Just make it sound good. If it sounds good to your ear, then it works....

if i was in the business of re-inventing the wheel, that would be great advice.

Are you reinventing the wheel? I simply was suggesting that you make cool sounding music....

nah, its cool man :) there are some people that try and express themselves with music. I try to find out how music wants to express itself. Fortunatly, we have centuries of giants that came before us who were also interested in this topic. This post was just me tossing out a line and seeing what sort of bite i got.

I like it....stirin' up the POT...

Barney,

Well, I will concede that if it sounds good to YOUR
ears, it works. I'm not so sure I'd give that advice
to just anyone, though. :)


Kelly

I agree with you that musical consonance is subjective. What I was hoping is that it would sound good to the individual's ears. I firmly believe that each individual will "know" something that works for them when they hear it, if they will really listen and allow themselves to hear.

"musical consonance is subjective" = good point.

I also offer that it is 'situational'. Boldly put; what works in Paranoid might not work in Autumn Leaves.

Booya.

Exactly!!!

Barney,

While musical consonance is indeed subjective,
what I meant was that your ears are better trained
than those of many.

And while I think your sentiment is noble, I also
think it is a bit, well, optimistic, as is
evidenced by shows like American Idol. A lot of
those people really think they have what it takes
to be stars. Or even to sing. Their problem is
often that their standard of musical consonance is
quite low, astoundingly so in many cases.

I think any individual can be trained to
"know" something that works, but I think they
must be trained in one way or another. Some
people get their training informally and
unconsciously by just picking these things up
through osmosis from their musical family, others
pick it up from the music they listen to despite
the fact that none of the rest of their family can
reliably play the radio. Most people, however,
need to really work at it, and consciously accept
training.

Some people just get it, but for others, before
they can really listen and allow themselves to
hear, they must first be taught what to listen
for, and how to hear.

Kelly

Yeah, some might have to learn how to identify what they really like, especially the tadpoles out there. I guess I was assuming a certain level of experience in the recipient of that post. There I go assuming again...