How Music Works

1. Context, Not Just Emotion, Shapes Music

I believe that we unconsciously and instinctively make work to fit preexisting formats.

Form follows function. The physical space, social setting, and available technology where music is heard profoundly influence its creation and meaning. Music isn't just an outpouring of internal feeling; its form is often tailored, consciously or unconsciously, to fit the context. This is the opposite of the romantic notion of creation emerging purely from within.

Examples across history. Different environments favored different musical styles.

• Percussive music carries well outdoors (African drumming).
• Slow, modal music suits reverberant cathedrals (Gregorian chant).
• Intricate, detailed music fits smaller, deader palace rooms (Mozart).
• Loud, rhythmic music works in noisy bars (Jazz, Punk).
• Anthemic, simple music suits reverberant arenas (Arena Rock).
• Bass-heavy music is optimized for car sound systems (Hip-Hop).
• Detailed, dynamically static music works well with headphones (MP3s).

Perception is relative. The same piece of music can be perceived entirely differently depending on where and how you hear it. What sounds spiritual in a cathedral might sound like "sonic mush" outdoors, and vice versa. This highlights that music's effectiveness and even its identity are tied to its surroundings.

2. Performance is Constant Adaptation and Evolution

The simple act of getting on stage is in itself artificial, but the dogma provided a place to start.

Performance is learned. Being a compelling performer is a skill developed over time, often through trial and error in various contexts. David Byrne's own journey involved adapting from shy folk singer to busker, art-school provocateur, minimalist rock frontman, and theatrical showman, influenced by diverse experiences like:

• Playing in noisy bars (CBGB).
• Street performing (Busking).
• Seeing choreographed acts (James Brown).
• Observing non-Western theater (Japanese Kabuki, Balinese ritual).
• Witnessing ecstatic religious practices (Gospel church).

Embracing artificiality. Instead of striving for a false sense of "authenticity" or naturalism on stage, performance can be powerful precisely because it is stylized and theatrical. Costumes, choreographed movement, and transparent staging can enhance emotional impact rather than diminish it, as seen in the Stop Making Sense tour's deliberate reveal of its own construction.

Audience interaction matters. The audience's behavior and expectations are part of the performance context. Performers adapt to whether audiences are expected to sit quietly, dance, talk, or shout requests. This dynamic interaction, whether explicit or implicit, shapes the energy and flow of a live show.

3. Technology Fundamentally Reshapes Music Creation and Experience

Just as photography changed the way we see, recording technology changed the way we hear.

Recording is not neutral. From Edison's early cylinders to digital files, technology has never been a passive mirror of sound. Each medium has inherent biases and limitations that influence what is recorded and how it sounds.

• Early cylinders favored voices/horns, suppressed drums/bass.
• Microphones enabled crooning and intimate vocals.
• 78s/45s encouraged shorter song lengths (3.5 minutes).
• LPs allowed for longer, thematic compositions.
• Cassettes enabled portability, home recording, and mixtapes.
• 12" singles emphasized low frequencies for clubs.
• Digital recording (CDs, MP3s) offered convenience but introduced new sonic artifacts and "volume wars."

Recording consciousness. Over time, listeners internalized the sound of recordings, leading to an expectation that live music should sound like records. This reversed the traditional relationship, where recordings were meant to capture live performance.

Music as information. Digitization, driven by telecommunications, reduced music to data (ones and zeros). This enabled:

• Efficient transmission and storage (MP3s).
• Precise manipulation (pitch shifting, time stretching).
• New compositional techniques (sampling, quantizing, MIDI).
• The rise of music as a portable, private experience (Walkman, iPod).

4. The Recording Studio Became a Compositional Instrument

As Eno observed at the time, the recording studio was now a compositional tool.

Beyond capture. The studio evolved from a place to merely record live performance to a creative environment where music could be constructed layer by layer. Multitrack recording allowed instruments to be isolated, overdubbed, and manipulated independently.

Deconstruction and reconstruction. The dominant philosophy became isolating instruments in soundproof booths to achieve pristine, "dead" sounds that could be shaped and combined later in the mix. While this offered control, it sometimes hindered the organic interplay of musicians.

New creative processes. The studio enabled entirely new ways of writing music:

• Building tracks from repetitive grooves and textures.
• Arranging songs by switching groups of instruments on and off.
• Using prerecorded music beds as inspiration for melodies and lyrics.
• Incorporating found sounds and voices (My Life in the Bush of Ghosts).
• Creating sounds and arrangements impossible in live performance ("Drugs").

Home studio revolution. The advent of affordable digital recording gear brought studio capabilities into homes, drastically reducing costs and empowering artists to control the entire process from writing to mixing. This shifted the economics and accessibility of music production.

5. Collaboration, Even Unconventional, Fuels Creativity

I discovered early on that collaborating is a vital part of music’s essence and an aid to creativity.

Beyond the solitary genius. Music is inherently collaborative, from bands playing together to songwriting teams. Working with others introduces new ideas, challenges assumptions, and pushes artists in unexpected directions. Restrictions imposed by collaborators' styles or abilities can be creatively liberating.

Diverse forms of collaboration:

• Traditional songwriting partnerships (words/music).
• Collective improvisation and arrangement (Talking Heads jams).
• Working with producers who shape the sound (Brian Eno).
• Incorporating non-musicians (dancers, actors).
• Using found sounds or voices as "collaborators."
• Remote collaboration via digital file exchange.
• Collaboration with one's own subconscious or past work.

