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Sometimes I wonder, if we discovered a new civilization on a new planet and made contact with them, one of the first interest I would have about them is to know if they have music. And if so, LISTEN TO IT!!!
Their music would be totally new (no human influence, apart from maybe having abducted an human while he was listening to his mp3 player...) because they come from another planet! What would it be like?
Maybe we could not even know it's music, our ears simply not recognizing the concept. If we could listen to it, I wonder if there are some melodies that would be exactly like ours, some universal compositions of music that is inevitable while discovering music...
The first songs we would probably hear from them would be their "commercial" music, like them hearing the radio or a Celine Dion and Luciano Pavarotti homage to their venue. We would have to wait and dig into their musical repertoire...what a pleasant activity it would be...
Maybe one day... Only time will tell (Mike Oldfield song about space)
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Hmmmm. Interesting...
Music obviously has huge importance for humans, but do any other of the earthly lifeforms demonstrate any form of musical activity ?? Would we know if they did ?? Could bird-song be music of some sort, or whale calls ??
Sound - and therefore to some extent music - can be expressed using physics & or mathematics, and maths certainly plays a part in musical notation as we know it, so if these sciences are universal, there's a possibility that alien music could exist.
As long as their music hasn't developed along a parallel with Cliff Richard, I'd give it a go !!
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Yes, maybe music is a human thing, and even if some sort of alien intelligence exist, maybe they are not interested in music. Music doesn't necessary comes with intelligence; I mean we can't prove that yet.
Sometimes I look at a cat or dog while there's music playing: they couldn't care less. Cats are always aware of any tiny sounds in their environment; but music seems to be a background noise for them.
And what about this Cliff Richard? I don't know him, is he so bad?
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Drealm Wrote:And what about this Cliff Richard? I don't know him, is he so bad?
He was an appalling UK Elvis wannabee from the late 50s, who's still around & still inflicting his ghastly music & opinions on the world.
You're better off not knowing him !!
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I read somewhere that the brain is organised like an orchestra with different parts fading in and out, sometimes with a lot of activity and sometimes without but in order for this to work properly there was a need for an underlying rhymn so that this orchestrated activity could work properly.
- so maybe that's part of the reason that we have the sort of music we have and how it can be so mood-altering? So I suppose that if music is an echo or reaction to our physiology, then it would all depend on what type of world the aliens are from.
- nothing more satisfying than an unprovable theory
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Actually it would be more basic than this - part of the reason we have the music we do is because we have the necessary physical means to sing in a complex way - I guess that's why us (and birds) have music as a large part of our culture and dogs and cats e.g don't - and don't react.
Also apparently verbal communication (including song) is processed in a different part of the brain than reactionary noises - like screams or warning shouts
I don't think animals that don't sing have anything that we would equate to music - do they? So I reckon if aliens aren't very like humans, then the chances are that they won't have music.
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The last time I was abducted by aliens, they let space-leeches crawl in my ears, eat all my brain matter, and turn me into the babbling mutant I am today...You know, like that Star Trek movie with the Fantasy Island dude...So my experience was kind of limited.
But assuming the next ones are more diplomatic, I think the original post is correct, in that they would expose us to a limited selection of their most commercial tunes, and you'd probably have to stay awhile until you find a hipper crowd of aliens who listen to the real deal.
I think whether they have good music and an appreciation for it will depend on whether it's a good planet or an evil planet. Rush's 2112 seems accurate in that, with the possible exception of mind-numbing, crowd-appeasing commercial nonsense, evil overlords tend to think music is a dangerous, subversive force that can lead to free-thinking and a questioning of the system.
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kvincent5555 Wrote:Star Trek ... Rush's 2112
You definitely need to listen to the movie Fanboys, but I'm sure this is already done...
