Saw this earlier and it reminded me of the whole debate around DNR and the modern day internet warrior approach to even the slightest flaw. everybody forgets their watching a piece of entertainment, not a tech demo. anyway, over to this man...
Do we need to learn to listen to music? The answer, for anyone in possession of a reasonably efficient set of ears, is no. Turning the appreciation of any art form into an academic exercise, as the people posing such questions are prone to do, is a sure-fire way to remove any pleasure that might be derived from hearing it in the first place.
The assumption seems to be that if we understand more about the recording process, and are able to identify precisely what’s going on, it’ll somehow open up whole new levels of appreciation. This is errant nonsense, of course – it’s the equivalent of marching into a restaurant and demanding that the chef supply a recipe card to go along with each dish, thus removing the surprise, the mystery, and any kind of magic. Worse, by concentrating on such minutiae you’re in danger of forgetting what it was that drew you to the music you love in the first place. In my youth I knew someone, who, after a typically forensic examination of a new Yngwie Malmsteen album, triumphantly announced that the histrionic Swede was using a heavier gauge of string than previously. When I asked him whether he actually liked the record, he looked at me as if it had never even crossed his mind to form an opinion.
It’s tempting to see this as an extreme example of audiomania, but it’s still true that those most concerned with “learning to listen” are often the ones creating the most sterile environments in which to do so. Sure, you can precision-engineer your hi-fi so that every note is crystal clear, every nuance apparent, and study the music so hard you can accurately produce a blueprint of the room in which it was recorded, but you know what? You’re not having much fun. Really, you’re not.
Prior to writing this piece I spent a couple of hours reading various online forums frequented by audiophiles, and was disheartened – but not altogether surprised – to discover that music is something that’s barely talked out. People casually refer to “auditioning speakers” or “listening to some [insert name of manufacturer here]”, as if the name on the cabinet matters more than that on the disc. You’ll never hear anyone say that they just listened a Stevie Wonder track that made their heart leap, or a Flying Burrito Brothers record that made them cry, or a Pixies track that inspired them to leap around the room like a freshly-shorn goat, bashing into the furniture and knocking over plants. And that’s a real tragedy, because those reactions are what music is really about: its ability to stir the soul and move the feet.
People don’t need to learn how to listen: they need to learn how to relax.
 |