The sound of music touches our soul
Throughout the course of history, sound has been known to be a form of communication between living beings on this earth. It is like its own language with its unique vocabulary. Music can simply be defined as live or recorded sound that is propagated in a pattern which has a pleasant aural perception when we hear it. Most times even in live performances, we hear theses sounds reproduced electronically through loudspeakers but often time we hear them from their original analog sources. Either way these propagated sound waves are received by us via our ears and then processed by our brain before we can hear, listen and even feel them.
In fact research in neuroscience has shown that the brain reacts to music differently from oral and written words. More parts of the brain are actively stimulated when we listen to music than when we read or hear a speech. Music can be conveyed in many forms whether that be vocal, instrumental, song, music video or these days, even audio and visual mixed with the stories behind the artistes that perform them. It has the ability to change or heighten our mood when it flows in our thoughts and in some instances make us temporarily forget about our suffering and dejection that we may be experiencing. It is even known to bring some relief to the ill and improve their medical condition.
Music production is its own art
When we listen to a tastefully composed piece of music we can feel it making an impression on us by virtue of our perception. If we think for a moment about how this happens we will realize that there are many sounds emanating from the loudspeakers that are interpreted by our senses. For instance if the tempo of the drumming changes, the rhythm changes or if the vocals vary in pitch and loudness the feeling conveyed at that instant can be different.
Writing on paper is one thing but actually transforming what is penned into the final production, is a complex process that takes a great deal of time, effort and skill. Sometimes it may be a solo artiste doing everything on a small sale in a home studio or more often a band of artistes, sound engineers and technicians working together in a professional recording studio to produce the final product. This entails the tedious studio processes know in the audio world as 'creating', 'tracking', 'mixing' and finally 'mastering', where creating itself can incorporate songwriting and arranging.
Most times when we buy music from our favorite artiste online or via a medium like CDs, these are the steps required to get that track to playback and sound so nice on any Hi-Fi audio system. For some years now many recording labels have gone the way of internet sales after mastering, as it's more cost effective to get music to intended audiences via online stores and streaming platforms like Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify and the likes. In years gone by, within the final production stage, recording labels would be required to master then press copies to a medium like Tape, Vinyl and CDs which in themselves were costly processes but there was the advantage of owing your own music in a tangible way not something in the cloud that you pay for these days.
Genres of music
As there are a variety of arts, cultures and traditions in the world and set conventions within each of these that they conform to, similarly pieces of music form parts of varying conventional categories. This type of classification where pieces belong to a tradition or set of conventions is referred to as genres of music. Rock, Pop, Country, Latin, Reggae, Classical, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues are just a few of the many genres of music today.
Within these there are even more modern variations and subsets. Everyone has his or her personal taste in music based on personality, background and heritage etc. Despite this, multiple people may like many of the same genres and styles of music even though they may be from different cultures. In my humble opinion and I think many will agree that, this is what makes music such a unique language and why it connects with everyone in their own way.
Music as therapy
Alzheimer's patients who are in the late stages of the disease are usually unresponsive but say, when you put on a headphone for them and play their favorite music, they start to respond favorably by sometimes singing and their eyes brighten up as if they are recalling something emotional and memorable from their past, an effect that can last a few minutes even when the music is turned off. Using MRI technology these effects can be observed when many different parts of the brain light up.
Research also shows the effect of 'Neurogenesis', the process by which the brain can repair itself by forming new neurons when we listen to music that we enjoy. This can lead to improved memory. Parkinson's patients have also seen improvement by listening to music which can be somewhat like a drug, meaning that it can stimulate the same areas and activity in parts of the brain that a drug like cocaine would do but without the damaging effects. Music releases the neurotransmitter 'dopamine' in a certain part of the brain, as it also increases our response to rhythm. This combined effect can temporarily stop the effects of Parkinson's disease in patients by helping them with coordination and movement such as sitting and standing up.
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