Perceiving repetitions : moods and listening

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jonetsu
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Perceiving repetitions : moods and listening

Post by jonetsu »

Have you noticed that what can be heard as an excruciatingly redundant repetition can, at other times be totally smooth and nice going ?

I'm leaning towards taking an average perception. Is an extra step in a loop being perceived only as redundant ? If so, removed. Does it sometimes just go on smoothly ? Then it might be good to leave it there. Hence I like put the pieces on a USB key or CD to listen in the kitchen, in the car, while doing other, usual things. Not only while seating in front of the computer which I feel narrows the experience.

Cheers.
Last edited by jonetsu on Fri Feb 26, 2021 2:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Basslint
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Re: Moods and listening

Post by Basslint »

Sure, all the time. There are some electronic genres which I can only enjoy when I am doing something else, others in which I have to listen carefully.
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jonetsu
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Re: Perceiving repetitions : moods and listening

Post by jonetsu »

I see but it's not really about attention, it's more about 'is it needed to repeat those bars once more ?' And sometimes redundancy is OK to listen to while at other times the repetition is annoying. About a same piece of course, that's listened-to on various occasions.

The thread's subject line might not be the best one, not specific enough.

Then it might be that the repeating itself can be questionable. And why does 4 times seems to satisfy us ? How much does it take to set a mood (any music that repeats bars with little change in instrumentation and intensity) ? And at what point do we feel tired of hearing what comes across now as more of the same, again ?

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Basslint
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Re: Perceiving repetitions : moods and listening

Post by Basslint »

I get it, it's more philosophical. I personally enjoy repetitive music with subtle variation, like Philip Glass. I guess repetition is fine if you are not doing it just to fill an empty space.
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jonetsu
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Re: Perceiving repetitions : moods and listening

Post by jonetsu »

Basslint wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 1:31 pm I get it, it's more philosophical. I personally enjoy repetitive music with subtle variation, like Philip Glass. I guess repetition is fine if you are not doing it just to fill an empty space.
Glass is a typical example that goes to the extreme. And it does have a charm. But at other times it might come across as "darn, it's stuck again !".

Maybe it has to do with charm. Like charming a serpent with a flute. Repetitions can be charming. There's no possible way to know if it was done to fill empty space unless it does sound very blatant.

Maybe we like repetitions. In music and elsewhere.
carlv
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Re: Perceiving repetitions : moods and listening

Post by carlv »

I happened upon this article a while back..
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/ ... om-service
jonetsu wrote: Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:41 pm Like charming a serpent with a flute. Repetitions can be charming
A study in contrasts... Caught Philp Glass live, then much later on Nusrat Ali Khan. Folks were quite stayed at the Glass concert. During the Khan concert on the other hand, folks were in a frenzy and tossing cash up on the stage. I turned to my friend and asked, "Did we stubble into a stri... er... 'gentleman's club by mistake ?" :lol:

We are a primal lot after all... :wink:
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