Resonance as the source of passion?

Interesting theory, but that would mean that every note should be performed that way, but there are thousands of performances that only use that on a portion of the notes.

I can think of many instruments (including piano) that give extraordinary performances that elicit powerful emotional responses without the use of tremolo.

Even passages with stringed instruments can do the same. If it is used for every note it gets quite boring. Just how long can you stand a Farfesa organ? Bending a note or adding tremolo is like an art. When it is performed judiciously and at the right times it is a masterpiece.

Obviously there is a lot of technique to achieve the correct timber, decay, and timing. When it all comes together right it is sweet and synergetic.

I think we applaud most when we recognize the work as being performed both as one of passion and art as well as technical skill.

Do not forget that the listener must also be in the right mood before the performance. ;-) Another thing is that are brains are hardwired for music, too.

I think rock just requires less effort to listen to. That is, classical music requires more acquired taste to appreciate. The listener needs to have a deeper appreciation for the music and their instruments. It is like wine. The music can and is much more subtle.

I listen to rock when I just want to hear music. The rhythms are simple and it usually has an easy to follow beat. Rock is very direct and can be very powerful. We can still appreciate a fine performance.

However, I really enjoy acoustic stringed instruments. I love the wood and the wire and enjoy the sound of well crafted instruments played by their masters. That is just my taste.

I agree there is lots of music that does not use vibrato or tremolo, but I would suggest that in the case of piano it is made up for with the tremoudous frequency content associated with overtones and harmony..

It is a pretty common nervous system trait, that continued stimulation results in muted response, due to neuro transmitters running out. That is why when you pound your thumb with a hammer the pain gradually subsides. Over use of tremolo or vibrato or even complex harmony does the same. A good musician only uses these techniques to the point that it elicits an emotional response, and not to the point that it wears on you.

Maybe acquired taste is a matter of tuning your sensory system to the right frequencies..

But I am willing to concede that the idea is nonsense, I am just not giving up on it yet.

"Maybe acquired taste is a matter of tuning your sensory system to the right frequencies.."

Well, I think it has to do more with improving one's knowledge base. I don't think our sensory system is very dynamic (something we can tune), but I think our perception is dynamic.

We have to teach ourselves to hear things that the untrained ear tends to filter out. That filter is the wetware that lies between the ears. By altering that filter we alter our auditory experience.

We do the same thing visually. Watching movies is a learned experience. The more we watch the better we get at knowing what to watch for. Even taste can be an acquired thing. There are many foods that either do not appeal or do not stand out as very desirable the first time we try them. With time we learn what to "look" for in the mishmash of sensations and focus on the sensations that best appeal to our personal "tastes".

With music we learn to hear nuances in performances that we did not recognize before, which, in turn, enriches our experience of music.

So, I think it is more a matter of tuning one's brain.

Another aspect to your theory is that white or pink noise would fulfill that requirement.

Very good point...

I am going to have to wrestle with that one a bit....

Hi Steve,

Overtones, whether from vibrato and tremolo or chords send more musical notes to the inner ear where they cause more of the little hairs the resonate. That in turn sends more electrical impulses to the brain, giving more stimulation. Overtones are what is supposed to make music beautiful. White noise has a lot of frequencies, but it turns me off. The brain has "alpha waves" and maybe others, I'm no expert. Maybe particular notes stimulate the waves, inducing emotion. I don't know if you can call that resonance, but maybe. About the only instrument that I think stimulates my emotions is the violin, but I like guitar and piano music.

Regards,
S

Hi Steve,

OK, I understand what you are saying. To start, I must take issue with your statement: "This is a technique that shifts the frequency and modulates the amplitude of the fretted note..."

When the fretting hand bends the string back and forth in a motion parallel to the fret, you get a change in pitch, not a change in amplitude. You get a change in amplitude by using tremolo. In vocals, the more desireable effect IS tremolo, not pitch vibrato (such as you hear from the older church ladies behind you in church with the pitch vibrato being ±1 whole note! I'm not trying to be disrespectful, and I'm sure their hearts are in the right place, but it is just irritating to me sometimes).

In summation, I think that the pitch-vibrato due to string-bending and "whammy bar" utilization (OK - too technical!) is desireable just 'cause it sounds cool. If there is a predillection to these types of effects, I think it is too complex to be explained merely by a change in frequency. Have you noticed that you really like certain electric guitar sounds? It depends on the amp used, the level and type of distortion (and maybe even very little - e.g. Chuck Berry), and of course the way it is played (e.g. Chuck Berry, et.al.).

A good guitar pitch-vibrato is indicative of skill; and we all like to see skill in action...

Mike

Mike, there is no issue, I just didn't write clear enough.. my bad.

Vibrato- shifting frequency

Tremolo- modulating amplitude.

Both techniques are used by people that play stringed instruments (vibrato more).

The sound of a guitar player is not in the gear, it is mostly in the fingers. I have great gear, but I am a hack. I don't have a good vibrato.

BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughn do nothing special with distortion. The vocal quality of their guitar playing is in the way they move their fingers...

Steve, you're not bad - at least I don't think so.

