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Post by madein on Jun 5, 2013 8:22:59 GMT -5
Hello everybody,
This is a question, which I have been asking myself, since my first merzbow album. I wonder, how masami akita thinks, how his music should be listen to. Should this music been listened concentrated? Or should it be consumed like radio-pop parenthetically? I remember, that he said in a interview, that his music should be understand as a ''meditation''. I'm not sure what he means with that, it sounds a little bit esoteric for me.
I'm interested how you think about it. How do you listen to merzbows works? Which gear are you using (Headphones, speakers etc.)
Like all music, I am listening very concentrated. I am sitting in my armchair and I listen only to the music. Sometimes I like to listen in the dark, so i can hear more details. Genarally, music sounds at night much more pure, threre are no sounds from outside which can affect the music. I use the AKG K 701 headphones with a simple Onkyo CD Player. I like headphones more than speakers. When you listen with headphones, you can listen just for yourself, you are isolated from the outer world. The problem with loudspeakers is, that other people can hear your music. And then they think bad about you and start to commenting that.
I am looking forward for your answers!
Ps: I'm really new at the forum and english is not my native language. Excuse me for this. But this forum is the only chance for me, to talk with people with the same interest. If my english is too bad, just kick me out.
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Post by andypandy380 on Jun 5, 2013 14:36:02 GMT -5
It's always been something I've listened to alone. I remember that Anthony Fantano guy on Youtube saying noise music was 'Music Pornography', in the sense that it's not the sort of thing you run and tell all your friends about, but enjoy privately... almost obsessively. I think there's some truth in that. I tend to listen through headphones, I have all my CDs ripped to iTunes, and select a few at a time to put on my phone. I often walk to work which seems to be the best time to 'absorb' some merzbow, 35 minutes or so each way with no real distractions. I also listen very occasionally to the Merzbow vinyl I own, but I don't often find the right time to do so... almost feels like everyone else ought to be out of the house and I need something else to occupy my time while I listen to it (drawing, tidying up etc) I don't want to say I'm embarrassed by listening to noise music, my family and friends know I'm dead keen on this stuff, and many of them express how much they think it's just a load of old nonsense (and i don't begrudge them at all for thinking that). I'm just a firm believer in there being a time and a place for everything... Noise music is the stuff I listen to on my own, like a sort of indulgence I suppose. Don't worry about your English, you speak it very well indeed
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Post by madein on Jun 5, 2013 16:47:36 GMT -5
Hello andypandy,
Thank you, for your reply. It's interesting to hear about your way of thinking. I am not able to judge your opinion, but i think this is a good way of understanding merzbows music. The comparison that noise music is 'pornographic music', is interesting, but there are also other genres which could fit in this frame. It depends of the people which you are talking to. For example, if you would say at a retirement home that you enjoy listening to schlager music, the people there would never say you have a bad taste. It's like with real pornography, some people like to talk about it, but when you tell them that you like tentacle hentai, they will call you insane.
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Post by acsenger on Jun 5, 2013 22:56:51 GMT -5
I listen to Merzbow and everything else on my hifi at home (I don't listen to music on my iPod any more like I used to for two reasons: it was probably damaging my hearing and the sound quality is not exactly good). If I'm alone, I listen on the speakers. If my girlfriend is at home, then on headphones, because she doesn't like noise/experimental music. I prefer speakers to headphones because the former provide a sense of physicality, a "force" of sounds that I don't get with headphones. I'm lucky that I have a high-end hifi and listening to music on it is an experience a world away from listening on my previous $250 mass market hifi. I have a few friends overseas who have similar tastes in music but don't know anyone where I currently live. Therefore music is a private matter and something I never talk about with anyone else for reasons outlined above: they'd think I'm insane. My girlfriend knows my taste and she thinks it's weird, but she accepts it . As to how I listen to Merzbow: I listen fairly loud (just like any other music, although on headphones I don't go loud) and I "immerse" myself in the music, in the physicality of the flow of sounds. I try to pay as much attention as possible but of course, that's not always possible.
