The Metaphysics of Music

Well, as you can tell by my name, I am a big fan of music. I love music, and music has been my passage into other realities, art, and inner creativity. In fact, I am listening to music right now, Justice's Phantom Part 1 to be exact; but what is music? Is it a bunch of random notes that when put in a pattern makes someone's soul soar? Or is it something much more?

I tend to believe the latter, but let's look at the oddities of music.

A musical note can be measured in hertz. Let's pretend that A is at 300 hertz. If you double the hertz, you get the same note, but an octave up. If you reduce the hertz by half, you get the same note, just an octave down. Also, when you put the musical notes into a scale, if you have the right notes with the scale, almost ANYTHING will sound good, only if you get the scale right though: otherwise it sounds like s***. So, this is one way to look at music.

The other way is much more mysterious, though. If you have ever heard a piece of music that you like, you have gotten emotion from it. You don't understand why, but you just do. There is a part of the brain that transmits musical notes into emotion, but if music can be transmitted into emotion, that means the brain releases certain hormones by listening to music. If that is true, then music could, in theory, be used to sculpt certain aspects of the body. Maybe you can use music to lose weight, or to become smarter. If that is true, then is music just a combination of different hertz frequencies, it is a key to the body. Yet, it does not stop there. If one's ability to use music as a body tool is very good, then maybe it could be used to open up certain metaphysical passages that would never be before reached without the music. I know that this is so because I use music every time that I meditate, and every time it seems to improve my experience. So, is music another passage into worlds that we do not know? Can it open the door into the subconscious, and tap into the information that the Illuminati has hidden from our use?

Even more awaits in the oddities of music.

How do we compose? How do we choose the right amount of hertz to put into certain combinations? How did Beethoven compose, while deaf?
Well, that could only be explained as the part of the brain that transforms music into emotion, can turn emotion into music. Have you noticed that musicians are moody people? Or that their personality fits their music? Personality is controlled by one's normal emotion...If this is so, then it can be assumed that not only can music be the gateway into the astral realm, and many more realms, but that realms can manifest themselves in the form of music, like the way that emotion forms itself in music.

So, music is the astral world, emotion, soul, body, math, everything.


Music is everything.






TechnoFan21

someone's REALLY been thinking about this ALOT!! that is great! i have thought about the real power of music myself bc i notice certain, yet random songs have the ability to help me see a fresh perspective; can help change my bad mood to good; my memory can better hold something if it is put to music (which has been a key in teaching my children memorization), on and on.

great post imo and worthy of thought. thanks for sharing yours

Techno...*great* post...don't know if you know about work done in the former USSR with regard to enhanced learning and Baroque music...will dig out the stuff and post it here for you...dinner is ready...must go!

Caitlin

Great Post. Very interesting I think this ties in also with the claims made by many spiritualist that we and all matter around us are merely vibrations operating at different freqencies. Cool post. S+F+A!

yes yes and thrice yes!!

It's why I don't listen to depressing music,cos it makes me feel depresed. I only ever listen to upbeat having twisted fun music. Music is a drug to me (which is a line in a small anti drugs ditty I wrote) I think we've all got different "groves" we pick up on certain vibrations and it gets in tune to that vibration in the body. I get tremendous energy from acid techno,I catch myself freeform dancing occasionally,and end up with people looking at me funny

great thread
music is so much more than just notes.

music is the key to ALL SCIENCE and LIFE

waves and their harmonic counterparts make up everything
in our known universe.

I would suggest that everyone look deep into the wave/music
subject.

there are secrets abound.

some Quantum scientist believe that music is the most important
force in existence . and could prove to contain the answers to LIFE.

I have an extensive thread about music and frequency.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

there is alot of scientific contributions and info.

I look forward to hearing more of other people views
on these subjects.

thanx for posting this.......music is much more IMPORTANT than we
realize.

Great post! I love music, and find that when I listen to my favorite music, it can actually affect my mood, ie, from sad or rotten to good and upbeat. I listen to music that makes me feel good, and I know it has positive effects on me. I would love to learn more about this subject. There is definitely a spiritual connection.

Excellent thread, and well said. I must admit to being a tweak surprised that it has gotten so little activity so far.

