Hello!

Hi all,

Am new here. A little nervous. Wanting to say something to connect with others, but not really sure how to do it on a forum with "niceties". Slight smile (Have stayed offline and off social media for a good number of months to years (depending on the platform), now.)

A question I could ask, about which I wonder if others experience the same, is: When it comes to "symmetry", do you have any "unusual" things you like or need to be symmetrical?

For example, I didn't think I really had a need for symmetry, in terms of the common organising of physical items.

But then I started to analyse the type of music and sounds I like to listen to. Then I discovered that I really only like sounds that are completely symmetrical, in terms of panning, or fade-in and fade-out, or patterns of pitch. I also really like music that is structured A-B-A; it's the only structure that to me feels satisfyingly complete.

Does anyone here have anything like that?

  • Your art story made me grin. Unnecessarily symmetrical!!! As if. Lol.

  • Thanks Desmond! That's okay - music is to be enjoyed, of course!

  • Music wise I've never really thought about symmetry... I'll pay more attention next time I drive somewhere (the only time I play music really). I prefer female vocal music (well females voices in general really)... but I can rarely understand the lyrics... it's more about the sound.

    I remember years ago being sad when my art teacher pronounced my final peice as "derivative and unnecessarily symmetrical".

  • I love most forms of music, but am a complete n00b regarding the technical aspect of music. (I can never tell which note is wich)

    Welcome on bord!

  • Good point, about Bach's use of voice! 

    Which pieces of Bach, Haydn and Brahms do you like?

    I haven't listened to as much Haydn and Brahms. I'm not sure why, but I tend to stay in my little realm of keyboard art music the most. So I could do with orchestral recommendations.

  • That's really interesting to me. I find it fascinating how emotion is conveyed in music, and how people prefer it to be conveyed.

    I find that my own taste is for pieces that convey a single emotion, in a way that all the musical elements are tightly, accurately linked to the characteristics of that emotion. This does include some Chopin and Beethoven. :) I tend to search for music in which the conveying of emotion is clear, but not cliched.

    I can't stand a lot of film music, though, for the same reason you dislike the 19th Century romantics. :)

    Bach's counterpoint is wonderful to me. It's not my preferred thing to sit and listen to, but I love to study it and appreciate it.

  • I love Bach, Haydn and Brahms, but really cannot stand Vivaldi, Liszt and Debussy. :)

    Tastes naturally differ, but it wouldn't surprise me if most autistic musicians put Bach first and Debussy close to last. Bach is the most logical of composers, Debussy the least.

    And when Bach writes for the voice, he treats the voice as an instrument.

  • I think that it is because the human voice is the ideal medium for expressing emotion, and instrumental attempts at inducing emotion in me feel artificial and fundamentally irritating. I feel like I'm being manipulated or conned. I love Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, but really cannot stand Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy. 

  • Hi. That's really interesting. What are the reasons, do you think, that you prefer different things in each of vocal and instrumental music?

  • Hello. My musical tastes are not based on symmetry but I have noticed that I like vocal music to be emotional, I like Blues and Flamenco, for example. However, for instrumental music, especially orchestral, I much prefer it to be very precise and mathematical. Therefore, I like Baroque music, but really dislike the music of the Romantic movement of the 19th Century.