Tell Me About Yourself... #1

Jessica3cho雪血⊜青意 · May 12, 2022

Hello Everyone!

Today I bring all you travelers of The Road a new thread series. It is intended for old travelers, new travelers, temporary travelers, and all of the between.

In our introductions we get to know a little bit about everyone and, through common discourse over time, we get to learn a whole lot more about each other. Even with all the freedom presented, though, it can still be hard to actually get to know, to really learn and understand, someone. You might know they like something, but why do they like it? What is it about it they like? You may know someone feels someway about something, but why do they feel that way? Why do they believe what they believe? What makes the pistons slam under the hood of their brain?

I'd like to bring this series to the community in hopes of drawing those of us who gather here closer. I'd like to hope that we can all come to understand and listen to not only what people say, think, and feel, but why they say, think, and feel what they do. I know, I know. People being humane on the internet? Crazy. This forum is a little crazy, though. We have people from all walks of life, who believe and are interested in all sorts of things, that come together here for an arguably similar reason: they want something a little different than anywhere else on the internet provides. So let's do it. Let's be a little different. Let's act like a real community, even if you don't plan on sticking around long. A lot of people here talk about how they hate the modern take on the internet, modern communities, the poor interaction between one another, and the empty, impersonal corporate nature of the modern web. So, here's your chance to do something about that. Here's your chance to be different than the rest of the soulless internet. Here's your chance to build commune with others around you.

Each series will have a specific topic, usually followed by a series of related questions. No one has to adhere strictly to the questions and topic, but they are a general guideline for the flow of the thread. If this is successful, there with be more threads with new topics. Remember, this is a place to explain, not just tell. This is an opportunity to find mutual understanding between people who may think they have very different worldviews. So, with this introduction fairly wrapped up, let's get this series underway:

Topic #1: Why Do You Listen to the Music You Enjoy?

Easy prompt to get started I think. So:

• What draws you into music?
• What is it about the music you listen to that you like? Why do you like that about it?
• What is it about music you don't listen to that pushes you away from it? Why do you dislike those elements?
• Why do you consider what you listen to 'music' and not just sounds strung together?
• Do you have emotional connections/reactions to music? Are they positive? Negative?
• Why do you think you have the reaction you have to music you like?
• Why do you think you have the reaction you have to music you dislike?
If you could pick your favorite elements of a music score/track, what would they be? Why do you like those so much?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I don't want to clutter the topic post of the thread with my own response, but I will respond in due time. If you're wondering or worrying about the format you should be replying in... don't. This is free form. This is you. This is all about you. Here is your opportunity to explain how you feel, how you think, and why you think that way. This is your opportunity to clear up misgivings others have about you and explain all those things that arguments and squabbles leave no room for.

So with that:
GO!

CognacDefender · May 12, 2022

Uhhh I don't know huhuhuh.

Aral · May 13, 2022

• What draws you into music?
The feel. It's generally a feel that I can relate to at the moment and then the music takes a symbolic meaning to me.

• What is it about the music you listen to that you like? Why do you like that about it?
I like the lyrics (even when I need google translate to know what they roughly mean, for example with my beloved Mongolian folk songs), the feel, as I said, and the instruments. The lyrics are very important to me. Just like the feel, they can give a symbolic meaning to that song. I very much enjoy traditional-sounding music, even slightly modernized, some electronic which lyrics I find good (Mr Kitty's stuff mostly). I noticed that I go more and more towards instrumental and folk music as I age, being more and more "selective" of the ones that have lyrics except for some nostalgic ones that I like to listen to again from time to time, because the instrumental allows me to put my own words on it.

• What is it about music you don't listen to that pushes you away from it? Why do you dislike those elements?
The obvious "commercial" lyrics, that same reused beats over and over, that same fucking chord progression, that same fucking millennial whoop, the same fucking vocals, the voidness of it all, and of course, the people who cheer on it like idiots who have never put thought into what they feed their spirit with. I like some popular tunes, that's not the issue (for example the Wolfwalkers song by Aurora, the Titanic song, and meme songs, among others), but I am more annoyed by the lack of substance and the brainless fans. I also dislike certain aesthetics that are popular.

