Do You know Anyone Who Doesn’t Like Music?

[xanalog]

Big Joe Turner

The Master of the Delta Blues, Robert Johnson, has the dubious award of having three posthumous tombstone markers to his name, though he may have been buried in an unmarked grave, or under a pecan tree, in Mississippi.
To listen to his compilation CDs "The Complete Collection" should be an eye-opener for those who are in search of a few dBs of less noise and/or less distortion!
This complete-works release (Columbia 1990) "...includes every existing master and alternate take of every song Johnson recorded for over 50 years."
Eleven 78rpm records were issued in his lifetime (died money-lis, of syphilis?) with a total of 41 recordings; some of which never saw issuance previously.
These recordings sound absolutely horrible, even by the 1960 standards; but the stupendous music they contain - somehow - allows you to totally forget the noise, ticks, pops, scratches (while, probably violating every standard recording technique of today). [1930s is the relevant time-marker]
Though ymmv, you may be shocked to catch yourself grooving to his blues and very quickly.

 

[Robin L]

The Master of the Delta Blues, Robert Johnson, has the dubious award of having three posthumous tombstone markers to his name, though he may have been buried in an unmarked grave, or under a pecan tree, in Mississippi.
To listen to his compilation CDs "The Complete Collection" should be an eye-opener for those who are in search of a few dBs of less noise and/or less distortion!
This complete-works release (Columbia 1990) "...includes every existing master and alternate take of every song Johnson recorded for over 50 years."
Eleven 78rpm records were issued in his lifetime (died money-lis, of syphilis?) with a total of 41 recordings; some of which never saw issuance previously.
These recordings sound absolutely horrible, even by the 1960 standards; but the stupendous music they contain - somehow - allows you to totally forget the noise, ticks, pops, scratches (while, probably violating every standard recording technique of today). [1930s is the relevant time-marker]
Though ymmv, you may be shocked to catch yourself grooving to his blues and very quickly.

Columbia Legacy had a later dubbing of the 78 originals in 2011. "The Centennial Collection" boasts 24-bit transfers and excellent noise reduction, though the earlier two CD set had more extensive notes and came in a bigger package. "The Centennial Collection" appears as two discs in what appears to be a standard Jewel case, though it's one of those tricky Jewel cases where you can never find replacements. No clicks 'n' pops, though the surfaces are audible. Peak distortion is minimal.

From what I've read, Robert Johnson was poisoned. It's assumed a jealous partner of one Johnson's sexual hook-ups was the responsible party. Took something like a month for Johnson to finally succumb.

 

[EJ3]

Inspired by a confession thread on Reddit where the person admitted that they simply do not like music. To them music is at best boring but in almost all cases an irritant.
Doesn’t matter whether its a live concert, music in the background, even music in his gaming, it’s all a yuck factor.

That got me thinking that I am not aware of knowing anybody who doesn’t like music.
Feels pretty hard to fathom.

Reminds me tangentially of different peoples attitudes toward enjoying food. A work companion once accompanied me to a nice restaurant. I’m a “ foodie” and so I was just swooning over the food and he’s looking at me puzzled. He said he just didn’t understand people into food in the way I am. To him “hunger is just a hole I have to fill, and food is something that just fill the hole. It’s functional, I fill the whole and just move on.”

I suppose there’s a similar divide regarding music.

Does anybody know somebody who doesn’t like music?

My wife:
Not in the house, not in the vehicle. But going to live events like a musical, is OK with her, Play, concert, live band, etc.
It seems to have to do with working in karaoke clubs, bars, therapeutic massage where there was some music playing all the time.
But in the last 15 years we were the owners of he places that she ran, so she had some control over the music, music videos or whatever was being played.
She just wants no music now except for when we go somewhere to see it being played live.

 

[Frank Dernie]

My wife:
Not in the house, not in the vehicle. But going to live events like a musical, is OK with her, Play, concert, live band, etc.
It seems to have to do with working in karaoke clubs, bars, therapeutic massage where there was some music playing all the time.
But in the last 15 years we were the owners of he places that she ran, so she had some control over the music, music videos or whatever was being played.
She just wants no music now except for when we go somewhere to see it being played live.

Maybe she is on the autism spectrum like I am. It is very normal not to like background music and other spurious sounds. I hate it too but love concerts and am married to a professional muician.

