MUSIC, MIND, BODY AND SOUL

INTRODUCTION

Nothing has more intrigued humankind than sounds. Sounds are anything perceived by the human ear. It is believed that the universe started with a sacred sound called “OM” or “Aum”. In that sense, sound is the fundamental platform on which everything exists. Right from time memorial, humans have been experimenting with sound and developing devices that can emulate that sound. The humans started to study nature and the various sounds associated with it. Bamboo flutes, Lyras, Mouth Organs and Drums could be considered the oldest forms of sound producing instruments. Even the human body was used as an instrument. For example, singing or even whistling could be considered as the earliest forms of synthesisers because they use the lips or vocal tract. However, it could also be argued that these were naturally within each and every individual on the day of birth. So, it is always been the essence or the “soul” of a person. Music consists of sounds that are arranged in interesting patterns. That is possibly the safest definition of music because “good”, “pleasing”, “ordered”, “discordant”, “bad” music in the ultimate sense can mean one thing to one person and can be a totally different experience to another person. It is subjective. There are philosophical aesthetics associated with music. Otherwise, from where do all these soul searching, artist worshipping, genre distinctions, criticisms, etc. come from? Sound gives an atmosphere or a mood to the music and music exists within that sound to create a more tangible experience. In a way, music and sound are sort of two sides of the same coin. But even such a thought doesn’t stretch completely to give an authentic answer. Perhaps, in short, if an analogy is drawn here, sound can be compared to the soul and the body to the music. Soul is always believed to be “out there” and can exist without the body but a body needs soul to exist.

THE IMPACT OF MUSIC ON MIND, BODY and SOUL

– Is Music about Sex? Music’s association with sex depends on the individual’s perception about sex, background or the natural tendency. However, it is a very loose approach to equate any form of music (including rock music) with sex. If, at all, music is in any way associated with sex, it is more for sociological and not really for musicological reasons. There has always been a distinction between mental and a physical response. It is believed that classical music is a form of music that strongly expects stillness and concentration in the way music is to be enjoyed. So, it is music for the mind in many ways. Whereas the more conventional rock music seems to exhibit more bodily functions from both the artist(s) and audience alike. The fomer in terms of performing and the latter in terms of enjoying. However, there are a lot of exceptions as well. There are some serious, music-for-the-mind songs in popular music as in art-rock or avante-garde and atmospheric music (Frith, 1996). Feelings are generally expressed mentally and bodily functions are generally considered to be brainless. This forms an interesting area for a debate as there are some forms of music that are directly correlated to the body. Some forms of African music could be seen as just plainly rhythmic and something that makes a person dance. But if analysed even further, they incorporate a synchronous involvement of both body and brain. So, here, the ‘dance’ could be seen as a mental one rather than merely a physical projection. This happens because African languages use sung elements and they talk instrumentally. Body has remained a conceptual blind spot in western philosophical thought. There has always been a certain belief from a European’s perspective that African music and other ethnic forms of music are more directly in touch with their body and, hence, fundamentally rhythmic and primitive. Rhythm as opposed to what many would like to consider is about body control and not the lack of it (Frith, 1996). Frith (1996) puts it interestingly in one of his concluding chapters on rhythm, race, sex and body: In the end, music is “sexy” not because it makes us move, but because (through that movement) it makes us feel; makes us feel (like sex itself) intensely present. Rhythm, in short, is “sexual” in that it isn’t just about the experience of the body but also (the two things are inseparable) about the experience of time (Firth S. 1996:144). However, the above statement does seem slightly confusing because Simon Frith says that music is “sexy” though it does not provide a direct stimulus and then at the same time he also talks about the “feel” even though there is some substance in what he is saying. To put it into a more lucid and direct way, music can be used as a metaphor for sex because it perhaps offers the same intensive effect as sex. However, it would be right to consider music as more sensual than sexual. It is subtler and more engaging. It is on a much more genuine and on a higher level than sex. Music, in general, is spiritual and can be considered on the same platform as love as opposed to sex. It is like a permanent flow of spiritual energy that is always connected in some way to the individual and stays with the person. How much that person experiences that energy depends on his/her inner quality, dedication and sincere search. This is intrinsically opposite to some momentary form of pleasure offered in sex (which in many cases is just devoid of any feelings or love).

