mu•sic \"myü-zik\ n 1 : the science or art of combining tones into a composition having structure and continuity; also : vocal or instrumental sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony 2 : an agreeable sound

© 1995 Zane Publishing, Inc. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary © 1994 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

"To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable." - Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990)

"In my music I'm trying to play the truth of what I am. The reason it's difficult is because I'm changing all the time." - Charles Mingus (1922 - 1979)

"When music fails to agree to the ear, to soothe the ear and the heart and the senses, then it has missed its point." - Maria Callas (1923 - 1977)

What can one add to explain the impact of music on man, to explain the effects that music has on the human senses. Music is an emotional expression through vocal and instrumental sounds usually enhanced through tone, timbre and texture. Music is shaped around the world according to cultural standards of rhythm, melody and harmony. Although music involves vocals and sounds of all kind, musicians and for that matter, also the listeners in each culture have tended to restrict the range of sounds that they will admit.

As for myself, I have also tailored the genres of music down to those that suit my tastes. If a particular genre or type of music is not covered in these pages, it does not mean that I have some distaste to that particular kind of music. However I do have one particular requirement when it comes to enjoying my music, and that is performance. I like music in its true sense, performed by musicians and vocalists. I have always enjoyed listening to music by imagining in my mind the musicians performing their talents the best that they can, seeking perfection in what they do. It is for this reason that I am not particularly inclined towards modern Dance and Popular music as more and more of these human performances have been replaced by computer generated digitized sounds. Music of this kind is killing the performance substituting it to a form of 'acting' made to look like performing. Furthermore, I believe that a musicians performance is best judged when performed live in front of an audience with no edits, overdubs or corrections of any sort made to a recording before you hear the final thing. I do mean 'performed' here as lately we have seen many so called musicians appear in front of audiences and tv cameras only to be miming their act together in harmony with the recorded music played on the air. Isn't it nice to have the host run on stage after the "performance" to interview the band starting from the vocalist only to find that his reply to the first question cannot be heard as the sound engineer has forgotten to open the mic level for the singer whose voice now has to be heard. and when you finally hear him/her talk, isn't his/her voice different from the "performance" you have just listened to? Of course, this is the voice free from artificial processes and effects that usually take days or weeks to perfect to the maestro's liking inside the recording studio. I don't know about you but if you are a serious music listener, I think you will agree with me that this is not the way forward for music and this proves to one and all why the careers of such "musicians" is relatively short lived. The human senses tire quite quickly of this type of sound. There is not enough creativity left to tap into unless some sort of new electronic gizmo is put on the market providing some sort of different sound that might capture the attention of an ear or two for a few more weeks.

Now look at the modern Dance Floors. where are those days where you could dance for your favorite Dance, Pop, Rock and Romantic music? Gone are the days of dancing to your favorite Tina Turner, Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker   songs. The list was endless. What do you find nowadays? A number of extra extended noise "mixes" running for quite a long time. You start to wonder whether the performers of these songs are actually in the studio while recording or across the road in a pub drinking their favorite lager. For that matter even DJ's may nowadays have their pay reduced considerably as they are having to do less and less talking. With today's dance tracks DJ's can even step down from their podiums and head for a chat by the bar while music infidels move their bodies to a repetitive string of computer generated noises. To add insult to injury you even find that new genres and classifications for these kind of tracks have been invented; Techno, Acid, House, Garage, Underground etc. What next - Roof,   Alkali, Garden music maybe?