How Music Works

by David Byrne

The Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame inductee and co-founder of Talking Heads presents a celebration of music that offers insight into the roles of time, place and recording technology, discussing how evolutionary patterns of adaptations and responses to cultural and physical contexts have influenced music expression throughout history and culminated in the 20th century's transformative practices. This work is an account of a life in music and an explanation of how and why music works from one of the world's most accomplished performers. With his albums for Talking Heads, his work with Brian Eno or his solo output, the author has been consistently at the forefront of musical and artistic innovation. In this book he explores why the past matters and what the future might bring. From personal accounts of devising and performing his most famous work, to an exploration of the possibilities of new technologies, he discovers that artistic creation is less about an internal creative spark than we thought and more about external factors such as history, architecture and technology. "The universe of music follows broad and basic evolutionary patterns, as does birdsong, to take one example. It seems the will only triumphs if the context is amenable, just as in Darwinian adaptation. What we hear is determined by what we want to hear, by what can be heard, and by the circumstances that allow it to come into being."

• ISBN10: 1936365537
• ISBN13: 9781936365531
• Publish Date: 12 September 2012
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 20 August 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: McSweeney's Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 345
• Language: English

Reviews

[lovelybookshelf]

Originally posted on my blog, A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall, this is a review of the audiobook:

How Music Works is a non-fiction loving, eclectic reader's dream. It covers history, culture, science, psychology, technology, politics, business, entertainment, and so much more, all with a hefty dose of memoir thrown in. Information and ideas are presented in a logical order, each point setting the foundation for ruminations yet to come.

The subject matter is what kept me listening; the narration was completely uninspiring. I wish the author had read the book, because I enjoyed listening to his prologue. Many times I wondered if narrator Andrew Garman either didn't understand what he was reading, or wasn't interested in it much at all.

The business aspects of the recording industry and how music scenes are created started to lose my interest. I also felt there were times when Byrne was overly and unfairly judgmental of the classical music world. But for the most point, Byrne had my brain whirling with thoughts and ideas. This book offers so much to think about and discuss. I was especially fascinated by the way our brains process sound, and how recordings have changed the way we listen to and judge the music we hear.

There was a beautiful explanation of the communal aspects of music: why people still attend live concerts when they can simply listen on their own devices at home, alone. And I loved when Byrne talked about the mixtape as an expressive form, communicating what we can't or are too shy to put into words. Eleanor & Park, anyone? :)

How Music Works is a thought-provoking journey through all the disciplines and details that guide our musical experiences.