 

[Anton S]

Maybe she is on the autism spectrum like I am. It is very normal not to like background music and other spurious sounds. I hate it too but love concerts and am married to a professional muician.

What was your score? I scored 1345 on my last test (61%, or borderline/high functioning autism), but always love having my music playing.

 

[Frank Dernie]

What was your score? I scored 1345 on my last test (61%, or borderline/high functioning autism), but always love having my music playing.

28 on the test I did many years ago iirc, presumably a different test.
I love listening to music both on my hifi and at concerts but am so discomfited by background noise I absent myself from anywhere playing it.

 

[xanalog]

...Maybe she is on the autism spectrum like I am... It is very normal not to like background music and other spurious sounds.

Personally speaking, background music (24/7) is akin to a personal dithering technique.
Music prevents my mind - from distortion products and quantizing errors - by thinking too much. ymmv
Part of me has always believed that background music - even during sleep - somehow 'stores' (remembers?) the beats.
This maybe a subjective (and biased) assessment; but when I hear the same tune again, parts of the beats sound familiar, as if I had heard them before.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

Maybe she is on the autism spectrum like I am. It is very normal not to like background music and other spurious sounds. I hate it too but love concerts and am married to a professional muician.

I don't mind ambient music as background generally (I mean that's sort of what it's designed for lol), but any sort of "classic hits/pop hits/etc etc" as background music pretty much drives me nuts.

Regarding the thread topic, my partner and I have a running gag about one of the guys she met prior to the two of us meeting (via dating app of all things lol). She is a huge music lover - pretty much never stops singing and almost always has music playing. So she goes out with this guy and one of the first things he tells her is he "hates music." lol. Red flag! She didn't know what to say...she can't even comprehend someone feeling that way, let alone stating it so flatly upon meeting someone.

 

[EJ3]

Maybe she is on the autism spectrum like I am. It is very normal not to like background music and other spurious sounds. I hate it too but love concerts and am married to a professional muician.

She never mentioned it while working. (I was not home for months at a time when I was working [When we married, I was gone 3 weeks later for 11 months]).
& when I was home, I really did not use the stereo much. But now that we are both retired...
Although we still travel in different directions. She left Jan 8 (partially due to pollen and to visit her brother, sister & our son (all of whom are overseas). She'll be back in June (after pollen season).
I can see it, I have gone for years without having music playing at the house (I took or shipped a lot of my audio gear to where I worked whenever I traveled.
She listened to things from her computer, so the work & the computer is what she is used to.
I hate headphones & earbuds but compromise & crank all of my 3000-6000 (depending on how I have the system configured) RMS watts when she goes somewhere. And go out and do yard work while I try to annoy the neighbors (they can't hear it at the street, so that's not a real issue).
She's from a very "nice" quiet home, so I think that I just like things louder than her.

 

[xanalog]

Although we still travel in different directions. She left Jan 8 (partially due to pollen and to visit her brother, sister & our son (all of whom are overseas). She'll be back in June (after pollen season).

Here is your chance to CRANK the music up to MAX before she returns, while ignoring the neighbors.

 

[Anton S]

Here is your chance to CRANK the music up to MAX before she returns, while ignoring the neighbors.

To paraphrase a line from Apocalypse Now, "I love the smell of burning voice coils in the morning. It smells like VICTORY!"

... followed directly by a trip to the audiologist for hearing aid fitment.

 

[EJ3]

Here is your chance to CRANK the music up to MAX before she returns, while ignoring the neighbors.

Yep, My property is big enough that I would need 10,000 watts to annoy them.
But it is loud enough for me and I do crank it up so that I can hear it in my yard.
No, I don't crank it up like that when I'm inside.
But it's nice to have it like there is a concert nearby when I am on my deck.

 

[EJ3]

To paraphrase a line from Apocalypse Now, "I love the smell of burning voice coils in the morning. It smells like VICTORY!"

... followed directly by a trip to the audiologist for hearing aid fitment.

Working for the military 17 years did that for me.
At some point: Stupid idiots reving-up turbo charged engines in a giant pole barn with a concrete floor & a metal roof.
You did not have to be anywhere near them for the damage to be done.

