I'm glad everyone agrees that talking about Music is healthy and enjoyable.
1. On BPM, as Long brought up: Speed is actually REALLY relative. The
infamous Chinese Opera is nothing compared to Korean folksongs. Korean
folksongs are usually played in 3/4 time, and Korean moderato or midtempo is
not based on heartbeat but on the speed of _relaxed breathing_. Thus it
sounds almost completely beatless even though most of the instruments used
in accompaniment are played percussively. Really amazing stuff, most
westerners come away actually nauseated.
I'd also like to point out that 133 is actually pretty slow for punk
rockers.
2. On synaesthesia, I think everybody experiences this at some point. I'm
interested in the near universality of certain descriptors for sounds and
styles of music used in writing, esp. tactile adjectives. Rough, smooth,
angular, fluid, hard, soft, gritty, thick, and so forth. I used to have a
band director in college who said the perfect tone was 'purple' and made us
tune and warm up until it got that way. I certainly associate certain sounds
with colors and shapes, certainly not to the extent of the woman in the bbc
article but evidently moreso than others. I could see myself getting into an
argument over why Wedensday is not and never will be blue.
Lastly, I want you all to know that I fully support regime change in Music,
regardless of the economic situation.
Tom
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