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What Qualifies As Music?
The Difference Between Music and Noise
We find ourselves in a church, sitting on stiff wooden pews, shifting uncomfortably as we watch two figures prepare to slide bows across their respective instruments: a cello and a viola. Our ears open and our mouths close in anticipation as we await the concert. Albeit we are somewhat disinterested this is not the first time we have been here, sitting rigidly as we listen to various concertos played through a variety of instruments most often of the string family.
Teachers shush the last few trickling conversations as the two figures on stage touch their bows to the strings. The two players nod to each other and simultaneously pull the wood and horse hair bows so they across the steel strings and produce the audio entertainment to which we are to be subjected for the next forty five minutes.
The first notes hit our ears and there is a collective cringe. Are they out of tune? Did they hit the wrong notes? For the next while our ears are seemingly berated with screeches, wails, and other worldly sounds produced by instruments more commonly used for Bach and Mozart.
The concert ends and we exit, looks of relief and pure confusion etched on our faces.
Someone asks,
“What in the world was that?”
The question is answered with nervous laughter, several swearwords, and looks of midway between anguish and amusement
The two performers had tentatively called it improvisational and experimental, although they did not fully connect with the label.
From a visual point of view they were making music: two figures on a stage performing with two musical instruments as an audience observes.
From an audio standpoint it’s rather confusing. The instruments are objects we associate with music as with the sounds emitted from said instruments. However the notation and sheer dissonance was unfamiliar and rather unwelcoming.
Do wails and shrieks combine and manifest into what we categorize as music? Is it an acquired taste the escargot of music? Or is it simply sounds and noises that have as much to do with music as the sound of a car engine starting.
Is music really all encompassing? What are the boundaries between melody and noise?
What does qualify as music?
The dictionary defines music as:
1. An art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.
Or:
2. The tones or sounds employed, occurring in single line (melody) or multiple lines (harmony), and sounded or to be sounded by one or more voices or instruments, or both.
Noise is defined as:
1. Sound, esp. of a loud, harsh, or confused kind: deafening noises.
2. The auditory experience of sound that lacks musical quality; sound that is a disagreeable auditory experience.
From person to person the answer is just as vague and prone to change. For instance the definition of music to an eighty year old in comparison to someone born in the eighties may very well be different.
Not so long ago, the music of our grandparents began to fade in popularity, classical music began to give way to Rock and Roll and Rhythm and Blues. Either unwilling to accept change or unused to this new style, it was often classified as noise by our parents, parents. And yet today artists from that time are heralded as creators of some of the finest music in the world and have influenced artists and the music that is composed today.
Could it be that in forty years or so we’ll be drawing inspiration from and looking back in awe at what we now classify as noise?
Through out the years Music has changed and evolved, it has morphed shifted and split into hundreds and hundreds of genres, sub-genres, and sub-sub-genres. Our definition and perception of music has also evolved. However, we still hold true to the basics of music:
In most pieces there is a main melody, often a vocal part, there is harmony to accentuate and enrich, rhythm to hold it steady and dynamics to add expression and feeling.
Certain genres are often exploited and are labeled as noise. For instance many people question the musicality of rap music. However if you break down rap, it has all the components of music, melody, harmony, rhythm etc., albeit the rhythm and baselines are often more accentuated than other genres.
Music is traditionally penned down and played. However Jazz, for instance contains a lot of improvisational work, which does not completely follow the mold. Yet some jazz musicians are considered to be some of the finest players out there.
Genres such as Death Metal and Screamo where the vocals are growls and screams have their musicality regularly questioned. However, again, if you break it down even death metal with its ‘cookie monster’ vocals contains the primary foundations of music. In fact death metal has a sub-genre called melodic death metal.
With the invention of the computer the definition of music has become even more obscure. Traditionalists would argue that music should be created by humans and not a machine. Still computers are made by humans as are cellos and violins. Moreover it is through technology that boundaries have been pushed, old music made new and more depth added to sounds that were once flat. Some of the most unique and innovative music has sprung out of technology.
So what is the difference between plain old noise and a symphony of sounds? In some cases its easy to tell, the beeping of cars in traffic versus an operatic aria.
However with the creation of such musical genres as experimental music and noise music the dividing line gets a little bit fuzzier.
1Experimental music is considered to be any type of music that challenges and disrupts the pre defined notions of what music is considered to be. John Cage was considered the pioneer of this genre, his piece 4’33” consists of three movements that are performed without playing a single note.
Noise music is an offshoot of experimental music; it creates melodies out of sounds that have previously been defined as noise. In my mind it is somewhat of an oxymoron or contradiction, as noise is usually an unwanted sounds whereas music is generally welcomed and has a mass appeal
There is a fine line between noise and music, some musicians push it to the point where the musicality is questioned and some noises can sound rather nice, almost musical. So what does separate the two? Technically speaking both are sound vibrations and wavelengths picked up and heard by our ears.
It is hard to say, perhaps the definition of music is too fixed, too confining, perhaps it needs to be broken a little- queue the experimental artist and unconventional instruments. Yet is there anything musical about noise? The dissonant chaos, could it really transfer into anything enjoyable ? How about that squeaky back door to your house? Not exactly a concerto to the senses.
To me the answer is apparent in two areas, emotion, and organization .
Noise is disorganized, there is no reason and definitely no rhyme. While music is often used to tell a story, noise is just a chaotic disruption of the silence, there is no planning or creative energy behind noise. It simply occurs, most often unintentionally and is considered a nuisance. Emotions do not come to the surface when a sound is heard, aside from maybe anger at the unwanted noise.
Music is almost the complete opposite. When music is created there is most often thought put into it, in an attempt to evoke certain emotions, or tell a story. And as a result, the musical sounds heard are generally ordered, has progression throughout the piece and contains expression. Syncopation, which occurs naturally in noise, is often added to music to accentuate, as with harmony. Music is made to affect; it can make the listener think, it can raise awareness and can relax or regenerate. It is exciting and has positive effects on human emotion.
There is an unconscious or semiconscious state of mind that comes on when music or noise is heard. However it is our reactions to the two that differ dramatically, our reactions are based partially on the emotions awakened; perhaps the sense of familiarity at a favorite song or distaste at the screeching of tires down the street, but our reactions are also affected by collective views of our respective cultures.
Confusion arises out of the grey areas, the difference between music and noise is not black and white. For instance if a car beeps its horn loudly it is a sound, however if a beeping horn is purposely placed in a composition, than it is considered an additive to the piece and therefore music. An example of this would be George Gershwin’s ‘An American In Paris’.
It also varies dramatically in personal taste, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. Someone could consider a piece of music bad and label it noise, however that is just their perception, for to the person next door that bad piece of music could be their treasured anthem.
Snap back to the church as the two figures play their instruments, music to their ears, and noise to others. It is a fine dividing line between the two and it is growing ever more obscured. For instance, what would happen if we were to play a piece that we consider music and follow it with a sound we associate with noise, to a person who had never heard music before?
And the future… Who knows what that will bring? Will music become more rigid and organized, or will it meld seamlessly into noises?
For now just stick to the basics, your own personal listening choices, be it rock, rap or the sound of a brick hitting a concrete floor
It is an odd mix of personal taste, our surroundings and the emotional impact that decide the difference between music and noise, and just like music or art, the definition differs from person to person.
-Ani
-Ani