[Thor Joachim Haga]

FSM # 7: January 24, 2007

bruce r´s thread about “Film music for Real Life” reminded me of a somewhat related topic that I´ve wanted to start for a while. I hope you don´t mind me being a little academic here to get my point across.

In talking about our expectations to musical structures, Gestalt psychologists Juslin and Sloboda mention “intrinsic emotions”, i.e. ”music-theoretical constructs which have in common their intimate relationships to the creation, maintenance, confirmation, or disruption of musical expectations” (Juslin et al. 2001: 91). These are dependent not only on our experience with various musical forms, but also our KNOWLEDGE of these particular forms. This has to be differentiated from “extrinsic emotions”, which emanate from our memories and associations. These associations are “premised on arbitrary and contingent relationships between the music being expressed and a range of non-musical factors which also carry emotional messages on their own” (p. 94).

Now, what does all this mean? Well, imagine a teenager reading Stephen King´s book THE SHINING while listening to, say, SANTANA´S GREATEST HITS on the stereo. To him, “Black Magic Woman” will always be associated with the mood of the book….something mysterious, scary and evil. Certainly not Santana´s intention, one would assume, but it´s the result of the way our mind works. Or, to use a film music example, who can now listen to “An der Schönen Blauen Donau” without at least subconsciously thinking of dancing spaceships?

So….I was wondering if any of you have experienced this? Have you ever listened to a piece of music while doing something else or listened to a particular music “out of context” to the extent that it has received all new meaning, all new associations, that were never intended by the composer (film music or otherwise)?

Let´s share!

——-
Juslin, Patrik N. and John A. Sloboda (ed.)
Music and Emotion: Theory and Research (New York, Oxford University Press, 2001)

[Thor Joachim Haga]

Well, imagine a teenager reading Stephen King´s book THE SHINING while listening to, say, SANTANA´S GREATEST HITS on the stereo. To him, “Black Magic Woman” will always be associated with the mood of the book….something mysterious, scary and evil.

“A teenager”? Hey, that was me! Stop being so vague, young version of myself.

[Nick Zwar]

“Super Trouper” by ABBA and Brahms’ Requiem are both tied to a very personal event that happend Christmas years ago.

And I’ve got a very profane one: when I first listened to Danny Elfman’s EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, it was Christmas and I had some chocolate covered caramels. To this day I think of chocolate covered caramels when I listen to that score. (Not the worst association, I still like chocolate covered caramels.)

[Tall Guy]

Many years ago I used to wake up to the CD of Once Upon a Time in America via a very boxy music centre. I no longer play it very much, as it makes me feel that I should pull on a cheap suit and drive to the office.

[Thor Joachim Haga]

Sometimes, these things are retro-actively changed. In the mid 2000s, I was in an amateur theatre troupe, and my job was to “score” the play with cues from my film music collection (had we not been amateurs, it would have been a rights issue nightmare, I’m sure). For one of those plays, I used selections like “Face of Pan” from HOOK and “The Egg Travels” from DINOSAUR. So whenever I play those tracks now, especially “The Egg Travels”, I associate it more with the play than the film.

[Nick Zwar]

Many years ago I used to wake up to the CD of Once Upon a Time in America via a very boxy music centre. I no longer play it very much, as it makes me feel that I should pull on a cheap suit and drive to the office.

That’s why I have always avoided to wake up to any specific music or the like. 🙂

However, the phone ringtone on my cellphone is nevertheless a piece of film music, but it’s from the “bonus section”, it’s the Hardcore Newsreel music by Alan Silvestri from Predator 2. I found it both suitable and unique for a phone ringtone. So that music is tied to my phone ringing in my mind. 🙂

[Malte Müller]

(had we not been amateurs, it would have been a rights issue nightmare, I’m sure).

I guess it technically was, just that no one cared for it 😉 Here you would have to pay the GEMA for using in any public, non private performance (to be more exact the organisator of the event has to). Amateur or not does not matter at all.

[Thor Joachim Haga]

Oh gosh, I went into that trap too. Selected Oingo Boingo’s song “Dead Man’s Party” (the opening trumpet riff) for my ringtone some 20 years ago, when customized ring tones were a new cool thing. Totally regretted it, since whenever I hear that opening now, I look for my phone. Thank God I didn’t select one of my favourite film themes, like JURASSIC PARK. Would have totally ruined it for me.

[Malte Müller]

Interestingly I never used any film theme or else for a ring tone or anything else. I would probably answer the phone even less quickly then 😉

I do connect Martin Bötchers Karl May scores to driving through the country though because in my childhood we listened to that in the car when driving on vacation a lot.

[Author]

Posts