Posted on 02/04/2021 8:45:41 PM PST by nickcarraway
Play Nickelback on Amazon Music Unlimited (ad) What’s the most annoying sound in the world? Some might reply it’s fingernails on a chalkboard, someone vomiting, their ex’s snoring or Nickelback.
In a recent Gizmodo article exploring the question, a professor of audio arts suggested that a far more important question was why we find certain sounds annoying, and offered an interesting argument about a connection between noises we don’t like and an “underlying natural beauty” of the universe.
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The resulting suggestion was that perhaps we should make a point of listening to music we don’t like if we want to understand life better.
“The ‘most annoying sound for a human’ is a surprisingly evasive concept that depends not only on who the human in question is, but also on that person’s circumstances and emotional state,” said Florian Hollerweger of Columbia College Chicago. “I think of it as a beautiful testimony to the raw emotional power that sound commands over us – not only on the negative end of the spectrum, but also with regards to that most beautiful of sounds: music.”
He noted that changing circumstances and emotions applied to music as much as natural sounds - “the same strong reliance on context explains both the ‘ugliest’ as well as the ‘prettiest’ sounds.” To Hollerweger, that was evidence that both good and bad sounds are “really just two manifestations of a larger underlying natural beauty, which we humans can become a part of and nurture (through music, for example), but which ultimately exceeds the value judgements that we can’t quite seem to be able to do without.”
The experience of his research, Hollerweger said, was that “one human’s ‘most annoying sound’ may well form the basis of another’s most precious music,” echoing the timeless principal that one person’s food is another person’s poison. He suggested that we could learn more about ourselves and others by trying to work out more about our own tastes.
“Perhaps once a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available, you might want to attend an experimental music concert near you, to see which of these two groups you belong to ... or whether there is room in between," he said. "British composer Trevor Wishart, for example, created a stunningly complex and highly recommended piece of music entitled ‘Imago’ from a single clink of two glasses.”
You can try Wishart’s ear test below. Meanwhile, Nickelback’s back catalog is also on sale.
*gack*
:D
It’s just an epic song, all around but Cash owns it, now.
Even Reznor said so.
Yes, I listened to Trent’s “interview” on that whole episode. Very moving and touching in all honesty.
I was explaining to one of the little DoodleBobs that Trent Reznor is the real deal and Marilyn Manson is a joke. That was before the latest brouhaha.
I know someone who saw NIN live. They said the band simply went from song to song. No banter, no dialogue. Relentless. It wasn’t until the end of the final song that Trent acknowledged the audience - he simply said “thank you” then walked off stage. Now THAT is bitchin’.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ukelele:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLgJ7pk0X-s
Sweet Child of Mannheim:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbsEZzgCwmI
Seven N'Orleans Army:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB6HY8r983c
Again...you are a human jukebox. Bravo!
Reznor is brilliant and deep.
Manson is a worthless freak *but* he did “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) like it was meant to be done.
Best thing I ever saw was Alice ambling onstage while manson was singing that and the crowd went berserk, confusing manson, no end.
And then Alice ate his lunch and finished the song.
Autotune has its place.
Alice used it for this agonizingly beautiful song and I love it.
Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HilGthRhwP8
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