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We like music because our brains crave pattern recognition.
(sh.itjust.works)
Prog music lovers in shambles.
Polyrhythms and polymeters are still patterns. They're often harder to perceive and follow than your typical 4/4, but we're still searching for the beat and bobbing our heads to the complex patterns it creates.
Songs are repeated melodies following standard structure.
Plenty of music isn't. But maybe the joy there is that it's not as formulaic?
A joke is just lighting up an unexpected or long unused connection in the brain. 🤷♂️
This seems reasonable to me, a very unqualified source in neurology.
We are doing great work together pushing the bounda of scientific knowledge! 😂
Note: I have no idea how brains work.
Even when it doesn't repeat itself, after repeated listens I find satisfaction just in knowing the weird places that the music goes. A lot of my favorite songs took a few listens to "click".
Musician here. This is definitely true, BUT interest can also come from subversion of those expectations. Can be seen in prog music and math rock (subversion of musical forms), funk (subversion of rhythmic expectation with lots of upbeats and short notes), etc
Frankly, this kind of reductive deconstruction of human experience is a huge part of what's going wrong with society. Music is created by people who dedicate themselves to exploring the world we experience, and discovering nuance which evoke feelings which can not be simply explained, betraying the existence of deeper layers of human experience than anything directly available to cold analysis.
Certainly there are then those who copy the form of works created by such artists, who actually do treat music that way, but the result is like the output of a LLM, and repetition of such a style is like training AI on it's own data, progressively degrading what was once there.
Art is sublimated sex drive
Interestingly there is a body of research that suggests enjoyment of music comes from having exactly one of two things, never both:
Familiarity and predictability
If it's neither familiar nor predictable, it is inscrutable and therefore discomforting to listen to
If it is both familiar and predictable it is boring
If it's familiar but unpredictable, it feels like a journey through known emotions
If it's predictable but unfamiliar it feels like 'logical discovery' and is fun and satisfying
A bit reductive but I love this idea
I've heard that before, but isn't this easily defended by the fact that people who listen to the same song over and over again exist?
I can listen to Ado music over and over, it gets better every time. So then there is familiarity and predictability (since I know that piece of music rather well by then).
Listening to the same song over and over is no longer for enjoyment, it is for the feelings of safety that your body is comfortable in.
No, that is definitely for enjoyment
Explain why Jazz is so fucking awesome then.
this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2025
38 points (95.2% liked)
Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
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