Hard Blast - Are you a good listene?

Are you a good listener?

By: Sanni Marit

It's Sunday morning in Finland. Radio is on as it was in my childhood too. The red-leather Schaub-Lorenz radio followed us everywhere and I loved the magic of it. The voices were like a parallel world and it still fascinates me how words, voices and sounds can affect us. Father used to tell us stories and some of H.C.Andersen's fairy tales were read over and over again. Auditive communication, words, books, music and radio let imagination more space than tv and films. We did not listen to classical music so much, but I used to switch the channel to symphony because I wanted to conduct the orchestra. I took the longest knitting needle from mother's basket and loved the powerful moments when music grew big or was vulnerable like a butterfly.

As a confirmation of my true love for radio there's a scar in my leg, got it in a fight with my siblings by a broken radio antenna. It was a good toy and worth a fight because the length was adjustable so it worked in many purposes and plays, like a teacher's pointer.

I enjoy being single at moments like this...While listening to radio this morning I have again had many thoughts and feelings, I've wondered, smiled and cried and nobody feels neglected when I sit with the headset on fingers on the keyboard. Or take a break, close my eyes and let the music lead and dance. The cats look bored. Olivia just opened her eyes and slowly closed them again, probably thinking: "Blah..she's got no style, no elegance."

Some recent discussions about "good music" lead me to this topic. On what basis we listen to and like/dislike music? The same facts can be seen either as strengths or weaknesses depending on the mood and attitude of the listener. For example; a new band with a debut album and an old band with professional musicians and several albums. There are always critics who find mainly the negative in both: the new bands need more experience and audience and cannot get radio play or aren't worth writing a review, or they always remind of some other band and simply cannot be heard as themselves. Then again the same person might see the highly skilled and experienced bands unable to bring up anything new (without seeing that it could be he who is unable to hear it...) and blame the bands to be old studio musicians who are not playing with their heart in it. Sometimes he forgets to ask, whose heart is actually missing in the interactive process of playing and listening.

With regards to working life, I saw a refreshing article about "a good employee" instead of "a good boss". What about to define "a good listener" instead of always talking about good or bad music? It requires fight to remain opened and free from prejudice and cynicism. In many cases the problem is inside the listener rather than the music, but even some professional journalists deny that and project their own respect, flattery, frustrations, envy and numbness, sometimes forgetting that the music itself is in the main role, not who is playing and with what credits. Luckily there are also those who have been writing in magazines and hosting their radio shows for decades but have succeeded in remaining open for all music and free from the killing cynicism. And in case they have limitations they can admit it.

The twisting effects in the commercial media can't be denied and hopefully the species of true journalists is not killed out and breed the sexy clowns with no substance instead.

The more I get possibilities to listen to new music in the mixing and mastering phase, the more I both enjoy and get annoyed of my non-pro skills. To listen to each sound is quite tiring for ears. Music is an endless source of emotions and stories and a channel to release them too and I never want to focus on a single sound or technique if it reduces the ability to fully enjoy music. By fully I mean various dimensions, levels and ways, from physical to emotional, from superficial to spiritual, from conscious to unconscious. Music touches the whole body and mind and as we are like glasses, it is easy to understand that pouring too much music in a glass is not possible. Without silence we cannot really hear. The better the music the stronger that touch is and also the more there is hunger and thirst in some areas, the better it feels. It just needs to hit the right places, preferably heart.

I know the struggle there can be when composing and writing lyrics. Anyone can cook according the written instructions and exact recipies, but food becomes special only when it is prepared with a touch of madness, brave additions of this and that and sometimes also accidents happen. Oops, too many spices or too much red hot chili pepper! Is it then up to the one who made it or the one who tastes it? The same soup but opinions vary from "Yesss!" to "Surprising!", "Awful!" and "Too hot for me.". All opinions are right, but listeners could take some honor of the joy or responsibility of the disappointment to themselves too. It was their own personal reaction and opinion and a lot of that is based on how they react to what they did not expect or in case of the soup being prepared literally by the recipe, how they deal with the safe and familiar stuff.

Hopefully mainstream music will become as wide and colorful as the globe. I wish that at the same time when we have to take individual responsibility for the environment and peace, we adopt more self-confidence in all consumption, including music. I hope decades, ages and genres will lose their limiting meaning. Listeners are the lifeline for every player in music business. Long live all kinds of music, radio channels, journalists and above all, independent and free listeners! We are the luckiest of all players.

I'm off to forests and silence for a couple of hours, to look for some blueberries and delicious mushrooms. Take care of your ears!

Untitled Document

Hard Blast 2010