MUSIC, SEXUALITY, MASCULINE AND FEMININE MUSIC, SPATIAL AND CORPOREAL EXPERIENCE WITHIN TWO MUSIC GENRES

The sexual content of popular music is between the coding of the body in the voice and the organsied coding of the the body in the beat. The grain in music is a specific tonal quality of the voice that refers to the emotional outlet of the human soul. For the listener, it is the individual fascination of experiencing that voice. Michael Jackson’s vocal style is a very good example of describing this grain in the voice. He brings a certain rhythmic quality to his vocals when he sings and some indecipherable sounds. His manner of singing usually directly relates to dancing as well. Grain is the body in the voice as it sings (Mercer, 1983). In the end, a widely respected and a unique British artist Kate Bush’s following statement is very thought provoking when she was asked whether sexuality has any role to play in her music:
Well, I find it confusing because I think that the essence of all art is sensuality. And sexuality, I mean I suppose I don’t suppose I understand it fully, but I always tend to think that is something that is projected. And that sensuality is really where art is at. It’s a much more subtler expression. (Ward, 1985 cited in Gaffaweb 1996)The above remark also highlights the importance of sensuality rather than sexuality (Ward, 1985).
Masculine and Feminine Music. It is strange to note that music is given a gender or is divided in two forms. However, there may be certain kinds of music that have feminine or masculine sensibilites. It could be even for certain ideological reasons. Having said that, what it does probably mean is to distinguish one form of music to another because it has been repressed for a long time. Popular Music was at a point a male dominated industry. Women were not given enough exposure to make music. There were several female artists during the early phase of popular music from the 1950s to 1960s, but they there was an imbalance and a prejudice towards female artists. Also, they were subjected to stereotype roles in the music industry. However, all this changed with the advent of punk revolution. Punk had a really charged up idealism that was more realistic and focused than, say, the hippie movement of the 1960s where their sense of ideals were more utopian and to some extent impractical. Punk was really for the people and there were no distinctions between an artist and its audience or even between the sexes. It also had a Do-it-yourself ethic and shunned any following that was centered around mass marketing and music for commercial purposes. It was art against art kind of a movement. It was an attack on the establishment and this included the sentiments of women in music long left unaddressed by the recording industry. Punk gave female artists an exposure and showed the world the true potential they possessed unlike anything before it. Artists such as Susan Janet Ballion – better known as Siouxsie- from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Patti Smith, Pat Benatar, Kate Bush (though her entry into music predates the revolutionary punk movement that took place in Britain), Cyndi Lauper and much later even artists such as Madonna and Bjork. A woman’s music or feminine music can also be a category in that it makes an argument about mainstream music as well as about women and it emphasises what is not included- the gender prejudice that exists in the music field. It can also be something akin to an independent label wherein women have total control over what they do. That could have a social undercurrent to it, such as some feminist movement or lesbian campaign. It can also deal with more in depth subjects rather than the submissive cliched topics on love (Frith, 1996). There are some interesting topics on the subject of masculine and feminine music. Classical music, in contrast to what was expressed before – that it is music for the mind and requires the concentration and stillness of a listener- is directly or indirectly challenged by Susan McClary’s project on feminist musicology. She takes the example of classical music, highlights sexual meaning of music and changing compositional conventions. She takes the word Sonata from the German encyclopedia and analyses its meaning. Sonata has two main themes that can metaphorically relate to a sexual activity. One is the “thrusting” active male principle and the other is a passive softer feminine theme that is “giving”. Music can be enjoyed without knowing any of this and it is after all not be analysed in the ultimate sense. It does not make much sense at all. After all, music is spiritual and not material. It is really useful to understand it but to draw parallels to music in such a manner as mentioned above is the work of those have some fundamental sociological issues outside music or is a hardcore intellectual music analyst. This may be again a cultural understanding or an individual perception but it is a rather debatable topic, nevertheless (Frith, 1996).

