Music Is My Life

My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary. - Martin Luther.

Have you known anyone who hated music? Songs? Regardless of where you are from, music resonates in the human heart, in your culture, in your life. Music pervades all areas and facets of life. It is found in your home, at the cinemas, in pubs, restaurants, on your devices, TV, radio, in sports etc. You play music or listen to songs when you are happy or sad. Music can change your mood, inspires, sets your adrenalin flowing or just simply lets you appreciate. Gets you excited, makes you calm or when you fall in love or...lust.

Music is an universal language. It transcends borders and across cultures. It has history, heritage, influences. It is also borrowed and mixed into other cultures. The genres of music and songs are endless. Music is artistic by nature and genres can quite easily overlap. You have Art or Classical music, Traditional or Folk, Pop, National, Themes, Jazz, Fusion, World music and New Age, etc. 

Equally or even more astounding are songs. They ranged from Ballads, Country, Rock, Acappella, Acid, Blues, Bossa Nova, Dance, Disco, Electro, Funk, Folk, Hip Hop, Jazz, Indie, New Age, Pop, Punk, Rap, Salsa, Samba, Heavy Metal, Swing, Themes, World music, etc. 

 

Like many of you out there, my influence started early, listening repeatedly to top tunes from the Rediffusion box as a very young child with no concepts to understand or begin with. The Beatles, Rolling Stones plus many golden songs of that generation from many artistes and band groups continuing into our youth hearing Casey Kasem's American Top 40 Countdown at my friend Lionel's house when we didn't have Rediffusion at home any more. If you hope to have the music kept with you you need to go out there to buy a cassette tape. You can only catch Solid Gold once a week for the top songs a good time lapse away after being released. You may not even know how the artistes looked like back then. It was this time that many of us wanted to be in a rock band or something. It was cool!

 

Dad was another influence not entirely musically but in high fidelity. Those were the times where the turntable rules the roost and Linn Sondek was such a big name. Purists today still believe that nothing beats a stylus hitting the vinyl. We were into tuners for radio channels, amplifiers and pre-amplifiers, cassette decks (later CD player) and of course the speakers and also later monster cables, etc. I remembered dad playing with B and W and Bose, first the 501 and later the professional 901. I realised I was not just into and sold on music and songs but also acoustics and sounds. 

 

Of course the Japanese have their Technics, Sony, Pioneer, Hitachi, Onkyo, Yamaha, Sansui, etc. They were good in new shiny products and latest designs but they tend to do everything in the entire set. Rogers speakers from the UK, Bose from Massachusetts, USA, Bang and Olufsen - a Danish company, Marantz from New York, USA. Companies like Bose and Marantz took after their founders' names. I started dabbling with hi-fi and later included the hi-fi in my car littering it with split components. How did we tolerate the inconvenience of dismantling them when you sold your car and refitting them when you got your next vehicle and burned  a hole in your pocket. 

I play my hi-fi like I play my golf clubs. I do not hold a firm belief that a single company has all the answers to all equipments just like no man or organisation holds all the wisdom. Many have tried and they did very well and maybe even got close. I do not think great speakers manufacturers make good CD players for example or vice versa. That was the same reason I went into research on golf equipment as well in order to comprehend the history. 

The wealthy and the purists could opt for sound systems priced to shoot into the stratosphere from tens of thousands to a few hundred thousands. I needed to save space and money yet wanted a good enough sound for audio as well as home theatre. Something as a small reward for years of blood, sweat and tears.

I went back to Bose (years back) after their demo which included playing the highest to the lowest pitch, movies, audiophile music and vocals - both stereo and surround home theatre and at the end after the acoustic gymnastics and big sound, they unwrapped the big boxes and lo and behold - tiny cube speakers that can make your home look like a bungalow. So I pick then over getting a bungalow.

 

It has been more than 10 years now and recently encountered some problems. They managed to rectify it by some parts replacement and bingo the speakers are back in business. 

I had an old gramophone that was playable but soon ran out of records and the old stylus. Even the sound of a gramophone is unusually amazing as it brought back fond memories of years gone by. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cekJd1SNytU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx02oTgfxVU

His Master's Voice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG-xJ6UQwgg

Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't from the time of the gramophone. I just like them. People will dance and sing to music and songs. When you watch a movie, it is usually the movie themes that resonates long after the movie was over. You remember the times.

In movies they depicted angels playing music with a harp in heaven. Music is in your culture, in your mind, in your blood, in every moment of your life.

Music can inspire, calm, soothe, pick you up, help you reminisce, bring back great memories, share wonderful moments.

It is in your souls. In your minds. In your generation. Music is life. Will life be the same without music and songs?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTXa6Ztuu3s

As time and tears go by with some laughter, I shall be sharing with you truly wonderful songs and music because music also heals. Music is life. Music is my life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn20mVAkWRw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfM9gQkfwyg (Abba)

Music is love and love is music. I believe in music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZNqhnEIoCA