Music and Evolution

Thanks for the reference; I need to look into Messiaen a little more. As I'm only familiar with Quatuor pour la fin du temps you might understand why I was a little scared off.

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In the recent issue of Wired, that is also the issue about alternative fuel sources, there is an article about a mathematician who developed a program that can successfully and accurately authenticate artists' works based on minute stylistic idiosyncracies. Everyone is unique and has their own distinctive twitches, posture, habits, etc- and the program can read them like fingerprints. One interesting side note of the article was that the program found something when examining Jackson Pollock's splatter paintings. They couldn't be achieved by random paint splattering- They are all fractal designs, fractal designs that can only be achieved by leaning the body forward with the arm out in an uncomfortable posture over the canvas (if I remember correctly).

The article theorized that perhaps people like his art because they are picking up on the subconscious fractal patterns (I imagine, much like people have subconsciously appeciated the image of a tree placed in the negative symmetrical space between the rocks in the zen garden at Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto for hundreds of years). I bring this up because it is possible that art critics also liked the elephant's paintings because its unique anatomy naturally makes it create subtle patterns that are highly unusual for humans.

It is also, of course, possible that the critics are full of shit- but I had often wondered the same about Pollock's critics until I read about the patterns inherent in his works.

The good thing is that people can be taught to hear the other lines if they familiarize themselves with the instruments.

I currently have trouble separating vocal harmonies of similar timbre, but I'm currently working on that problem by listening to lots of Layne Staley recordings since there are usually vocal harmonies that he does himself or that Jerry Cantrell does (who has a similar range and timbre). ... I can hear that there's a harmony, but I get confused trying to separate the voices. I do not, however, have the same problem listening to piano. It is only human voices.

If you want to teach your mom how to separate musical lines really quickly, have her listen to a high quality stereo recording while on acid. Of course, she'll run the risk of emotional trauma and all that, but you can't get something quickly for nothing.

I'm always entertained by the idea that one day we were all apes in the jungle and the next we were humans inventing music, language and tools. It's much more reasonable to assume that music, language and tools were a part of our ancestors lives well before they evolved into humans, albeit in much less complex forms. As verbal communication expanded, the use of rhythm to aid in cooperative work situations probably became common. And one day some clever ape-human put pretty words and rhythm together. I can imagine at least one scenario where pretty words and rhythm lead to offspring...

A good one to start with is the Trois Petites Liturgies.

PS: Or the Turangalila Symphony - if you like things that are OTT

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/The_artist_formerly_known_as_God

Bwahaha.

Quite simply, music incites emotion whether it be the beat of a drum in the forest, a bird singing on a wire, a ballad or banging your head. These extremely complex actions are just tools that give one the ability to portray that emotion. Music is not useless

Music can be great for reproduction, really. That's why pornos have music too.

Bow-chikka-wow!