I agree completely with the majority of what yousaid..... I think the crux of music appreciation is in recognition of how it affects you. I don't find personally that any music effects me adversely, but there is a lot of music that is uninteresting to me. I can't think of any one type of music that I won't listen to, although for myself, C&W is in general my least favorite.

When I compose music, I think of first what I want to say with the song. Generally speaking, the lyrics, or the core of the lyrics will come first, and then the music that resonates in line with the 'feeling' of the lyrics. Sometimes, a certain chord progression -- even those without minor chords -- can sometimes incite a strong feeling of melocholy, of lost things.

Music seems to be very therapeutic to many of us..... it can be expressive, uplifting, energizing, even empowering sometimes. I used to wonder when our cats would settle around me when I'm playing the guitar. I've wondered if they just thought it an oddity, or what their thought process was. I have to say, I think they like it. Doesn't seem to matter if I'm playing classical or punk. Even when I jack the gain up a bit and work some power chords, they seem to want to settle it. Of course, it's entirely possible they just want to watch the performing monkey.

[edit for wacky spelling]

[edit on 15-6-2008 by argentus]

reply to post by hotbakedtater


Yes. Well said. "Spiritual connection". Do you find that sometimes you select music to create a mood that you desire? I do.

Argentus...I have to chip in that I definitely choose music for it's spiritual properties, if you like...for meditation, house clearing, magical work, cooking, anything...and it's really important to get it right. I love world music, and Delerium are the masters of really spiritual stuff...even just the lyrics can be a meditation on their own. When I record my own meditations, however, I use background tracks of birdsong or waves, simply because they are more neutral, and a lot of what I do is nature based...it fits. I have a thing about words having their own vibration or frequency too, and am really careful what I listen to or bring into my space.

The Baroque thing I was refering to earlier can be found here...

www.superlearning.ca...

Worth a look...it uses slow Barogue music to slow the brainwaves and enhance memory, amongs other things.

Blessings


Caitlin

You brought up some very good questions. all of which have been answered by me in other threads before but I'll answer them again for you.

1.)How does music create emotion.
2.)How does music modify how we think.
3.)How do we choose the right hertz combination.
4.)How do we compose
5.)How did beethoven compose music while deaf.

The human brain likes patterns and organized things. Music is composed of resolved and dissonant notes. one needs to put these notes in the right combination to develop some type of emotion. Heres how the psychology works. The song is written in a key. they key tells us what the fundamental frequency or tonic is of the key. It will always be where ever the major Ionian scale is found. This fundamental note is a wave at a specific frequency. even mathematical fractions of that note will be harmonic nodes. consult the sciences on waves to understand better what a harmonic is. These harmonic nodes are the notes from the major scale. We like these nodes and have chosen them as the notes of the scale because they fit mathematically very neatly into the fundamental frequency note. these are resolved notes in a song. all the notes out of phase with these harmonics or the fundamental note are called dissonant. when the brain hears a note out of phase with the fundamental it creates an subconcious itch on the brain. it really wants that sound to fit back into the pattern. when the next note played is the resolved note or back in line with the pattern the mental itch is scratched and the brain releases pleasure in it's various forms in response.

So the musician artfully places these dissonant and resolved notes or chords in various combinations to achieve the emotional effects desired. If you listen to a well written song you'll hear it's hook. the hook is the chorus of the song. But look at the architecture of the verse before it. You'll notice a larger amount of dissonant chords or melody notes. this develops a degree of yearning subconciously for the notes to resolve. the chorus breaks in and it's a major release,but it's because the chorus resolves the incomplete pattern harmonically that the brain is detecting in the verse. the brains itch gets scratched. if the artist writes well enough it's will have more of a profound effect thus getting the title of a "hook"

Music can also control or regulate how your brain processes information. most notably the rhythmic part of music. the brain only knows that it's receiving a outside stimuli pulsing in patterns. it pays attention to it and eventually becomes locked into the same beat and pattern as the music. The nerves start firing in time with the rhythm, effectively hypnotising the brain. It's easy to go into a trance when listening to repeatative drumming patterns and it's can and does control the way you think and process information.

Beethoven could still write music because he cut the legs off his piano and then would play while laying on the ground. he could feel the vibration through his chest and still hear the music. Play your electric guitar unplugged in a noisy room and you hear nothing. now put your chin or any other part of your skull on the instrument and play it again. presto you can hear. just like beethoven.

