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opinion@technewsiit.com

   

TechNews | Tuesday, january 24th, 201 7

An inclusive basis for music criticism

Reno Fera-Ducatt
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

I like music. And in the tradition
of acknowledging that I feel a particular way
about something, I want to understand the
source of my thoughts and emotions.

I, however, perceive that my
appreciation of music, and this may be
generalizable to appreciation of any form of art,
is more complicated than simply something
being to my liking. Music can, in fact, affect
my liking depending on how it is done. More
specifically, I can listen to music and at first,
perceive it to be distasteful, and then to grow
to appreciate it for any number of reasons,
often more so than music that I enjoy on first
listening.

This leads me to form the conclusion
that there are different levels of appreciation,
and the level at which I appreciate music beyond
that “first listening” mentality feels superior to
me, since it resists taste, and grows my taste,
growing something I perceive as a part of
myself. Even if I am not “in the mood” to listen
to music, there is almost a rational appeal in
my mind that tell me something has markedly
more merit than something else. This appeal is
not concentrated in my understanding of the
music to any aspect of it which makes it more
impressive (e.g. in whether the music is more
technically extravagant or dramatic), but in
several areas, and in an understanding of how
the areas are developed and understood which,
though I may not necessarily understand them,
can appreciate the goal that the artist wishes to
advance in the their music.

Furthermore, on these
considerations, observing the projection of
my interest in music over my life, I note the
value that I ascribe to music in an album form
for folk composed music, in opposition to
to classically composed music, is of a higher
regard than what are typically understood to
be singular songs. This relationship between
a song and an album I liken to a symphony;
although the many parts of the symphony
may be very different, they were designed to
go together, and can not be appreciated fully
without the acknowledgment of the others and
the collection. Obviously, it is very difiicult
to talk in terms of music being folk, classical,
symphony, song, and album because those
terms are highly colloquial in use (some more
than others). I use them only because they are
so common.

It is no secret that the prevailing idea
about music from critics is that the an album,
being consumed as a full piece, offers a better
experience than singular songs (this a claim
in the folk paradigms of most popular music).
Why, though? Why should an album, which
colloquially is understood to be a collection
of songs, either by some artist and curated by
that artist and/ or other parties for the purpose
of packaging or as a compilation of many
artists, be superior to the songs themselves
individually? And furthermore, if we are to
understand this to be the case, does this mean
that a singular “song” could not be held to the
same level of regard as the album?

I have been known to desire to listen
to one particular song, even one particular
song repeatedly, in response to an inclination
under which I may find myself. Furthermore,
songs that I have heard in the past, and which

therefore draw up pleasurable or familiar
experiences for me are, in themselves,
inclinations. fliere is no doubt that I have
preferences for songs due to their effects on
my mind or the state which they create for me,
and that do so because of preferences for any
of the characteristics or any given element or
elements of the music to which I respond.

However, there is something in the
album form which I believe to be, although
related to this interest in the music and
appeal, distinguishable in its objectivity, or
at least shared acknowledgement of genius.
Music can be understood as a collection of
parts—musical works are collections of notes
or chords or tempos or rhythms or sounds or
instruments—and all these elements, in how
they fit together, make what is compelling
about the music: notably, say, a good song.
Why the artist made the choices they did in
composing the music, why they chose to put
the pieces together, in addition to where the
pieces came from and why the artist choose
to use them, are what is compelling about the
music. Surveying the whats and whys, though
we may never understand them with the
vividity and clarity that the artist did, allows us
to speculate and marvel at them nonetheless.

Now, one may look at the standard
array of music and see the glaring examples
of similarity formulaically scattered through
all of it. In fact, music that doesn’t follow
these formulae is often perceived as sounding
bad because of ignorance or laziness or just
incapability on the part of the artists who
may have tried to apply it, or just never even
considered applying it. Sound, lyrical content,
structure, technique, and more are shared and
distinguish types and genres of music as they
represent the attitudes of the artists that made
them.

The formulae of music primes one’s
mind for what is next: for the change in key
or tempo, or a response to particular sounds
or concepts or attitudes, fulfilling or breaking
expectation based on the artists’ wills towards
their musical preferences. And typically, these
are perceived through the lens of the original
artist, who considered the array of possibilities
and chose based on intuition or reason.
Crafting carefully, over some time, their work,
investing themselves in creating what they
want to create, nothing more and nothing less,
using what tools they have at their disposal
and their experienced understanding of
their relationship with them, always pushing
the possible limits of their capabilities and
growing and learning so as to come closer
and closer to the final product of perfection,
is the ultimate goal of any artist. This is just to
say, “the artist has goals, and wants to be good
at them,” but adding a little more passionate
pizzazz. The mind may be a subjective organ,
but it can be affected in predictable ways, and
follows predictable patterns that can make
sense (if not be fully realized or understood)
by everyone.

Songs, imagining them as we have
previously established, are those collections of
elements based off of will and capability, but
they tend to be, due to composition style or
preference, limited. Huey are pieces. ”lhe album,
eliminating the constraint of the “song's” strive
for specificity, allows the artist much more
liberty over their work, and ability to control
it and experiment with the elements they want

Adverfise in

to utilize, are comfortable with, and know. It
also enhances the music as aligned with the
folk composition style, since perceiving each
song as its own compartment eliminates the
tedium, unintuitiveness, and frivolity of trying
to build all desired but varied pieces into one
discombobulated compartment.

”lhe style of music throughout the album is
expected to be quite different from song to
song, but there will inevitably be similarities
related to the goals or style of the artist(s). And
the dynamic range and variety that maintains
a consistent lens of the artist and the tone or
sounds they've worked extensively with is what
allows for the interesting elaboration to take
form. Ideas themselves, most often through
lyrical content, might be echoed throughout
the album in what is often called a “concept
album.”

Sometimes, an artist will want the previous
song to prepare the listener to the next song.
It adds a sense of following to set the work
on the best grounds to perceive it. It is not
uncommon for a listener to want to listen
to something similar to what they have just
listened to, having gotten a taste from it, and
this meta-ization works off of this. It is possible
that listening to one song with a cleansed palate
would be distasteful, but after being built
and familiarized to some level on the song's
elements from the previous one, the artist can
demonstrate a continuation, a different take, a
different though similar style or sound which
they would not have been able to provide in
a satisfactory way through the single song.
This gives the artist even more will to exercise
their experimentation on the mind: a thorough
dissection of their music and ideas, one song
opening up new doors and more possibilities
for future ones.

All in all, the album, in perceiving
and consuming more and more varied
elements of the goals and styles of the artist,
allows any passive listen to enter the mind of
that artist. Whether or not the art is intended
for the ear that the music reached, it does
widen the spectrum of thought, or mimic
the widening of a spectrum of thought, from
creator to perceiver, and that is thrilling. It is
not just the experiencing of what is already
compelling, but experiencing what you didn't
realize could be compelling that is exciting.

”lhe colloquial “album” does this
better. fliere is no limit to this. In theory, the
meta-ization of art could go on forever, but it
becomes harder and harder and less fulfilling
to express the primary building blocks which
make up the emotional appeal. It is a subtle
and delicate balance that must be upheld.

Returning to the question of
whether a song can be considered as much of
a compelling and comprehensive piece as an
album made up of them, I can now provide
an answer: the colloquial song described
cannot. Equally, an album can be designed as
the composition of parts without thought, or
much thought, to the whole. However, this is
remarkably less impressive. ”lhe holistic goals
and styles can come in many forms, and really,
it is more about the artist conveying that the
choices they made were made consciously and
purposefully. But doing this, and desiring this
to be experienced to the fullest extent possible,
should be desired.

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