's such a lovely piece with so much meaning depending on how you look at it, and is equally sad and hopeful at the same time.
 
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I'm very vulnareble to music, so yes, it can move me very much and very intensely, the single most beautiful and haunting song I know is Brian Eno's "An Ending (Ascent)" it is so faint so fragile, intense, soft and lonely that it never fails to make me feel like time itself stops for as long the song plays.
 
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