A good example of the power of out of phase dissonant notes being played in unison which never resolve into a pattern. The siren. thats why it's works we hate that sound and it really gets our attention. Notice the effect it has your psychology.

I mentioned the Major Ionian scale. all the modes (frequently and incorrectly called scales-even in some acadamia) are just the exact same notes as the major scale just from a different position or orientation to the fundamental. Ie. the major Ionian scale is composed of 7 notes not including it's octive. Now start playing the major scale but start it from it's second note up onto the second notes octave. bada bing you have the Dorian mode (the bassline from rappers delight-literally) Play the major scale from it's thrid note to it's own octave and you have the phrygian mode and so on. The minor scale is just the major scale but started from it's 6th note and continued to it's own octive. everything goes back to the fundamental note (the key) and the over tone harmonic series of that frequency. the corresponding scale called the major scale. it's called major because in the over tone series of harmonics not all of the notes have the same mathematical beauty. some are more in than others even though they are all more or less in enough for our brain to agree that they are mathematically equal fractions of the fundamental note. but the relationship between the weaker and harmonic notes lends to a more up or happy major feeling. on the other side of the spectrum the same pattern of notes but played from the 6th note create a whole other impression due to the relationship of these weak and strong harmonics and we call these modes minor and they are used for the more sad feelings.

It's a lot to explain so most of what I wrote might not be very clear although I'd be happy to explain parts that are confusing to anybody.

reply to post by caitlinfae


Thanks much for the link....... lots to absorb there, and I will certainly browse there when I have more time -- have saved to favorites. The little bit of wandering I did there..... it looks fascinating.

I also fancy Boroque music...... in particular I enjoy playing J.S. Bach's works; the two voices often present in his work are delicate and difficult (for me) to play and the effort involved to achieve the right rest stroke, the gentle interplay, is often more fulfilling to me than the accomplishment of the piece.

Completely understand what you mean about "Earth music"... At this moment, the sound of the surf is temporarily being drowned out by the rainfall that we're getting. I like the surf lapping as backgrounds for some music of mine that I record, and sometimes it can make what I hope is a provocative juxtaposition between soft (surf) sounds and more jarring ones.

p.s. I find much of the works of Mozart to be so incredibly evocative.

[edit on 15-6-2008 by argentus]

Argentus...music and surf...how magical is that! What kind of music do you write? I used to live near the sea, but the North Sea ain't the place for gentle relaxing surf...! Now I live in the mountains, and am surrounded by wind and trees and birdsong...most of the time, it's all I need.

The surf noises I use were recorded in New Zealand, and I find that they are the most effective in relaxing people deeply, and even sending them off to sleep, as well as more precise spiritual journeying. I'm trying to post one of my meditaitons here as a podcast, but i'm not getting too far...need to convert the files...will let you know if or when I manage it, if you are interested.

Blessings

Caitlin

I have been playing Blues, Rock and Roll and Jazz in the beerjoints, bars, coffee houses and small festivals for many years. Mostly covers, some originals.

I have seen a guitar solo make rednecks cry.
I have seen women orgasm from a prolonged tribal groove.
I have had people throw their drinks on me for a drubbed musical phrase.
I have had people prostrate themselves after a particularly well played sax solo.

The power and metaphysics of music is my stock and trade. We should be famous but alas it hasn't happened yet and we don't really care because we realize that what we do is create ART, and if you analyze it to much it just morphs into intellectual masturbation.
We do appreciate the technical and academic aspects of creating music but.....

Our main purpose as musicians is to make people want to get up off their butts and DANCE.





[edit on 15-6-2008 by whaaa]

New guy here, first post.

Just signed on because I had to respond to this thread. Sort of my thing...

One thing to touch on is the idea of resonant frequencies. While music itself is complex in regard the combinations of frequencies, note relation and placement, one thing we can look at is resonant frequencies.

Remember that commercial where a lady sings (Ella Fitzgerald?) and a glass breaks? What happens is that the note sung resonates with the glass to the point where is vibrates itself to breaking. Of course, the volume of that note matters but that is the basic concept. Everything resonates to different frequencies to a degree. One reason we may find certain sounds agreeable or unpleasant may be that they resonate within us. Not that we have one particular frequency that affects us but that one may affect us more or even a certain combination of frequencies. This sort of area is something I'm very interested in as a long time musician/sound manipulator.

