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Frequencies and Notes

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joelspace
Nov 11 2002
08:10 pm

Thought I’d make a new category to reply to Norb’s comment that seemed to imply that you had to have more musical maturity to understand jazz than U2.

Maybe your right about maturity and jazz, but perhaps the older you get the easier it is to understand previous generations.

On the other hand, if the suggestion is that electronic compositions by the likes of U2, (or Eminem of the hip hop generation) have inherently less musical depth than Bee Bop, I would have to disagree.

The new electronic musical dimension which is closely associated with timbre has something to do with frequency alocation. The options are endless. There are 20,000 frequencies to choose from. Multiply that by 20 tracks and and an infinite number of waveform patterns and you can really make a lot of different noises.

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JabirdV
Nov 20 2002
07:54 am

Ok, so now that the definitions of music and musicality have been laid out, I would have to agree with you Grant. Musicality, or the “talent” of being musical is definitely something one is born with. I would never bicker with that. Taking that musicality and taking it to the next level takes not only the raw creativity, but also an understanding of the the ways that the music interacts in its most basic forms. I am not saying that a person has to sit and drivel in a music theory class for years to figure it out. I have been excused from a couple theory classes and can’t read an note of music, yet I understand how the theory works in my head and on my instrument. The theory on paper, while important, is not necessary.

So I think I am getting what you are getting at.