A recent on-line discussion I have been following brought up the inclusion in Japanese music of sounds of nature, the most familiar example of which is probably the sound of the breath heard in music for the shakuhachi, the traditional Japanese flute.
This brings up my deep feeling that all music relates to things we have heard, not tunes that we recognize, but sensations of vibration, chaotic if you will, that we retain from our pre-natal life in utero.
The intrusion of technology into our definition of music is limiting our access to this deeper level of memory by placing a conditioner upon it.
To me the proper study of music is sound in the larger sense, not repertoire in the narrow sense. Listening is the core of the art: the greater the expanse of auditory recognition the more meaningful notation is and the less inhibited performance becomes.