Some of it is also conditioning. In other cultures they use microtones or the notes between our western notes. To western ears this can sound unpleasant or out of tune but to other cultures it is normal. To westerners that have grown up with the standard scale system anything outside of it seems odd. We want to hear certain notes resolve in certain ways as we also like to hear beats that are strong and simple, like dance music versus more complex polyrhythms more prevalent in other cultures.

There is certainly a mathematical element too. As the OP pointed out, doubling or halving a frequency equals the same note, just in a different octave. That's a whole other kettle of fish.

Welcome Uncle V...great post too! I can rememer hearing traditional Romanian music and it sounded well out of tune, but very beautiful oddly. Can you explain "sound manipulator" please? I'm intrigued.

Caitlin

Thanks Caitlin.

I've always been as interested in the sound, timbre, construction of tones as in actual music making itself. From a fairly early time in my musical history I spent a good bit of effort seeing what sounds I could wrangle out of my gear. While my friends were trying to copy Jerry Garcia solos I was wacking my guitar (covered with aligator clips) with chopsticks while running it through a dozen effects pedals. Fast forward to today and half of my creative output focuses on tweaking sounds and experimenting with it compared to composing and playing songs. The power of the computer has taken this to new extremes. Thanks for the interest.

reply to post by caitlinfae


We've made and broken plans to visit your country for years. It's one of the places we've talked about that we'd feel safe -- it's just the getting there that is hinky.

Okay. I write mostly hard-driving rock, although have written some adaptive works that'd probably fit into the classical zone also. Most of what I write that is classical sounds like a take-off on Fernando Sor, and that's understandable, in that my two years of classical training focused largely on Sor's works. I like building up with minor chords and then breaking free of that feeling with majors -- just for brief moments to offset. Mournful, melocholy, uplifting, back to meloncholy.

Surf feels peaceful to me, even when I lived on the northern Calif. coast where it was Wiiiiiiiild. It's repititious, and yet..... each one has its own voice. Only time the surf isn't a constant gem of peace is when the hurricanes come, and then, it's only if we hear rocks clacking in the surf that it becomes a tweak scary.

Kudos to previous poster who explored the nuances of musical manipulation. I'd also like to know more Yes, it's mathematical, and more than that. I remember the first time, while perusing classical sheet music in a store, that I realized I could "hear" the music in my head. What an epiphany. That, of course, lead to being able to hear the music in my head, and then write it on paper. I think this is what Beethoven did after he lost his hearing. I don't think it would be a likely thing if he had never been able to hear. BTW, I don't mean that in any way to compare myself to the greatness of Beethoven.

Thanks OP, for bringing this up. Techo? Would I be dating myself if I confessed to a fondness for the group Bush?* ha



*yes, you'd be dating yourself, go away you old phart, you

reply to post by UncleV


Sounds fascinating! My last birthday -- in April -- m'Bride surprised me with a guitar processing box. WOW! A whole new world. What took six petals and miles of snakes in my day, now can be done -- and much much more -- with a single inexpensive box. I have a fondness for playing with harmonics.

I read what you said about the aligator clips and chopsticks. I never could get anything pleasing from experiments with a violin bow...... have you?

Man, I miss MIchael Hedges. What a loss.

Cheers all

I am sorry to say I do not know that much about music, but I do play the banjo, mostly irish folk tunes.

I have read, that the tunes are discovered not written.

When you become familiar with a sufficent number of the celtic tunes, you find that there are trees of them like a geneology, there may be some stylistic duplications or variations, but the basic tunes themselves are combinations of patterns, which I do not know enough about music to describe.

I being without much of the necessary vocabulary, can only express that I see some pattern there. And I sense the relationships. I am not sufficient to discover any myself. But knowing the music is merely an expression of an eternal spirit in the universe is very satisfying.

I can commune with the aspects of the spirit which have been shared with me.

Can you please find it in your heart to scatter a few minor perls on this subject with this humble swine?

[edit on 15-6-2008 by Cyberbian]