Authorship becomes fluid. Collaboration, especially with techniques like sampling or building on existing tracks, blurs the lines of traditional authorship. The "composer" might be a curator, arranger, or catalyst as much as a sole creator of melody and harmony.

Music as a shared language. Collaborators communicate through musical references, metaphors, and intuitive responses, building a shared understanding that transcends formal notation. This process creates a sonic fabric woven from multiple perspectives.

6. The Music Business Shifts from Selling Objects to Experiences

The music business is hardly even in the business of producing music anymore. At some point, it became primarily the business of selling objects—LPs, cassettes, CDs in plastic cases—and that business will soon be over.

Decline of physical media. The traditional model of record companies funding recordings and marketing in exchange for a large percentage of physical record sales is collapsing. Digital distribution has drastically reduced manufacturing and distribution costs, but income from downloads and streaming hasn't fully replaced lost revenue.

New artist-led models. Artists are increasingly exploring alternative ways to fund, produce, distribute, and market their music, often retaining more control and a larger share of income. Models include:

• 360° deals (label takes cut of everything).
• Standard royalty deals (traditional, declining).
• License deals (artist owns masters, licenses to label).
• Profit-share deals (shared ownership/costs/profits).
• P&D/M&D deals (artist handles production/marketing, label distributes).
• Self-distribution (artist does everything, often online).

Touring as income. Live performance, traditionally a marketing tool, is now a primary source of income for many artists, independent of record sales.

Licensing and sampling. Income from licensing songs for film, TV, commercials, and sampling has become increasingly important, especially for artists who retain publishing and master recording rights.

7. Vibrant Music Scenes Need Specific, Often Humble, Conditions

The venue and its policies make a music scene happen as much as the creativity of the musicians.

More than just talent. A flourishing music scene requires a confluence of practical and social factors beyond the mere presence of creative individuals. Key elements include:

• Appropriate Venue: A space of the right size and acoustic character for new music, allowing experimentation with limited means (e.g., CBGB's size, lack of elaborate facilities).
• Original Material: A policy allowing artists to play their own songs, providing an essential outlet for new work.
• Free Entry/Community: A place where musicians can gather, see each other for free, and build a sense of community (e.g., CBGB's free entry for musicians, jukebox).
• Alienation: A shared feeling of dissatisfaction with the prevailing mainstream culture, fostering a desire to create alternatives.
• Low Rent: Affordable living and rehearsal spaces allowing artists to survive on limited income.
• Social Transparency: Lack of strict separation between performers and audience, encouraging mingling and direct interaction.
• Ability to Ignore: Spaces where audiences aren't forced into rapt attention, allowing artists to develop without intense scrutiny.

Organic emergence. Scenes are often self-organizing systems governed by simple rules that facilitate connection and creativity. They are not always planned revolutions but emerge from practical needs and shared sensibilities in a specific time and place.

Beyond the famous few. While a few bands may become the public face of a scene, many others contribute to the vibrant ecosystem, pushing boundaries and providing a fertile ground for innovation. The legacy extends beyond the commercially successful acts.

8. Amateur Creation and Arts Education are Vital, Not Just Consumption

The act of making music, clothes, art, or even food has a very different, and possibly more beneficial effect on us than simply consuming those things.

Shift from making to listening. Historically, music education focused on participation. The rise of recordings shifted the emphasis to passive listening and appreciating "superior" professional music, often with a class bias.

The "high art" debate. The idea that certain forms of music (classical, opera) are inherently morally uplifting or civilizing is often class-based and used to justify funding disparities, while devaluing popular and amateur forms. This view can foster contempt for those who don't partake in sanctioned culture.

Benefits of amateurism. Making music, regardless of skill level, offers numerous benefits:

• Social connection and community building.
• Therapeutic outlet and emotional expression.
• Development of self-discipline and patience.
• Encouragement of risk-taking and creative problem-solving.
• Increased self-esteem and sense of agency.

Arts education impact. Programs that encourage active music-making and creativity, like El Sistema or Little Kids Rock, demonstrate profound positive effects on academic performance, social behavior, and overall well-being, particularly in disadvantaged communities. Cutting arts education is detrimental to future creativity and problem-solving skills.

Music as a moral force. Music's power lies not just in its aesthetic qualities but in its ability to act as social glue, a change agent, and an outlet for expression, sometimes transforming individuals and communities more effectively than passive consumption of "great works."

9. Music is Deeply Woven into Human Nature and Cosmic Order

Music, I would argue, is a part of what makes us human.

Ancient origins. Evidence suggests music-making is as old as humanity itself, with early instruments capable of playing scales similar to those we use today. Theories link music's origins to fundamental human experiences like mother-child bonding, filling silence, or inducing trance.

Innate predispositions. Humans, even infants, seem to have a biological preference for certain harmonic relationships (consonance) and the ability to recognize melodies independent of absolute pitch, suggesting a neurological basis for musicality.

Cosmic harmony. Ancient philosophies, from Pythagoras to Kepler, posited that the universe is ordered according to musical and mathematical ratios, with planetary orbits producing celestial harmonies. This idea, though mystical, reflects a deep human intuition that music is connected to the fundamental structure of reality.

Music's function. Beyond entertainment, music serves profound roles:

• Creating and reinforcing social cohesion.
• Acting as a vehicle for emotional expression and catharsis.
• Providing a framework for ritual and spirituality.
• Shaping our perception of the world and our place in it.
• Functioning as a form of love and connection.

Ephemeral yet essential. Music's intangible nature, existing only in the moment it is heard, is central to its power. It is deeply tied to personal experience, memory, and social context, making it a vital, ever-evolving part of the human condition.

Last updated: May 2, 2025