tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post112075280186352040..comments2024-02-20T03:18:43.590-05:00Comments on Magnificent Octopus: The world is quiet hereIsabella Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10735198478395875257noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-1121065152755005552005-07-11T02:59:00.000-04:002005-07-11T02:59:00.000-04:00Without articulating an explanation as to how or w...Without articulating an explanation as to how or why -- when I'm writing, especially fiction, music often serves as my background such that particular characters or situations dictate their own "themes". It serves as a powerful mood mnemonic, to the point where if I hear a particular piece in my head I know I am ready to delve into a certain part of the story -- or, if I'm trying to accomplish a certain verbal tone and don't know quite how to do it, I can literally awaken in the middle of the night with the right musical accompaniment playing in my head. (At that point I drag myself out of bed, power up the computer, and slip in the correct CD -- set to Repeat.)<BR/><BR/>Then there are those times when I have to write in complete silence, to the point of wearing earplugs. At those times the music distracts me from the "feel" of a scene and nothing I listen to seems to fit.<BR/><BR/>Joel Sternheimer believes music has a direct effect on protein synthesis ("Good vibrations give plants excitations" at <BR/>http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg14219271.500 <BR/>(might need to highlight this; I don't see the entire URL appearing in the preview unless I drag my cursor across it).<BR/>John Dunn and Mary Ann Clark have taken a similar (though not causal) tack with "Life Music: The Sonification of Proteins" at<BR/>http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/isast/articles/lifemusic.html)<BR/>-- blew my mind.<BR/><BR/>Following up on suzanne's note re Ackerman: I can also recommend her poetry collection <I>The Planets: A Cosmic Pastorale</I>.e_journeyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13381530423919462133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-1121046781359988292005-07-10T21:53:00.000-04:002005-07-10T21:53:00.000-04:00Wow...I related to this like nothing that you've r...Wow...I related to this like nothing that you've recently posted. I have always had an, I don't know, visceral response to music that just seemed way too intrusive. When I'm alone, I prefer to be just that, alone. No music, no extraneous blah blah blah, no nothing. And yet I felt like a freak among my friends/family. "You really need to get into music!" For me, music was just another disraction that people used to get away from themselves; I have always valued alone time as a real prize. Sure, once in awhile, when I'm by myself, I love listening to music. Like right now, I'm listening to a new CD of an Hawaiian artist that I picked up while on vacation. But it's not necessary for me to fill the void. I like music but I don't NEED it; maybe that's the difference.<BR/><BR/>Thanks, I, for being on the same page as I am, as usual.<BR/><BR/>Hugs,<BR/>EAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-1120936671368821092005-07-09T15:17:00.000-04:002005-07-09T15:17:00.000-04:00I don't remember his arguments, exactly (it's been...I don't remember his arguments, exactly (it's been more than ten years!), but I remember Schopenhauer as having some interesting speculations about the effects of music. I'll have to go look that up. He was astonished at its ability to produce imagery in the mind without itself having a visual component (well, beyond the sight of the performer...), and I seem to recall he considered it very "pure", whatever that means. I know I have that book somewhere...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-1120923373089239302005-07-09T11:36:00.000-04:002005-07-09T11:36:00.000-04:00Like religion! Of course! It puts me in mind of sc...Like religion! Of course! It puts me in mind of scared and non-Western music, but especially chanting — the music is <I>designed</I> to induce physical states, to transport you to ecstatic heights.<BR/><BR/>I wonder, though, why music, more than the other arts?<BR/><BR/>Suzanne: The Ackerman is on my long list of books to investigate.<BR/><BR/>Diana: A really smart person would be less lazy.Isabella Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10735198478395875257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-1120840516066777532005-07-08T12:35:00.000-04:002005-07-08T12:35:00.000-04:00Thanks for this! I have been trying to find ways ...Thanks for this! I have been trying to find ways of writing about music, lately, as part of the eternal neverending YA novel project -- and that first quoted paragraph puts some things into words that I hadn't, yet. <BR/><BR/>Music is, for me, the nearest analog to god. When people talk about spirituality, about what it FEELS like, I can almost understand it if I remember what it's like to play cello in an orchestra, completely surrounded by sound. And like religion, music can be a crutch, an escape from reality, a balm, a source of courage and of strength. <BR/><BR/>Anyway! You've got me thinking again, curse you! And thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-1120839794918153522005-07-08T12:23:00.000-04:002005-07-08T12:23:00.000-04:00Your post reminded me of two books -- one I've rea...Your post reminded me of two books -- one I've read and one that has been on my shelf for a few years, giving me baleful looks as I walk past it:<BR/><BR/>A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman<BR/><BR/>Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination by Robert Jourdain<BR/><BR/>I've read the book by Ackerman, and you might enjoy the section on sound (my personal favorite sense from that book is smell).Suzannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17358441701832129130noreply@blogger.com