How to truly listen

"How to truly listen", this catchy title caught my attention. It prompted me to watch and how I glad I did. I ran a check on Evelyn Glennie, the talented percussionist. She is now 50, born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Ironically, wiki says "Glennie has been profoundly deaf since the age of 12, having started to lose her hearing from the age of 8. This does not inhibit her ability to perform at an international level. She regularly plays during both live performances and studio recordings to feel the music better. Glennie contends that deafness is largely misunderstood by the public. She claims to have taught herself to hear with parts of her body other than her ears. In response to what she described as mostly inaccurate reporting by the media, Glennie published "Hearing Essay" in which she discusses her condition."

Is it amazing? She is truly deaf can hear, what a spirit. At times, I just turned on my system to give some background music while I was browsing the net. I wasn't listening. If you are serious about listening, get your notebook out of sight and switch your mobile to silent mode. You can only listen when you are isolated from external "interference". You get yourself prepared when going to a concert, you conditioned yourself to a concert. Treat your system the same as though you are to your own hifi system. Visual sensation is the only thing that you wouldn't receive. Light off , the sound gets clearer and less hazy due to lighting induced power pollution. Listening is more than hearing through our ears but our skin too, we feel the nuance of music. Beethoven did it, and now Evelyn Glennie.

We all love a particular musical instrument for its timbre. That doesn't stop audiophiles from sonic personalization. Anyway, humans like to be perceived as a unique individual. There will be pro and con, some may like it and some may not like it, we have to settle for the equilibrium. The question is whether the sonic personalization over deviate, only after test play with a variety of music, we will know. This led us to why some speakers are picky with playing materials, which good speakers shouldn't have music favoritism. One trick pony will soon loses its appeal.

I am not that crazy about hyper detail for I trust the qualified mixing personnel. Hyper detail is a double edged sword, it will distract you from music. On the contrary, music must exhibit some rawness to sound real. In my opinion, a system is not about how much detail you can squeeze out from your system. No, no, no, it's how much music you could derive.

And so, you can tell that I don't like Jascha Heifetz nor Ruggiero Ricci, or the work of Nicolo Paganini or Henryk Wieniawski. Too technical and too showmanship inclined, Felix Mendelssohn did not like Nicolo Paganini's works either. He thinks his work showcases his virtuosity, rather than the depth of music. As illustrated in his Caprice 24 pieces, too much staccato make me unrest. Little phrasing, how you bow glide across the strings to evoke emotional intent. Emotion conveyance is part of the music. If music doesn't move you, it is really a sad thing. I'm a big fan of music flow and at the same time, an organic guy, prioritizing fluency of music and wholeness. To sound like the real thing, ambiance must be preserved. The last thing I want is in a system is like a detail box, harden, mechanical and lifeless. Try Paganini Caprice 24 pieces, see if it irritates you.

Lastly, marketing people will cleverly polish their tag line to play with your mind. It is dangerous once the tag line gets into your mind, you start to build irrational reasons to support tag line. Ridiculous marketing claims such as the best so and so is all bullshit because the industry itself couldn't agree upon the definition of what is good. These are the cookies that will make you go astray from your initial objective. Good luck.