On Having A Musical Moral Compass
As an inherent lover of the classical forms of composed music, I have learned, perhaps even taught myself, to listen to as much of the music as is humanly possible to hear. In using the term “classical forms”, my intent is to refer to music which is composed within the traditional sense of melody, harmony, counterpoint, rhythm, colour and texture. I do not want my reader to get the idea, of any sort, that I am referring to music written within a certain era of time, such as the Classical Period, or the Romantic Period, or New World Period. I am not a music snob, as it were; I am rather a music communicator. I find any form of music which is expressed in a form which communicates it’s attributes well, to be “good music” That being said, I don’t always “like” what I understand to be “good music” Conversely, I have heard music which I would delegate as being not very good, to be something I can like, for one reason or another. You may wonder then, if these two directions can be present inside of my musical palette, do they not cancel each other out? The simple answer is no, they do not.
Combined, these two superficially opposing elements of taste make up what I call my “moral musical compass” In addition, I have always felt it to be safer to have a field of grey values sitting between the two sides of this moral compass. This has always left me in a position to “change my mind” about what I am hearing, or better yet, to “put into perspective” that which I am hearing. I’ll give an example. A few days ago, I found myself talking to a complete stranger online. We were exchanging internet links which directed each of us to examples of our own works, respectively. His link took me to a video, a live performance, of a 3 piece metal band on stage at some large, tavern/club like place. As I listened to it, I found myself thinking how insulting the sound was, how harsh, loud, excessive and quite frankly, ugly. I also cast my mental opinion on the ensemble and it’s presentation as being boring, too small, unsophisticated and pathetically unoriginal. My third and final train of thought was spent on asking myself if I could find anything about it to be “good” It took me a few moments, but alas I did, I did find something good about it. Aside from the idea that it was good it was almost over; I was able to make a perspective statement on it. I was able to say that it was good for what it was.
I didn’t like it, and I would be lying if I said that I understood it’s musical “meaning” My musical moral compass enabled me to, at the very least, tolerate it’s existence. I still did not like it, but I was able to get away from my personal aesthetic, and identify the ugliness with a positive attribute. My first comment back to this person, after I had listened enough, was to say “so, a 3 piece metal band huh, I bet you guys have a lot of fun!” My “musical moral compass” doesn’t serve my ability to be tactful. I was unable to say “that was absolutely and excessively ugly!” I didn’t need to say this anyway, it would have served no purpose other than to vent my anxiety. He came back with a one or two word phrase which I missed as I was copying my own link to give to him. I immediately said to him “well, here’s some of my own stuff, but I doubt you will like it much, we work in two very different styles” He replied “Oh, you would be surprised” I thought to myself that yes, indeed I would be surprised. What would most surprise me would be if he had listened and showed interest, or asked some questions. He did not disappoint. Our conversation ran silent and I turned my focus back to writing.
I have often found myself relating to the work of others’ when often the opposite is not as frequent. Some artists would refer to this lack of response from others as “creating in a vacuum” Without critique, they would feel crippled and without influence or inspiration. I can truly say that I feel it’s important for all artists to be able to receive some feed back on what they are producing.whether it be for discovering their own material in a new light, or to get a boost of confidence, outside opinions can always be, from one degree to another, useful. I have avoided discussing the myriad of random, petty and shallow responses one gets, and intend on doing so at another time. I do not wish to combine my musical moral compass with the emotional reactions of critics, or of the artists receiving a critique. I am merely highlighting the self awareness I have of my process of accepting that which I do not like, and how it works for me. Ludwig van Beethoven once talked about ugliness and beauty as it pertains to music and the ability of a composer to write or compose both. He made it clear that any composer (of his day) could create something beautiful or pretty, or even cute. The truly gifted, he went on to say, is one who can get inside of the ugly, turn it inside out in it’s understanding, and create it true to it’s form. To create the ugly, in all sincerity, is a true test of genius. I can’t disagree with that, no sir!
Denny TJ BArCH