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Post by madein on Jun 6, 2013 6:34:40 GMT -5
Hi acsenger,
listening to merzbow at a high volume level, on a good speaker-system must feel very similar to live concerts. I think it is part of the ''merzbow-experience'' that sonic waves are going through the whole body and not only perceived by ears.
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Post by acsenger on Jun 6, 2013 22:27:48 GMT -5
Yes, I agree, you "feel" the music and not just hear it. Although I personally don't like too loud music (of course, what is "loud" depends on the person) and when I saw Merzbow live last year, it was too loud for me. Having said that, I had earplugs and didn't use them. I guess I got used to the loudness after a while but after the concert I thought I was stupid for not using them .
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Post by madein on Jun 7, 2013 6:19:16 GMT -5
Unfortunately, i have never been on a merzbow concert I've already bought some earplugs from a company called EAR, for the future. I wonder if masami akita is also using hearing protection when he is doing music. (You can't see his ears, because of his haircut). The only clue which I could find, is a photo in the annica booklet, where he is wearing something like a headphone? About the volume level: I like to listen to merzbow on a mid-high level. There are some recordings which are hurting my ears even on a relative low level. The problem is, that the human hearing is working linear when a sound pressure level of 80db (?) is reached. And I think when a recording has too much peaks in the frequency range of the human voice, it could be a lttle bit uncomfortable to hear that. But I'm no audiologist, it's just an idea
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Post by acsenger on Jun 7, 2013 6:42:16 GMT -5
There's a TV program about Merzbow on Youtube that was aired I think in 2000 on a German TV channel. It's not that interesting but good to watch once or twice. There are quotes from Akita in German and if my (unfortunately poor) German serves me right, at one point he says his hearing is still good and he wears earplugs on the streets and on airplanes to protect it.
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Post by madein on Jun 7, 2013 9:43:18 GMT -5
Oh, this sounds interesting. Can you please send me the link to the video?
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Post by acsenger on Jun 7, 2013 19:32:11 GMT -5
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Post by madein on Jun 8, 2013 14:06:59 GMT -5
Thanks, acsenger. I've never expectet that there was a broadcast about merzbow in the german music television. I think, the video where he is sitting in front of his computer, is representing him very well. Also, it is interesting how he is thinking about the merzbox. He called the merzbox a coffin(!) for his past works, so he can create new ways for merzbow. Does that mean, that he has let his old part of merzbow die?
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Post by acsenger on Jun 8, 2013 18:41:42 GMT -5
I didn't understand the word for "coffin" in the video, so I didn't know that's the word he used. Interesting... I think he meant that his analogue era was over with the release of Merzbox--it came out in 2000 and he started using computers in 1999. But of course he builds on what he was doing before. In a recent interview I remember he said something like listening again to the archival releases that came out in the last couple years were refreshing for him and he's trying to "relive" the mindset he had at the time he made those recordings.
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Post by madein on Jun 10, 2013 14:02:04 GMT -5
I don't want to sound impolite, but It makes me a bit sad, that the other fans are not replying to this thread. I would love to hear about your listening habits, because I think, this is an essential question.
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Post by venereologist on Jul 14, 2013 18:53:21 GMT -5
Ideally (but because I live with other people, not too often), I like to listen to Merzbow (and other noise/music in general) quite loudly.
I like to be able to have music envelope me without the need for constant, intense focus to hear and process it, even if I am not always actively listening.
As for Noise, whether I am actively listening to it, or just "vegging out" or attempting to reach a meditative state, I find high volume benefits both efforts greatly.
loud noise for "meditative" purposes (not that I ever actually "meditate" per se) acts as a sort of sonic mandala, I think.
It is enveloping and something that acts to push out other external distraction very effectively.