SOCIAL IMPACT OF MUSIC

Often, music, irrespective of genre, is used as a tool for either escapism or to protest the wrong-doings in a society. It can be utopian or dystopian but there is always this theme about freedom or an idealism in most of the music. It seeks perfection and an understanding whether it is through soul searching songs or dischordant punk based music and disturbing imagery. The goals and needs are more or less one. This can be seen especially in popular music culture such as heavy rock based music. It is always reactionary. It addresses issues that are seldom talked about in classical music. Sometimes, it just forgets the world and it seemingly lives in a fanatsy world. Sometimes, it looks at the world in the eye and cries out loud. At the same time, much as it stays away from the structured and unfair norms imposed by a society, it also lends a helping hand when this very society is in urgent need of something to save itself from a catastrophe. Events such as Band Aid, Live Aid, Farm Aid, Sport Aid, Live8, Amnesty International shows are all examples of how musicians have come together forgetting not just their musical differences but also all barriers for a good cause.

MUSIC SUBVERSIVENESS AND SOCIAL HIERARCHIES

Heavy Metal music might seem to be a violent and often aggressive form of music that is completely at loggerheads with classical music or conventional popular music. Actually, heavy metal music is many respects on the same level as classical music, in terms of musical complexity and in terms of often theatric and loud screaming vocals (compared to the mythical Greek singer Orpheus). Here, violence is used as cleansing process, devil is often referenced, sensuality-fearing fanatasy, flesh-hating subjects are explored that uses disturbing imagery. However, this is exactly what makes heavy metal music so charming. It borders on sado-masculinism but with an urge to free from it through awareness of what it is rooted in. It is the male fear of flesh, fear of one’s own vulnerability and moratality and nature’s laws. It is a survivalist notion of maintaining vigilance and control, to automatise reflexes and supress the woman within. It is brutal but generally honest. It is a paradox and it is bizarrely also in some ways reflective of what is happening around you (Reynolds, 1990). Bands such as Metallica, Megadeth, Judas Priest or Anthrax introduced so many quick changes during their songs- always cutting and jabbing their guitar parts, shifts in tempos, thundering drums and there is an almost nihilistic sound in contrast to a flowing sound in most of the other genre’s music. It is perhaps here that the sensibilites of masculine and feminine sensibilities in music are divided. It also brings to mind the earlier point that was raised in classical music about sonata and the male and female principle associated with it (Reynolds, 1990). But then again, what exactly does Reynold imply here? It is incomplete and unclear. For instance, can’t it be argued that since there are female heavy metal musicians that they could be saying something similar but from a female’s perspective about “purity of form”? Secondly, there are several serious female fans of heavy metal music. On the other hand, how many males actually listen to heavy metal music and even those males (or females) who claim to be “metal” fans are also mostly bound to be oblivious of what metal music truly stands for. Probably, they are just attracted to the sound and imagery but how many of them peel the layers to find what is inside it? How many people would like to be so analytical? Finally, there are even those (irrespective of gender) that seriously listen to all forms of music, including heavy metal. So, once again this male-female sensibility and its divide that Reynolds is talking about is not at all authentic, though it sheds a bright light on the value of heavy-metal music.

