Just curious

[<3<3<3]

What usually turns you on to a song?

What are you most critical of?



I really like layered melodies, and if a band can produce good vocal harmonies, those are awesome too. I'm also a sucker for cool piano parts and melodic electronic textures.


But vocals are what I'm most critical of. If they suck, it can ruin the whole band. That doesn't mean they have to be a skilled vocalists, but it has to fit. For example, I really love Joy Division and Ian Curtis's vox even though he isn't really a skilled singer. But I hate hardcore and any type of screaming and that emo whine. They can have good instrumental stuff, but a bad vocalist just kills it for me.

[Robert Crumb]

Crazy rhythms turn me on.

[A Dead Modernist]

anything really

[Kyle]

Could be a variety of things, but when it comes down to it I just like a catchy, well written song often with some pop sensibility.

Other things I really like are a good groove through bass and drums, and I'm a sucker for layers and synchronised guitar melodies....but those things usually come later.

[mozartv]

What usually turns you on to a song?

my morning jacket

[bleep_bloop]

i like it if a band has a solid rhythm section and a bassist that doesnt just play root notes

[YDload]

if it sounds different from any other piece of music i've heard within five seconds of listening to it, then it's got my attention. additional seconds are needed before i can tell whether or not i'd actually ENJOY listening to it, but the most important thing is just figuring out if the band has an ounce of creativity.

[dei]

It's weird but whenever I listen to music I think of colours, and then associate those colours with something else. I hate a lot of "rock" music that's happy and uses organ because it sounds like a combination of blue and orange and green, which make me think of summer and I hate heat. IDK.

[sexymuffin]

It's weird but whenever I listen to music I think of colours, and then associate those colours with something else. I hate a lot of "rock" music that's happy and uses organ because it sounds like a combination of blue and orange and green, which make me think of summer and I hate heat. IDK.

autism?

[dei]

No, ur retarded.

[sexymuffin]

i just heard autistic kids could do that

idk why you have to be so mean for no reason

[dei]

I don't know, man. I like to think I am a normal dude. But no one else except one friend has said they also visualise colours when they listen to music, so yeah. It's always been like that, even back when I was like 6 and 7 years old.

I'm not mean. :(

[sexymuffin]

maybe you just hear music differently

do you visualize anything when you hear/think about other things? or is it music specific?

[mozartv]

i just heard autistic kids could do that

they can. my mom teaches exceptional children (aka special ed) and i have heard her say this.

[dei]

maybe you just hear music differently

do you visualize anything when you hear/think about other things? or is it music specific?

Just music.

[sexymuffin]

odd

[bleep_bloop]

It's weird but whenever I listen to music I think of colours, and then associate those colours with something else. I hate a lot of "rock" music that's happy and uses organ because it sounds like a combination of blue and orange and green, which make me think of summer and I hate heat. IDK.

something similar happens with me. like if i hear something first during the late afternoon then ill always be reminded of the mood at that moment.

[Thanks]

Depends greatly on my mood (what I'm listening to music for in the first place). At my most basic level, I'm really most attracted to nice melodies and interesting timbres/timbral interplay.

[YDload]

dei's talking about synaesthesia, which is a phenomenon where senses get mixed up and you can "see" music or smell colors or whatever. a lot of people like to claim they have it when it's really just an excuse to try and be different, "yeah i listen to weezer's first album and i see all this... blue. its just weird i guess i'm a unique snowflake!"

but i'll take your word for it dei. not trying to accuse you of lying but i'm warning you to watch out for the "me too!" posters

[Thanks]

I have a friend with synthaesthesia, and it's really kind of annoying. Because she's like THAT COUCH IS THE WRONG COLOR and ****.

asdf knows who I'm talking about, oh no, scandal!

[dei]

Smell colours? That's some weird ****.

[dei]

When people see colours in music are there multiple colours, are the colours changing, or is it one solid colour? I usually only see one colour but sometimes it's a coloured background with different coloured marks here and there. The weirdest one I've had is while listening to some Death Cab song. I'll try to provide a MSPaint drawing or something.

[YourBiggestFan]

My brother has perfect pitch and can see the different pitches as colors. .. he tried explaining it to me once but I wasn't really paying attention. Maybe I should have.

