http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=yMJjF4LHOkY&feature=related
Walking on a Dream by Empire of the Sun is one of my favorite songs.It has over 4 million hits on Youtube.
This blog entry is not about this song but about how sound and its effect on humans. Most sound is accidental. Sounds like the cars passing by, the humming of the HVAC in your department, random people talking etc.... Our relationship with sound is largely unconscious. However this medium has tremendous power over the human condition. Sound affects our hormone secretion levels, breathing, heart rate, and brain waves. Music is known to significantly affect our emotional state. Therefore I ask you to control your music, Listen to soothing songs like walking on a dream to put your self in a state where you become more productive in anything you do.
Thinking about the cosby show and stereotyping, I have come to realize that Music as subtle as it may seem has become a source for stereotyping. Especially in our generation. Think about it. In Babson if we were to tell someone that you listen to house music or techno they automatically would stereotype you as an international student who spends a lot of money and goes to clubs in Boston. Further more if you have a facebook friend who's favorite song was some rap song from snoop dog you would immediately categorize them as one those guys who gets wasted every night, grinds with girls and throws up at fraternity parties and who wears chains and probanbly has some tatoos on his body.
Please share your favorite songs and music that puts you in a happy emotional state.
Thanks Guys!
This is an interesting take on how music affects us. I think that some people are defined by the music they listen to, while others have such an eclectic taste in music, that it is hard to pigeonhole them into one stereotype or generalization. For example, I listen to hip hop, reggae, classic rock, and electronic music. It really depends what mood I am in, and I am open to attending any kind of concert. I don't feel as though I belong to any one group of listeners, and it definitely doesn't define who I am. I think the idea of music preference in relation to identity is relative to the listener.
ReplyDeleteThis is unique look at music and its implications. I have not looked towards musical preference in this way and I find it to be very interesting. Personally, I listen to such a variety of music that I would think it hard to make a judgement about my character. On the other hand, I can see how affiliation with music might allow for some judgements to be made given that there are stereotypes associated with different genres of music.
ReplyDeleteI have always been deeply intrigued by the sound/voice as a medium. It always tends to be an understudied medium in a so-called age of vision and images. Your post contains many thoughtful observations and ring true to me. The statement "our rleationship w/ sound is largely unconscious" is very provocative but also problematic. Does that mean vision is always conscious and sound is unconscious? Maybe not absolutely but I agree w/ you that there re some fundamental distinctions between the senses of hearing and vision, but it'll take a lot more subtler argument to make your case.
ReplyDeleteWhile I love your post, I find it a bit un-concentrated. It seems like you try to tackle a huge subject (which deserve a library of books to study) within a few hundred words. Next time maybe narrow down your artifact and be patient with small but meaningful objects.
Good job.
Actually Professor, Sound and vision are both very unconscious. I do try to tackle big issues however, this blog is about what interests me and I find sound as a medium very interesting.
ReplyDeleteJoe I see why you are feel the way you do but like it or not man, people make friends based on music they like.
ReplyDelete