GG: Gould as muzak

[Roy Johansen <rjohanse@madison.tdsnet.com>]

Of course Gould would have approved to being used as an elevator musician!
--Perhaps partly because he did not realize how little information the average brain is able to process and assimilate, let alone understand, at a time. After all, who of us can honestly say that she or he was able to fully grasp (sorry about the split infinitive <grin>) what Gould tries to convey in his Solitude Trilogy programs after hearing them *once*? --And these programs were intended as *radio* programs, not as tracks on CDs...

My point is that Gould would have been able to discern interspersed background music from elements that would normally have been considered 'disturbing', and consequently, if the music itself passed muster, it would not have mattered to him if other things were going on at the same time.

As for the rest of us, with more average perceptive abilities; wouldn't it be a good thing if the quality standard of muzak rose a bit? Let's face it; it's always going to be there, and it might help condition some people to music they otherwise would never hear. For those of us who already know this music it definitely ought to be a welcome change.

For the record; I personally don't really like muzak at all; a society that must have some sensory stimulus at all times is severely ailing in one way or other. Never before in the history of mankind has this been necessary, and it makes me wonder why it apparently is now...

Roy
rjohanse@waun.tdsnet.com