Sound

The Psychology of Song

~ David Biddle ~ Leave a comment

I keep bumping into musicians, industry journalists, and economists online all saying that our society doesn’t value music the way we used to. The logic there is mostly based on the supposed problem created by streaming sources. An endless supply of computer curated songs are available to us, creating the old economic principle based on supply and demand, although more in psychological clothing than any other garb. When the supply of something is virtually infinite and effectively free, value is on a downward slide and the human mind begins to take joy for granted.

And yet, our lives are as full and rich as they are in large part because of the beauty and profundity of stimulated air molecules moving around and surfing into our ears, converted into any and every kind of music we have ever desired.

Friedrich Nietzsche said it best: “Without music, life would be a mistake.”

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The Effect of Amplified Sound

~ David Biddle ~ Leave a comment

Crazy new sounds and melodies consistently showed up on the radio for those of us growing up in the 1950s and 1960s (and on into the early 1970s). Every week or so brought astoundingly unique, creative, highly developed songwriting, production, and performance that constantly knocked our socks off…again, and again, and again. The record companies back then understood they could only partially make the call about what would work and what wouldn’t. Artists ruled. So did their listeners.

I still remember hearing “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” in the first few days of 1964 right after it came out. I remember as well Elton John’s “Rocket Man” in April 1972, and “Sweet Caroline,” by Neil Diamond in May of 1969, both within the first day or two of release. And so many more. We were all sitting-duck virgins over and over again, sometimes on a daily basis, waiting for the latest by the performers we loved (and didn’t know we would come to love). DJs could be so artful with our pristine ears: “Here’s a new one from a guy we’ve never heard of named Don McLean. The song is called ‘American Pie.’ Weird name, but I think you’ll like it.”

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