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Post by davebowman on Jul 20, 2016 23:09:27 GMT -5
Must be via headphones through a decent hi-fi - I can hear much more subtle differences, and you get much better effect of stereo panning effects that way, plus of course you can listen as loud as you like without the neighbours reporting you to the police! Then ideally laying down, eyes closed, letting the noise wash over me. I can have it on as 'background' music whilst I am doing something else, but then I don't pay it full attention. Occasionally however, I have been known to fall asleep whilst listening (especially if I am tackling a multi-disc boxset) - I find it strangely soothing.
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Post by crasszorro on Nov 3, 2016 1:00:17 GMT -5
I agree with much that has been said. I would like to add that getting stoned has helped me negotiate Merzbow. It is an intense ride. Take for example Tauromachine. You are listening to an assault of frequencies. Most usually there is one frequency, more prevalent or recognizable than the others, that you can ride. And it is literally like sliding down a black hole or crossing some intergalactic dimension in outer space. There are continual interruptions which you must weather. Blasts of sound that you can either choose to flinch from or relax and let wash over you. Flinching and taking these blasts like a direct blow is a very good way of following the sound and staying on a track. It is a bit dishonest because you're reacting to the blast a millisecond after it has hit you. Likewise, there is a kind of finesse and trust to relaxing and allowing the sound to happen without reacting to it immediately. It is a trust you have to develop, akin to the Zen lesson where a samurai-in-training is continually hit with a bamboo stick, anywhere and at any time. Eventually, the pupil learns to relax and not fear the unexpected hit. When this happens, remarkably the blows can be anticipated, intercepted and even played with. Neither of these two ways of listening to Merzbow are right or wrong.
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Post by noisebloom on Jul 7, 2018 16:09:57 GMT -5
When I can, I prefer to listen to it on the hi-fi very loudly. I consider myself to be quite lucky that my partner is also very fond of his music. Sometimes, though, I might listen to it on my laptop or phone instead. I might put some of his albums on my MP3 player, though I must admit I'm loath to allow for a lossy rip of such texturally rich music. To add to what crasszoro has said, I find that listening while under the influence of psychedelics, i.e. LSD or psilocybin, even more so than cannabis, is especially nice but by no means necessary; they can help with both the meditative aspects, allowing the details to reveal themselves, and letting the music reach its full synesthetic potential.
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Post by kanyewest on Jul 8, 2018 21:07:53 GMT -5
It's curious what you're saying about listening to Merzbow high because personally I really like listening to music under those circumstances, but not noise. I usually go for more accessible music at those times (I particularly like electronic music or not-too-agressive techno). Noise is a very sober experience for me, I feel like I need my full attention for it. That's also why I mostly prefer listening to it sitting and not lying down, so as to not get sleepy.
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Post by beliegha on Aug 4, 2018 17:45:11 GMT -5
I can’t listen to merzbow at home with my wife and kid.my daughter heard it once and when she sees me in a meditative state in the morning with strond coffee listening on the headphones she knows I’m listening to fairy music as she calls it lol.and after this I’ll be able to talk to people .its a way of clearing out the cobwebs of your mind. It’s great on a train ride to work ..
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Post by venereologist on Aug 26, 2018 6:45:14 GMT -5
Coffee, or any kind of moderately stimulating substances (yerba mate, strong tea) seem to pair well with any kind of music on headphones. I am listening to this (of all things) for the 3rd-4th time in a row after drinking a big cup of coffee and it's like looking into the face of God:
I wish I could conceive of a way to fuse emotive-yet-generic 90's-style house with loads of Korg M1 timbres and harsh noise in a way that wouldn't be too noise, too music, or too gimmicky. I don't think it's possible, but it could be a beautiful mix, possibly.
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Post by gokudetsu on Aug 29, 2018 3:52:46 GMT -5
here is my pure joy of noise music method all time number #1
if you have a car you are good to go, early morning time like in between 2am ~ 4am - ish
highway speed run with max volume
you will find out something lol
trust me this experience might change your life...
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