A Note on Notes

Are you into music? I mean really, really into music? Do you hear a song and ache for it to go on to retain a feeling? Could you happily sit in front of speakers for hours listening with no other stimulation? If so, welcome to my world.

I have always loved music. Some of my earliest memories of childhood include singing (which I’m not good at) and attending concerts. For the record, my first was the Pointer Sisters, and no, I’m not exactly proud of that fact. It seems that my childhood was mostly spent listening to the radio, to tapes, and to the odd record.

As I’m sitting here on July 4th, 2010, I was thinking about the relevance of my existence during these times. Sounds deep? It wasn’t. You see, I am listening to classic concerts and regretting the fact that I couldn’t experience them. All of these bands that I love, and I can only relive their moments through digital replication. So of course I thought that I would have preferred to center my lifespan in a time when these concerts were created.

And then I realized that this course of thought was useless. No, not because I can’t change the passage of time, but because the span would be to vast. Would you like to sit with the Habsburgs listening to an original Handel? I would. Would you rather catch a studio performance of Lightnin’ Hopkins? I want to do both. How about sitting in a pew of Toronto’s Church of the Holy Trinity to catch the Cowboy Junkies? Could someone do all this on one stage, please?

I submit that one of the greatest advantages of modern technology is the availability of entertainment. Music, movies, and games all on demand and at our fingertips. I, for example, do not have the space for a full drum kit. Instead, I have a collapsible electronic kit which allows me to govern noise levels and footprint while still being able to create and enjoy. I have a MP3 player with which I carry thousands of my favorite songs in my pocket. They are ready for me to listen at my convenience.

In other words, while it is tempting to think of living earlier and enjoying a specific concert, I would rather live now with the facsimiles of everything ever recorded.

We live now in a time when so much music is being created. Popular and independent, bands, solo artists, and composers have more access to their art than at any other point in history. You and I get to take full advantage of the situation. We can create through access to instruments that are of a higher quality, and yet cheaper, than ever before, home-based recording and playback systems, and internet-based distribution methods. And for those that choose not to create, we can choose specific genres, artists, albums, or even songs to make up our personal on-access libraries.

Music is one of the purest and most accessible forms of artistic expression available. Enjoy it!