# With the Ears of Aliens



## Jaime77 (Jun 29, 2009)

All this talk about contemporary music on another thread has made me question the abstract nature of music. 
I wonder what an alien visitor from a distant galaxy would ask if he/she/it came to earth and heard music for the first time and saw people sitting listening to it, dancing to it or otherwise. 

If this ET had one question, what might it be?


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## nickgray (Sep 28, 2008)

Chances are he won't get it at all. The so-called harmonic series, the air pressure required to perform "our" music, the organs required to hear it (and freq. response), etc. Still, it can be interesting to imagine what alien music may be


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## Jaime77 (Jun 29, 2009)

I was wondering if the question mightn't be 'what does it mean?' Sitting around listening to sounds is bizarre in many ways. Alien music.. I'd pay for a download like that


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

There is a mathematical relationship in most music, although I understand we fudge a little bit with our well-tempered scales. I think they would be able to understand the mathematics and the rhythms perfectly, but they may think it an alternate form of our language. 

I just heard a really interesting podcast with a lady researcher who was preparing an audio essay. Professional audio engineers loop certain segments of the audio to make sure the "P's" don't pop or the "S's" don't hiss too much. When she looped one phrase then got interrupted she went off and left it running, having forgotten about it. 

Later she started hearing someone singing. She couldn't place it at first, then realized it was the loop of her own voice she was working on. It was an ordinary sentence spoken normally, but had perfect pitch and was a nice unforgettable melody. It was the repetition that brought the melody out. 

This incident led her and other researchers to sumise that speaking is a form of singing and that the rising and falling tones in everyday speech carry as much info as the words themselves.

Anyway - I think if a race is going to have a spoken audible language, they are going to have music too, and chances are good it's going to have the same mathematical relationships that harmonies have universally.

My only concern is that they will wind up revering that rap guy - what's his name? Enema? Or someone else as egregious.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

We already can listen to alien music, it's played by avant-garde band called Magma.


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## Jaime77 (Jun 29, 2009)

Language and music, same part of the brain, right? Like I mentioned, they might want a translation of the music into a language they understand thinking it to be like verbal language. It is quite amazing we sit for hours listening to a non-verbal language that we can't directly explain. It is possible another race would not think in these terms, they might think it is meaningless language.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Aramis said:


> We already can listen to alien music, it's played by avant-garde band called Magma.


Right on about Magma!

or 5uu's, or Univers Zero, or any of a number of other RIO (rock in opposition) and progressive groups.


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