• Why do you consider what you listen to 'music' and not just sounds strung together?
When it's able to give me a feeling of any kind. When I can sense at least a bit of a melody.

• Do you have emotional connections/reactions to music? Are they positive? Negative?
A LOT. I cry from positive and negative emotions sometimes when I listen to music. Sometimes it's so beautiful I am breathless, and sometimes the sadness hits me so hard I feel it in my bones. This is why I love listening to it. Some songs feel exactly like I feel when I love someone, some perfectly feel like my despair. I like to process my emotions through listening to music. It also helps me create.

I'm going to give you an example just so you can see how it affects me and how it helps me create a narrative or a picture.

The song that plays at the end of this movie sequence just perfectly describes how I feel when I am in despair. These haunting vocals at first feel a lot like my sadness taking a hold of me, quite literally possessing me. Then when the piano starts coming, I isolate in the dark, I invoke a beloved spirit, I feel their presence. I cry, they comfort me even without words, I start to relax, lay down, and fall asleep. At the moment the melody slows down at the end, I am going into this deep slumber, perhaps forever, and it feels like "maybe it will be fine when I wake up, the sun will shine again"...

In my mind, when the piano melody starts, I see/internally hear these words:

"Moon, I failed you. I'm so sorry."
"No, you didn't; You did your best..."
"I'm so cold..."
"Come here."
[This Moon person holds me]
"There, there, close your eyes. I love you."
[I close my eyes and start to fall asleep]
"I love you too..."
"Shh.. you need to rest. Sleep, Aral... everything is okay."
"Thanks, Moon..."

You've got a narrative that puts into a picture a feeling of mine.

Another example, the song that is on my website:

The song itself, I've learned, is apparently about a Mongolian warrior who has fallen in love with a woman from the other tribe. He sees her in his dreams, misses her, and at the end decides to go back and marry her. Though in this music video it looks like an impossible love with a childhood friend...? The strings in the background... the vocals, the melody... it feels exactly like my loving feelings. It's the kind of song I would love to rewrite (no copyright, it's a folk song) and dedicate it to a person I really, really love.

With this song I feel like... my most beautiful love. I feel it purely, simply. I love this version of this song because it just fits so well my feeling of love. The beauty of it. The vastness of it. How it transcends everything, every logic, every border. I feel my throat tightening because I just cannot find the words to express it. But I love to overdose on this song when my heart flies. Ooooh Duuriimaaaaaaa... how ironic it'd be if I actually fell in love with a girl with that name lmfao

• Why do you think you have the reaction you have to music you like?
Because I'm a sensitive person with a lot of creativity? I don't know, really. It's what it is.

• Why do you think you have the reaction you have to music you dislike?
Because it disgusts me, duh.

If you could pick your favorite elements of a music score/track, what would they be? Why do you like those so much?
The melody. It's often what gives the feel.

masha · May 13, 2022

What draws you into music?
So many things. I like to skip a minute into a song and then see if I'm nodding along to the beat or enamoured by a particular instrument or the croon of a voice or just about anything. If I get it stuck in my head, then I'd say it's drawn me in.

What is it about the music you listen to that you like? Why do you like that about it?
I love when a song is super weird. If there's a weird set of chords, or a weird line, or something that doesn't seem like it should work in the song, and yet it does. That's what I really like about a song. Sometimes, it's the lyrics. I find myself relating to them a little bit too much, and then I'm stuck listening to that song for the rest of the week.

What is it about music you don't listen to that pushes you away from it? Why do you dislike those elements?
For me, if I find myself going, "Oh, I think anyone could listen to this mindlessly," then it's a sign from myself that this song just isn't meant for me. I hate it when a song is made just for cash like most songs on the radio nowadays. I know the artist can't help it, they're under a contract for Christ's sake, but it doesn't mean I have to listen to it and actually enjoy the cash grab song. Other than that, I'll listen to just about anything, even if it's in another language or has a happy go-lucky tune.

