Music Lane

Posted by John C. - Aussie (A) on February 13, 2015 at 19:17:31

Primarily I think 2 factors are involved:

1. The mood of the listener at the time
2. The nature of the music

But there are many secondary factors.

The mood can be influenced by health, tiredness, the ambiance of the surroundings etc which can make one type of music more appealing one day but less appealing the next. If not feeling well or excessively tired then it can be challenging to find the best music but very rewarding if it is discovered. In this context it is very helpful being able to quickly sample a lot of different music from a music server to find what suits.
The ambiance can be negative if the reproduced audio is of less than expected quality and it is here that many audiophiles become obsessed and lose concentration on the music.

The nature of the music appeal is heavily influenced by previous exposure, something appreciated by some artists who promote their efforts widely on radio, TV and on the net..

Familiar music is often welcomed but some “war horses” might irritate. (Ravel’s “Bolero” does that for me). Familiarity can breed contempt but is fundamental to appreciation of classical music. The lack of music in any form in many schools means many grow up to only appreciate works that are unsophisticated meaning basically only the popular genre is of general appeal.

Unfamiliar music can be annoying if the mood is not appropriate but can be refreshing in another context. However if exposure to unusual music (sadly that often includes classical) is lacking then a resistance and prejudice builds up. This appears common with opera, a genre that many find irritating. But then others, like myself, find rock music grates so there is no right or wrong in musical taste.

Just how diverse musical tastes are is illustrated graphically in the thread below about which version of the Messiah is preferred. That same diversity spreads across to all works. I’ve been caught out quite a few times by an exuberant review of a disc to buy it only to find I do not like it. Should I play it a few times to become familiar with it so it is more appealing? I must confess this is rarely done.

So what is your take on this subject?

Enjoying 12,000 mostly classical CDs via Sennheiser HD800 headphones & M2TECH Vaughan DAC -> HeadRoom BlockHead headphone amplifier fed from a Meridian (Sooloos) server system.
The main 7.1 MC electrostatic speaker system is for A/V at night.