For some reason I found this mesmerizing. Only 1:21 in length so you tell me if you were as fascinated as I was. Enjoy!
And if you really like this sort of thing, enjoy the eight minute rendition of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on the organ.
Fun Friday – July 22, 2016
I’m Always Open to Submissions
Cool! It’s mesmerizing and reminded me of watching a player piano.
Fun. Thanks for sharing!
Very cool! I like watching the old player pianos too…. 🙂
Delightful! Steve, you always make Fridays so, well, fun!
This is a good peek into how musicians mentally “see” the music they play. As a drummer, certain rhythms and grooves lay in my mental grid-work, creating shapes and maintaining odd connections to colors and other ideas/thoughts. A musician has to understand how every note is related to the others, keeping track of dynamics and spacing, while also understanding how what you’re playing fits into the greater composition. Ex. drummers and bassists always need to be locked together, and if you’re not paying attention to the melody, or the guitarist (yes, even as a drummer), you’re missing the chance to breathe life into the music, and likely are in danger of damaging the composition.
It’s extremely hard to communicate musical headspace without sounding like a lunatic (partially because I think it’s a bit different for everyone), but a musician makes decisions on what and how they play with much more than just “notes in their head.” The extremely intricate ways our brains form connections between what they deem “related” thoughts or ideas can bring up odd things at odd times. And I suppose anything you spend 4-6 hours per day doing (professional musicians often practice that much, and sometimes more) becomes pretty automatic, and you end up feeling it as an extension of yourself rather than actively thinking about it as if it were a math equation.
I suppose the end result for many (definitely is for me!) is that you can almost end up seeing colors and shapes and movement on a three-dimensional mental grid. Boy that sounds weird, but there it is!
When I listen to music, even very complicated symphony music, I visualize how it looks written. My mind traces the notes on the scale. I get totally involved in the music, which is why I NEVER play music when I’m writing. Lately, I keep the radio turned off in the car, especially if I’m tired. Instead, I’m running plot and characterization ideas in my head, which sometimes causes a dangerous distraction to driving.
Now that’s fun! The music’s not only pleasant, but the light show reminded me of the “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” movie! Really cool, Steve. Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful. Loved it! Both were delightful. The organ rendition back memories of my sister performing the fugue as one of the selections during her senior organ recital in college.
Thanks for sharing.
Enthralling!
Bach was my favorite background music when deriving equations in college and at work. Something about the intricacies and near perfection meshed well with mathematical thoughts. It’s just as good for technical writing. Vivaldi works well, too. I haven’t tried either for fiction.
Question for the baroque fans: what was the piece by Bach that could be flipped top to bottom and still sounded right when played?
Carol, getting right to the point “Crab Canon” I dare say. The Baroque is my favorite time period. I have studied baroque painting in great depth while living in Germany (Nurnberg) north of Munich and traveling back and forth extensively from the U.S. a number of times to various European countries (particularly Germany, Italy and France).
There is a song (1982) that many times comes to mind, MEANT AS A COMPLIMENT, when I read your comments (it even comes complete with a Bernie Sanders look alike). This was huge in dance clubs both in the US and Europe in its day. Don’t know if you spent much time in those establishments then but I did. Tongue in cheek I would have to admit that much of my earlier days were invested in women, wine and song the rest got wasted. (lol)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FIMvSp01C8
God Bless! Have a great weekend.
Wow! That was mesmerizing.
I am recovering from post concussion syndrom, and watching/listening really stilled my mind in a wonderful way.
Thank you!
It was interesting to read Brennan’s post. I’m a musician, too. When we play, our brains are thinking in many different ways. I’ve noticed that playing from memory “feels” different from sight reading music. Sometimes I find myself playing in more emotional and inventive ways when I’m playing music for the first time. But even then, the musically trained part of my brain recognizes and responds automatically to patterns of melody, rhythmic motives, and recognizing when some aspect of the score is either dominant or subtle. Laube’s post made me laugh because,–in a very simplified rendering–it looks like my brain during a performance.
If anyone is interested, here is Bach’s “Crab Canon” played forwards and backwards at the same time. Illustrated with strange looking crabs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36ykl2tJwZM
Enjoy.
Wow. That’s the kind of scene I’d like to write. All of the dips and Crescendo’s. At one point, I perched on the edge of my seat, completely taken with the beauty. Thanks for sharing, Steve!
I’ve watched my husband play the organ – two hands and feet all having to move together, sometimes in unison and sometimes disparately. This is a visual presentation of the same thing in a flat, not 3-D plane.
If palpable: Braille …
Morse code …
what someone in an actual fugue hears and sees …
Think my son played this on Super Mario once …
Not sure if safe for those with seizures …
A computer programmer on his / her down time …
Rock Band xBox 360 …
Very cool. I played piano and the ‘notes’ are very similar just in slightly different format. Thanks for sharing this!