 

[Audionaut]

Whether its Beethoven, Stockhausen, Schönberg or Schumann it just sounds like 'orchestra' to me: an amorphous grey aural sludge with little discernable musical content.

Anyone who finds the music of Beethoven and Stockhausen more or less the same really has no access at all to a symphonic orchestra. That's amazing, but that's the way it is.

For me, it's still relatively simple:
I love the music I'm in the mood for and listen to it loudly and with great pleasure.

I hate the music that is fed to me without being asked.

 

[Audionaut]

..she can't even comprehend someone feeling that way, let alone stating it so flatly upon meeting someone

That was probably the most painless way to avoid another Meeting.

 

[bluefuzz]

Anyone who finds the music of Beethoven and Stockhausen more or less the same really has no access at all to a symphonic orchestra.

That's not what I said. To put it another way: I find the form (of a big symphony orchestra) obscures the musical content (whether it be Beethoven or Stockhausen they are playing). Or to put it even simpler: I don't like the sound of big orchestras. I've no idea what 'no access to a symphonic orchestra' is supposed to mean but it's probably true I don't have it ...

 

[Anton S]

Working for the military 17 years did that for me.
At some point: Stupid idiots reving-up turbo charged engines in a giant pole barn with a concrete floor & a metal roof.
You did not have to be anywhere near them for the damage to be done.

I can relate to some extent. When I was stationed overseas, my hooch was about 20 meters from one of the 5th of the 1st's 155 howitzers. Damned thing used to literally lift me off my bunk when I was asleep. After got home, my ex-brother-in-law used to take me out to the dragstrip with him. He was part owner in a speed shop that sponsored a few top fuel dragsters and loved to stand between them at the starting line when the the tree went green. He talked me into accompanying him down to the line once. Just once.

Those beasts were so loud that the ground literally shook, and the noise was so deafening that it was painful, even with my hands pressed hard against my ears. After that, I stayed in the stands. He never bothered with ear protection, so the poor bastard is now likely stone deaf.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I can relate to some extent. When I was stationed overseas, my hooch was about 20 meters from one of the 5th of the 1st's 155 howitzers. Damned thing used to literally lift me off my bunk when I was asleep. After got home, my ex-brother-in-law used to take me out to the dragstrip with him. He was part owner in a speed shop that sponsored a few top fuel dragsters and loved to stand between them at the starting line when the the tree went green. He talked me into accompanying him down to the line once. Just once.

Those beasts were so loud that the ground literally shook, and the noise was so deafening that it was painful, even with my hands pressed hard against my ears. After that, I stayed in the stands. He never bothered with ear protection, so the poor bastard is now likely stone deaf.

I worked in Formula 1 racing for decades. I once took my Tandy noise meter to a test, the needle went hard up to the end of the dial (ie>126dB) while the engine was idling in the garage, that was a normally aspirated V10, the turbo engines were much quieter, of course, and the current hybrids pretty quiet because they run very high boost but lower rpm for efficiency. In the early days there was no ear protection, just fingers, later we had intercom systems.

A supercharged dragster engine running on nitro methane is insanely loud but thankfully not for long!

My hearing is pretty good for a 75 year old which is surprising considering, my wife is a musician and her hearing is pretty deteriorated, a Steinway is very loud!

 

[xanalog]

I hate the music that is fed to me without being asked.

Isn't the word 'hate' a demeaning impression of what 'music' provides for the soul?
I am going to pretend you meant 'mute' and give you a Like.

 

[EJ3]

Anyone who finds the music of Beethoven and Stockhausen more or less the same really has no access at all to a symphonic orchestra. That's amazing, but that's the way it is.

For me, it's still relatively simple:
I love the music I'm in the mood for and listen to it loudly and with great pleasure.

I hate the music that is fed to me without being asked.

I can do without Stockhausen in any form.
For electronic music I'll take Switched on Bach for my win.
I'd replace Stockhausen with Listz, thank you very much.
But I greatly prefer live music, even my albums & CD's
Austrian, German & Italian folk music, Americana, Jazz & Led Zeppelin to any of the Symphonic Masters.
Growing up off and on in Salzburg, Austria (where I was born) caused me to have a wider scope than many but also feel very strong about what I don't like. (Opera, among them), having experienced a lot of many styles in person).