Musical Understanding and Experience

Everyone of us has music inside. And it is not an abstract statement, but scientifically proved fact. Molecules of DNA “sound” inside us and it is very important if music from outside is in keeping with music inside us.

Scientists pay great attention to researches concerning music’s influence on human beings. Attention to such researches has increased recently and their results are interesting and convincing. For example, after listening classical music cows have increased their yield of milk and mimosa and petunias have grown faster and burst into bloom 2 weeks earlier. 120 breast-feed mothers took part in experiment in Japan. Some women listened classical music, other women listened pop and rock music. In first group the amount of milk increased in 20 per cent, and in second group - reduced twice.

Such researches are the attempt to synthesise science and art (music). But in ancient India science and art were considered to be the parts of single creative power. All knowledge of ancient India one can find in the Vedas (Holy Indian Scripture) and one of four main Vedas Sama-Veda is entirely dedicated to music. According to the Vedas the creating of the world started from the primordial sound “OM”, which appeared while division of the Almighty (Sadashiva) and his creative energy (Adi Shakti). “OM” was the foundation of the universe and the first musical sound.

Human subtle system consists of 7 main chakras (energetic centres) and 3 channels, which rule mental, emotional and physical life activity of person. 7 chakras of our subtle body revolve with certain frequency and form an octave, which consists of 7 tones of proper altitude. Intervals between them should reflect intervals between chakras. These tones were called musical sounds - notes (’svars’ in Indian music). They sound - sa, re, ga, ma, pa, da, ni and they are in keeping with chakras - from first till seventh. 5 notes can change (fall and rise), creating 5 additional sounds (left and right aspects of chakras). Thus, these notes are built-in subtle body and represent the ideal “repository” of information, the repository of those feelings, emotions, wishes and thoughts, which composer or performer has.

While listening music a person receives some influence on subtle level, which later appears on physical body. Same notes can bring destruction or good, it depends on the inner condition of person. For example, anger, aggression, drug intoxication and so on, which have power over the mind of composer or musician, will find the reflection in his music. There are some styles and forms in music which reflect only such bad qualities. Such music may do harm not only the musician, but also a person who listen to it. Clear, inspired people, who have lucid mind will never create such music. They created only folk music with great variety and classical music which has its roots in folk music.

Let’s listen to music, which is in keeping with music inside us.

Music is experienced by individuals in a range of social settings ranging from being alone to attending a large concert. Musical performances take different forms in different cultures and socioeconomic milieus. In Europe and North America, there is often a divide between what types of music are viewed as a “high culture” and “low culture.” “High culture” types of music typically include Western art music such as Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and modern-era symphonies, concertos, and solo works, and are typically heard in formal concerts in concert halls and churches, with the audience sitting quietly in seats.

Other types of music such as jazz, blues, soul, and country are often performed in bars, nightclubs, and theatres, where the audience may be able to drink, dance, and express themselves by cheering. Until the later 20th century, the division between “high” and “low” musical forms was widely accepted as a valid distinction that separated out better quality, more advanced “art music” from the popular styles of music heard in bars and dance halls.

However, in the 1980s and 1990s, musicologists studying this perceived divide between “high” and “low” musical genres argued that this distinction is not based on the musical value or quality of the different types of music. Rather, they argued that this distinction was based largely on the socioeconomic standing or social class of the performers or audience of the different types of music. For example, whereas the audience for Classical symphony concerts typically have above-average incomes, the audience for a Rap concert in an inner-city area may have below-average incomes. Even though the performers, audience, or venue where non-”art” music is performed may have a lower socioeconomic status, the music that is performed, such as blues, rap, punk, funk, or ska may be very complex and sophisticated.

When composers introduce styles of music which break with convention, there can be a strong resistance from academic music experts and popular culture. Late-period Beethoven string quartets, Stravinsky ballet scores, serialism, bebop-era jazz, hip hop, punk rock, and electronica have all been considered non-music by some critics when they were first introduced.

Such themes are examined in the sociology of music. The sociological study of music, sometimes called sociomusicology, is often pursued in departments of sociology, media studies, or music, and is closely related to the field of ethnomusicology.

One of the things a lot of us enjoy is listening to music.  As a musician and songwriter, a great deal of my time is spent listening to or creating music.  Sitting at my synthesizer and spontaneously playing a tune is also one way I relax and unwind after a hard day.  Tickling the ivory is great when you want to relax your mind, and physically energize your body. Somewhat like physical exercise, playing a musical instrument releases pent-up anger and utilizes the extra adrenaline the human body produces when under stress.

Music is also therapeutic and vital to human beings and allows us to escape from the stresses and demands of our hectic and fast-paced lifestyle.  Forgetting the worries we carry around with us, music allows us to take a journey to a faraway place, without ever leaving our chair:  somewhere pleasant, exciting, and at the same time, stress-free.

Recording our favorite music on CD’s, iPods, or creating play lists for our computers, we can simply develop our own compilation of  music-to-go and play them in cars, in the gym and while at work.  With the latest popular technological invention, the iPod, the prospect of musical fulfillment is endless.  The iPod can store a multitude of tunes and enables the listener to have virtually uninterrupted songs to enjoy whenever and wherever we choose.

With all the current technological advances at our disposal, musical expression has come a long way, taking recording music and sound to the next level.  Whether you perform music or are an avid listening, most humans will agree:  Life would not be as colorful without some form of music to enrich our lives.

The music lovers can enjoy digital music in iTunes, which is developed by Apple Computer. Actually, iTunes is a digital media player, which is used to play digital music and video files. iTunes has an advantage to connect to the iTunes Music Store (ITMS). This music store helps the buyers or the music lovers to buy digital music and movie files which can be played in iTunes. It is easy to operate and it is compact. It has some interesting features like obtaining, organizing and playing music. It has easily download facility.

At first iTunes had a brushed interface made of metal. But now it has a new look with thinner interface. With the help of iTunes, the music lovers can add their favorite music albums and songs into the play lists or they can edit the file information also. The users can copy the music files into the digital audio player. They can download their favorite songs and transfer the songs to CD or DVD duplication. In addition to this the users can play a visualizer to appear with some graphics effect, while the music is playing. The song can be encoded into number of audio formats.

For instance, iTunes songs can be encoded to MP3, WAV, MPEG-4, AAC and more. Some times they can be downloaded from computers or iPods. The user buys some of his/her favorite songs from iTunes music store. Actually they are copy protected with Apple’s fair play digital rights management system. Hence, the songs can be played only in the iTunes or IPODS. But, later with the great development in software iTunes music can be played anywhere or the music can be shared with the help of “Hymn” that decrypts purchased music.

It was quite interesting to listen to the music on first release of iTunes. It was same as sound jam Mp. It has a CD burning and makeover of the interface facility. Slowly it developed with LCD display which displays the song name and the playback singer’s name, the power to collect the play list and add it in its folder, with the option to skip songs, multiple speaker facility. Above all, it is portable and compact. iTunes is a great boon to the music lovers. The music store is an add advantage, yet it can work well. Then iTunes can arrange the entire music list in a neat folder.