The sound of a guitar player is not in the gear, it is mostly in the fingers.

Yes, it is in the fingers/mind of the guitarist. My original point - we love to hear virtuosity rather than the modulation of the frequency. That's just what I think.

Mike

Steve,

I don't know about the nervous system, but I do know for certain that low frequencies do excite various parts of the body.

Long ago, I think maybe in the 50s, the Army was experimenting with sound as a tactical weapon. In the late 60s, I did the demo parts of a college physical science course and, for one of those, I used a huge speaker array (the old Klipsch corner technique for OFs) with an old tube McIntosh and would run through frequencies from about 1 Hz (?) to 20 Hz with significant power.

We found that we could induce nausea, an urgent need to urinate, and (!) sexual arousal in males, depending on the frequency. We would warn the students, of course, but nobody thought anything about such a demo then. Nowadays, you'd get the socks sued off you for doing that.

So, I wouldn't be surprised if powerful music does indeed elicit an emotional response in a closed loop nervous system.

Interesting, do you have a link to any info about that research?

I did similar experiments in my youth in the 70's, but they tended to be conducted at concerts with bands like Rush and Blue Oyster Cult standing on the first few rows near the bass cabs....

Mike, I am about to abandon my original thought.. you are right my idea is probably not complex enough and perception has everything to do with it...as does phrasing..

The video Garth posted also has me wondering about my theory, and how it really works..

Steve Vai demonstrated a "technically" superior performance. His playing was more complex, and he used a number of very technically challanging approaches. But I considered his performance to be less than thrilling, not that musical, and just "stupid guitar tricks" if you will.

Zapa on the other hand did not have all the fancy tricks, but was much more musical, and passionate in my opinion.

Steve,

That was the point of the video.

Technical skill is nice, But there is more to it

Here's a couple from Leo Kottke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ1ynrFzbyY this one is one of my favorites

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQKbwLqKEOI Very technically proficent, nice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ-r8b2-tO8 High level of skill, a little rushed

Same guy, but to me the 1st one has more of the that something special. all well done

probably could do some spectrum analysis & quantify the differences.

I've turn a bunch of old records into MP3's, even after digitizing there is a certain warmth. CDversions of the same tracks are missing something. The extended hz range makes the experience different.

Part of this is the harmonic effects, in herent in the process engraving & playing back vinyl.

I have a friend with a bunch of 78's which have yet a different set of unique qualities, due to the higher sample rate.

Mind you I don't know anything! just what makes my ears happy.

I don't really enjoy large scale live so much as the level of stimulation is too much.

A small room with a few players, just feels better.

I think that Michael has pretty much nailed it. Good music and good musicians are concerned with phrasing, phrasing that in many important respects mimics the patterns of human speech, templates for which are almost certainly hard-wired into the human brain.

A good musician, like a good orator or actor, knows how to tweak the notes (words) to make the phrase more powerful. Vibrato and tremolo are just two of these techniques. They communicate tension. In some cases it may indicate vulnerability, in the same way that a quavering voice indicates fear and uncertainty. In other cases it may communicate anger, as in a voice that is trembling with rage. Or it may communicate boundless energy and joy. The important thing is, I believe, that these techniques are used to make an impersonal mechanical instrument sound more human.

Music can inspire strong emotions in the listener, because it is the specific intent of the musician or singer to communicate these feelings. It is their triumph, great or small, and our great fortune that they often succeed in doing so.

John: we are on the same key .

Thanks for the actor and orator examples. That's exactly what I was talking about.

Greatest artists are naturally born like that. No education can make one. But an educated talent is the perfect mix. It takes a lot of work and dedication.

New musicians who can't do this are often considered to have played a piece technically correct, but with out "passion" or "emotion."

Would it be possible to test this theory (in part!) by looking for correlation between persons who have "Perfect Pitch" and a love for piano music, and for vocals by singers who lack vibrato? After all, much more of the performance [time-wise] should then be enjoyable to them, right? They'd prefer technical correctness over passion, since vibrato must cause something like 2/3 of the performance to be off-key. Frankly, I'm doubtful - but this is not my area, and I admit it.

There are many musical techniques that elicit emotional response. My feeling is that it is through process of association.

A vibrato simulates a quivering or trembling voice at one end of the spectrum, power and resonance at the other. A lack of tremolo can produce a tranquilizing effect (Enya, Sade = Xanax).

A minor key suggests sadness or sentimentality, a major key is more positive, but both resemble the respective intonation of a person's voice when experiencing those emotions.

The bending of notes is a great emotional (blues) tool, simulating a passionate moan (case in point, Page & Plant imitating each other in Whole Lotta Love), an alley-cat in heat or a wolf howling at the moon.

The music itself can create the associations, underscored by the corresponding lyrics, so that listening to new music of a genre brings back the emotions, memories and sentiments attached to existing music.

There is a whack of theory regarding rhythms, syncopated, back-beat etc., would take days to discuss. My favourite is the theory about beats that imitate the reverse of our heartbeat.

Anyway, I'm always glad to be in the company of those that think about and value music as much as I do.

Rock on.

Yes, but it depends on what drugs your on!