I don't trust that this will go any better than it did with Holla Forums, however discussion is still discussion. Perhaps you guys will give me some insight on where or if I am wrong.
Where is the truth in music? Music does not represent anything in the material world. It has no objectivity. It can not be measured and can not be a true art.
Why would the seeking of truth be necessary for something to be called art?
If there is any domain where subjectivity is the rule, it's art.
You're looking for an arts & humanities board.
I think music has no obligation to be truthful at all, the same way literature, culture or any art has to. The fact you are looking for truth in music is misguided, and should be enjoying it for what it is. Its hard, most music isnt oetry so cant be looked into to deeply, but good songs are either stories or just sound. I prefer the latter but most pop music you wont find either, and i have a feeling thats the genre youre looking for the truth in, which is why you are so disgruntled.
What are you talking about? Of course it can be measured in reality. Sound waves are a function of material reality, and the patterns that they form are easy to measure.
Things most true are most beautiful. Simplicity is divine.
Well, in a board where subjectivity is one of it's core principles I should've expected less. Literature certainly is subjective. Culture to less of a degree but still remaining (subjective). Speech and language is a tool for expression. The Arts are objective. The human need for perfection is good, since perfection is objective. Music is not an art form. It certainly does have it's merits, however I don't think it is superior to that of wine and sleep.
But what do they represent? A statue of a man is beautiful because it is true. Is a sound wave beautiful for being itself? Can a wave in the ocean be considered itself? Both things are voids, ever changing and not truly it's own.
This doesn't even make sense.
Correction, you find them the most beautiful.
My taste are slightly different, weirdness is attractive to me.
I'm under the impression that you get that view of the Good is the Truth is the Beauty from Antiquity, but even they knew that de gustibus et coloribus non disputandum.
No, a pattern of sounds is beautiful, because it causes a memory-based emotional reaction. Music is a language made of recognizable symbols. To someone who has grown up listening to Western music, a C-major chord suggests truimph while an A-minor chord sounds solemn and introspective. Chords, scales, and even notes correspond to specific emotions which we have, without knowing, associated them with. It is like a leitmotiven system.
Even the timing of songs communicate different emotions. For example, if you find that a song makes you want to dance, odds are that it is in 3/4 time. If a song has around sixty beats per minute it inspires a sense of calm. Music is not some unquantifiable, nebulous thing.