[YDload]

i want perfect pitch but so far all i can do is recognize G and sometimes B.

why cant most musicians identify pitches? its like if 99% of painters were colorblind, and they could only say "well this color is darker than THIS one, so it's probably blue. or purple, hell if i know!" we should have this ability but instead we have to use trial-and-error if we're trying to figure out a piece of music after hearing it :(

[perriwinkle]

What usually turns you on to a song?

What are you most critical of?



I really like layered melodies, and if a band can produce good vocal harmonies, those are awesome too. I'm also a sucker for cool piano parts and melodic electronic textures.


you and i have very similar tastes. and those traits are why i like pinback.

the whole pattern-based layers of melodies that always change and the dual vocal parts that syncopate well.

[Thanks]

i want perfect pitch but so far all i can do is recognize G and sometimes B.

why cant most musicians identify pitches? its like if 99% of painters were colorblind, and they could only say "well this color is darker than THIS one, so it's probably blue. or purple, hell if i know!" we should have this ability but instead we have to use trial-and-error if we're trying to figure out a piece of music after hearing it :(

Disagree completely. It's not the same at all.

[sexymuffin]

i want perfect pitch but so far all i can do is recognize G and sometimes B.

why cant most musicians identify pitches? its like if 99% of painters were colorblind, and they could only say "well this color is darker than THIS one, so it's probably blue. or purple, hell if i know!" we should have this ability but instead we have to use trial-and-error if we're trying to figure out a piece of music after hearing it :(

that would probably be a good analogy if the color spectrum and pitch were in any way similar

[Scuba_Steve]

Melody


or sheer energy.


Especially live, there is some way to really sense whether the performers enjoy what they are doing. Generally if I sense that I tend to enjoy the music quite a bit aswell.

[CarnageFairy]

When I listen to a song it creates images in my head, sometimes they take on a narrative structure, somtimes a feeling or emotion, sometimes it brings memories or simply random images.

Anyway, if I like what I see, then I like the song.

Things that can make that happen for me seem to do it for a lot of other people in this thread. Catchy, layered melodies. The song has to keep my interest so if it has an uninteresting rhythm...meh.

I'm a sucker for a good flute, horn, or stand-up bass riff.

that would probably be a good analogy if the color spectrum and pitch were in any way similar

I definitely understand what he's talking about. Certain feelins and objects go with certain colors. Most letters and numbers have their own color for me, lots of shi

[Eliminator]

why would someone want perfect pitch

[sexymuffin]

why would someone want perfect pitch

truth it is a curse of mine

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w125/sexypastries/lolperfectears.jpg

[sexymuffin]

btw that has nothing to do with perfect pitch thanks a lot for the update alex

[Tangy zizzle]

I reallty don't givr a **** about criteria for a song. If it's cool, ie. if it sounds good then I'll like it. no mystery, it's straight about feel.

[dei]

Most letters and numbers have their own color for me, lots of shi

Yeah, true. But I also assign genders to them.

[mozartv]

Yeah, true. But I also assign genders to them.

WTF?!? ok, the whole colors thing was actually pretty cool, but genders? your joking aren't you?

[dei]

I don't know, man.

9 is a woman.

[Anxious]

I don't know, man.

9 is a woman.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

I have it too. 6 has always be orange and I can't trust the number 14. Also each decade when I imagine it is on a ladder with each new decade going on a different one adjacent to it.

[mozartv]

wow, thats actually pretty cool.

the wikipedia page said that one form of synesthesia involves people tasting things when they hear certain words. neat.

[YDload]

that would probably be a good analogy if the color spectrum and pitch were in any way similar

i know that physically they're different enough that it makes sense to not memorize pitches like we do for colors, but the way an artist uses these things (colors and pitches) is similar in both disciplines

[Amit]

we don't have enough neuronal cricturity to devote to such a herculean feat

lidyoda

[sexymuffin]

i know that physically they're different enough that it makes sense to not memorize pitches like we do for colors

yup.

but the way an artist uses these things (colors and pitches) is similar in both disciplines

neat.

[Thanks]

the way an artist uses these things (colors and pitches) is similar in both disciplines

I don't agree with that, either. To me, an A doesn't conjure greatly different ideas than those associated with a C, without a harmonic context. However, red, to me, is wholly different from blue, regardless of how they're used.

[YDload]

okay i see what you mean.

[Thanks]

Really, it's intervals and chord types that are more like colors.

[YDload]

diminished 5th = black as night :evil:

[CarnageFairy]

Yeah, true. But I also assign genders to them.


A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z