Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2003-08-16 22:47:17 by RichardBerg []
9/4/2001

The Marching of the Band vs. The Band?s March

Reaching back for a second to our attempt to segregate music from mere sound, I considered your definition: that music is sound which doesn?t ?point? to anything but itself. I?m not sure how you deal with seemingly immediate problems such as program music, but I agree with the essence of your theory, that the burden lies with the source of the sound; when thinking to myself in class upon hearing the challenge but before hearing your take, the definition I began to work with was the rather circular yet functional ?that which is intended to be perceived as music.?

Within these frameworks, the distinction between the two ?marches? is clear ? I think even purist band members who might consider their marching an inextricable part of the experience of watching band music wouldn?t attach it to the musical experience. Using your definition for a second, it?s not quite as clear: the music and the footsteps will each provide both external indications ? eg the location and direction (position and velocity for we math/physics geeks) of the band ? as well as cues to intrinsic musical properties tempo.

Since I?m interested in psychoacoustics I?ll say a few words on the more phenomenological distinctions we could draw. The sound of the band?s march would have for each pitch played, overtones that were clearly defined from a physical standpoint and consistent with our usual notion of instrumental sound. Looking at the sound from a footstep in an oscilloscope wouldn?t reveal nearly as many obvious patterns. Moreover, the pitches would relate to each other in simple ratios that, again, we?re all familiar with. Similarities would once again include things like the methods by which we tracked the movement of the band with our ears.


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