AFRO-AMERICAN/BLACK MUSIC AS POTENT FORCE IN MODERN CULTURE

Rap Music, which is a short form for rhythm and poetry, not unlike heavy metal music, is believed to be a deconstruction of masculinity. It is stripped down, fleshless music that is ideally reflective of the system that we are living in. It highlights it with rhythmic vocabulary and rhyming words. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s record- ‘The Message’ is the ultimate example or should I say a real-life account of hautingly each and every incident that we either face or read about in our daily lives, especially those living in big cities. Nearly, thirty years after its release, it resonates even more strongly and is even more relevant. Right from the opening lines “Broken glass everywhere” to “Child is born with no state of mind” and the catchy chorus “Don’t push me, I am close to edge. I am trying not to lose my head” are the ultimate lines any artist with social awareness would love to write. Hip-hop/rap artists, like their punk counterparts, have a nihilistic or an anarchic sort of an attitude. It is believed to be the most genuine black music but that which unlike black rooted arts forms such as rhythm and blues or jazz have gone in the opposite direction. This relationship with the body is different from emotional association through other forms of traditional music. It’s colder, disppasionate and a survivalist retreat from the world. Like heavy metal, it is something that is made to keep a constant vigil or an awareness in self-defence. It is also dystopian like punk music (Reynolds, 1990). There is another theory and thought about Black music though. Black music represents the emotional depth and the manner in which the song is conveyed rather than the colour of the skin. Black is symbolic of darkness, pain, the “blues” and repression.

DIGITISATION, CONNECTING MACHINES AND FUNKINESS

Funk is a rhythmic form of music with complex groove lines composed by bass guitar, electric guitar and drums. It is a hybrid of soul, rhythm and blues and jazz music. With the invention of portable electronic synthesisers, digital machines such as samplers and as the recording technology in general progressed, they were used to connect it to funk music. The best examples of these are hip-hop, rap and disco music. The process of sampling is the process of taking a small section of sound from a particular song and using it in another record. This is usually carried out through either analogue (cutting and splicing tape loops) or much more easily through digital means (dedicated computer audio programs and software). These samples are then treated and created grooves, beats and chants to create a danceable funky sort of music. It has more to do with the skillfulness of a person who can create groovy samples rather than actually playing the grooves on an instrument. However, it can also be argued that the person must have some strong musical idea and a sense of music to make it work. This also bears some relation to the role of a modern day record producer who creates effects from software programs or analalogue tape machines. There are also issues related to the actual human emotions being employed while using these machines and about the actual feel of the music.

MUSIC AND CAPITALISM

Music is often split into various categories whether we like it or not just as books are categorised under various titles horror, comedy, classic, etc. Now, we have genres and sub-genres in music. Some of genres in the poular music are rock, country, folk, rap, alternative rock (which could consist of hundreds of other sub-genres), art-rock, punk, etc. This is usually done for several reasons. Radio companies, however, use it to create a new territory all together unlike the conventional approach adopted by record companies. This could be both restrictive and expansive as well. It depends on countries and their laws on broadcasting. The music is ultimately marketed to reach the consumer. There are several ways of doing this. One is through target related marketing where potential consumers would buy a record of a particular music band , say, who plays gothic rock. This also taking nto consideration the sales issue. Then there are TV advertisements, specific shows for instance on MTV where a large exposure is given to generate some interest. So, capitalism is at hand to determine the commercial and juridical rules. These include the creation of genres, divisions of labour, financial output, ownership, copyright, recording, live recording and promotion process (Frith, 1996).

MUSICAL HISTORY AND WIDER PERCEPTIONS OF TIME AND SPACE

The line between what is considered musical and amusical has blurred in the past century or so. In other words, music and noise are quite interchangeable now. As time progressed, several developments took place. The environment changed with the invention of machines and it influenced the sounds around a group of people. Industrial revolution and Electric Revolution are two prime historical events in terms of a paradigm shift in how the machine-based sounds played a huge role in the development of sound. Steam engines, typewriter, boring machine are some of the sounds that has influenced musicians even to this day. One interesting example of this is the chugging sound played on a harmonica in blues or bluegrass music. The method to store, package and distribute sound was discovered. For example, telephone enabled two long distance parties to communicate with each other, then phonograph recorded and stored sound. Radio, on the other hand was described in a figurative manner by Schafer (1977): Modern life has become ventriloquised…Never before had sound disappeared across the space to reappear again at a distance…The radio was the first sound wall enlcosing the individual with the familiar and excluding the enemy (Schafer, 1977:91-93). The advent of synthesisers and electronic equipment changed the way we experience music or sounds and they have made the musical world richer.