Why do you consider what you listen to 'music' and not just sounds strung together?
Someone put some thought into those sounds. Crafted them into a piece that I can listen to over and over and analyze and just enjoy.

Do you have emotional connections/reactions to music? Are they positive? Negative?
All the damn time. I find myself listening to particular songs when I'm analyzing a story or a film and need to cry. I listen to a lot of Mitski because of this, along with some nice 80s or 70s love songs. I also have songs I listen to when I'm thinking about my childhood, songs I've connected to little moments here and then. I think it's good to have emotional connection to songs. Some songs can impact you so deeply that it feels like you've just stared into a black hole and the song is resonating from the centre. That's good for everyone to have.

Why do you think you have the reaction you have to music you like?
I'm a very emotional person at times. I like to cry when I see a good movie or read a good book or stumble across a bit of poetry that feels like a stab to my gut. A lot of that transfers over to songs that I connect with the film or book or passage. Plus, some songs are so good that it's like having a spiritual awakening when you first hear them.

Why do you think you have the reaction you have to music you dislike?
Because I simply can't connect to it.

If you could pick your favorite elements of a music score/track, what would they be? Why do you like those so much?
The lyrics. I love analyzing lyrics, thinking about how someone could've thought of them, the way they flow into each other. I love a bit of literary analysis.

Jessica3cho雪血⊜青意 · May 27, 2022

For me, I think there is a physical influence to the music I listen to.

I really do listen to any kind of music (and I really mean that) and I love nothing more than exploring rabbit holes of music artists and genres. Now, just because I listen to it all, doesn't mean I necessarily like it all. Every genre, every artists, even every song, falls along a sliding scale of interest for me. The higher up the scale, the more often I listen to the track. I'd say, the top 20% of music that ineterests me takes up my earspace 80% of the time.

The point of this being that, what typically tends to reach me the most is music heavy with low frequency sounds. Music with various basslines, brass-heavy classical or drum laden tracks (especially those with a lot of timpani inclusion), and long monotonous chanting or spoken word elements. Often times, this lands on genres like classical, neo-classical, Asiatic and Northern European folk music (traditional and modern), various forms of hiphop/rap, and most anything electronic or ambient. Of course, you can find things like this in individual songs outside of these genres, but I typically find it to be less common, therefore I tend to listen to those other genres less often. My interest in genre is almost a numbers game based off of individual songs.

I'm by no means a psychologist or psychiatrist, but I may attribute this to my ADHD. Music can be a sort of replacement for stims like finger tapping, foot thumping, etc. I find that when I can immerse myself in loud, consuming, low frequency music, my stimming seems to greatly decrease and I am better able to focus on the tasks at hand. I'm unsure if this is a major part of my interest, though, as I simply enjoy the physical sensation that low frequency, rhythmic patterns can provide. Whether its just surrounding my ears while wearing headphones or my whole body while listening to surround sound, its very energizing and relieving. I would almost describe the sensation as a massage for the soul.

Anyways, that is a fairly comprehensive summary of why I believe I listen to the music that I enjoy. I know it may be rather... boring. There's no real soul to it, I suppose, but it really is the major influence.
There are other aspects that get me, like memories that are tightly associated with particular songs. There are songs I listen to that surprise people with how far out of my typical wheelhouse they are, but they hold a deep emotional place in my memories that can almost be reexperienced as I listen to the song.

I am also very fond of imagining... things (for lack of a better generalized term), to music. I suppose you could say day dreams, but its almost like I'm filming a movie or animating a show in my head to some music. I imagine great battles, mystical journeys, adrenaline-packed car races, and many other vivid journeys and some genres of music simply illicit mor vivid imagery for me. As much as I think about it, I am not really sure why the genres I listen t o evoke that particular imagery or why some genres evoke stronger imagery than others. All I know is that I enjoy envisioning these things, so I tend to enjoy listening to those tracks more.