The Roles of (Recorded) Music

The world of music irrevocably altered c.1880

I have often wondered how music got started in our culture.  I imagine, back in the mists of time, someone, somewhere took the various melodic calls and strung them together into a melody and then taught the various tribes-people the things she or he had done.  And at that point we had actual composed and arranged music.  It is hard to tell if language came first or music - so entwined both are in the way we are wired.  Without getting too romantically colored, it must have made the long nights more pleasant and the unity of the tribe stronger.

In the subsequent milennia, music has been used for multiple purposes, and new genres and ways of music distribution have been central to our religions, entertainment, and government.  In fact, to extend the old joke about "death and taxes" I do believe music has always been and always will be with us.

But fast forward to the era of recorded music, which began a little under 150 years ago.  It is a relatively recent development in the sweep of human history, but has altered significantly the way people relate to and use music.  As a history buff, part of me laments the loss of the "average citizen as musician" where everyone knew how to play an instrument or three, and did so and could carry a tune.  But, the very best (or very best marketed!) musicians, with the advent of recording and mass distribution would have their expert skill enjoyed not in a small village or town, but would essentially be played in front of millions.

And of course the recorded media - has allowed uses of music that would be either ridiculous or impossible previously (Imagine trying to listen to music while scribing in the Middle Ages - would have taken a chorus singing just. for. you.).  And as a result, when navigating your day, you can hear music or other recorded events more or less constantly either by choice, or as a product of your environment. 

So we're going to make some arbitrary categorizations on the role of recorded music in modern life.

1.  Music as "Event"

Colleen Murphy cueing up a track for a festival
attended by "Classic Album Sundays"

This has become less common, but it would be when a group of friends would get together to listen to a new album reissue or release in a mellow-party atmosphere.  Our blog strongly supports this - and we have done this with varying degrees of success - everyone has to be in the right "mood" (usually a drink or two will do it) - and we suspect you will get at least initial interest as a nostalgia play.

We actually think that Classic Album Sundays is probably the ultimate current example of this as a public event - a fantastic time listening to albums with a little background on them - all presented by a DJ.  But of course, having friends over to your house for a small party to listen to a new album or two would capture the essence and what makes those events fun.

2.  Music as "Prime Entertainment"

As TV's came in, stereo's became less important ... we think
you should work in some music listening, too, given it's fun
and a change-up!

Once upon a time, the stereo system was the main entertainment for families.  This is related to #1, but it is more of having a pile of LP's, CD's or a long crafted song list and if there are some light activities going on, it's ok, but for the most part the music is the entertainment the way TV is in some families (though there are signs of TV's demise as central entertainment, too).  Generally a good stereo system and high quality music is best here, though we have used some high bitrate streams from sources such as Spotify, Mog or others to hear new releases (or our latest favorite "Concert Vaults" which has live concerts of thousands of artists available).

Now a quick note before we move on, we are convinced the advent of multiple cheaper larger TV's and HDTV has pushed #1 and #2 to the side in most houses - but the trend started with television.  Nothing wrong with that, but we do like to point out the amount of pleasure you can get by giving music a slot or two in your entertainment routines!

3.  Music as companion- i.e. "sonic wallpaper"

We let music in more places into our lives than ever before
It enhances life, but you also probably won't recall hearing any
particular song since you were busy doing something else.

When you are at work, or working around the house, the music is used to fill the silence - and isn't really listened to or paid attention to.  A great test if you are using it as background noise, is if you don't quite remember what was playing, but found it enjoyable nonetheless.

The nostalgic version of this was listening to a transistor radio as you did homework, or worked in your workshop on a project.  But also is what a lot of people have at a party to fill in silences - this is where streaming services can help out a lot - the quality is unimportant, but the uninterrupted "jukebox" feature is the most important to keep the tunes flowing and the party moving along.

We also see a lot of people putting a lot of time and effort "converting" their music into low bit rate files for this.  We'd actually recommend signing up to a streaming service and never looking back - most are good enough, and not worth ripping and then dumping the physical media.

The very beginning of the portable music boom!

4.  Portable, Private music

With the advent of the "Sony Walkman" right around 1980, and the MP3 players in the 1990's, and smartphones today, people would be able to listen to their own music, by themselves as event, sonic wallpaper or really anything else.  It faded in and out until the advent of smartphones and MP3 players.  This has fueled an explosion recently in high quality headphones, and downloadable low bit rate music.  It has allowed music to get tucked into commutes, airplane rides, at work and chores around the house - areas that didn't really have much music previously.  It has also started to find more individual choice in listening (such as a teenager listening to music in the living room, doing homework while the rest of the family does other things to use a completely random example...).  Most of these areas are filling areas that were previously musically absent.  We will let history be the judge if this was good or bad

Hey, that a lot of catoegories - and you have only made SAFE utterances.  Yeah sure.  I'll drop the professor crap and lay it all on the line.  The advent of recorded music has eliminated the need to play music.  It has allowed top flight musicians to be heard in places we didn't before.  And we carried the baton with our technology to fill every crack of our lives with music if we wanted to.  And sometimes when we dont.




Is this a good thing?  We have no idea, but it has ushered in a world that was unimaginable to our great-great-great-great-grandparents and earlier.  For them music was an event or something you did with friends and family.  And nobody knows where this ride ends - and if it results in a world where every waking moment is filled with music, or where we place limits on it.  Honestly in this context the quality of the sound is unimportant in the context of the basic question is "how much is enough?"

And even in arenas where music seemed defeated (the hours of 7-10PM where TV seems dominant) - we see music talent shows start the creep back in. 

So ... is music the juggernaut that will fill all of our lives? 

Ohm and Merry Christmas! :-)