This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You

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The records selected as exemplification in regard to different styles, instruments used, timbre, and other traits are chosen from just a few genres, and the most majority (if not almost all) are american musicians. The author loves most soul, blues, and jazz, and those are the most discussed records. Also, there are plenty of memories from her times as a producer, which didn't add any value to the topic. A provocative blend of studio stories and fascinating neuroscience' Alan Light, author of Let's Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain If you have a passion for music and you would be interested to learn about the aspects above, then you might find this book is for you. The neuroscience is tangential, at best. There are very few scientific explanations on how the brain works when listening to music, and those mostly feel like phrases from a learning book thrown in here, to sound more pompous. At first the book seemed to be written from the perspective of a listener, but not long before changing to the author's perspective. I must say, I was curious to learn about my listener's profile, but all I got was the author's.

A] pitch-perfect deep-dive into the power of music….Combining erudite analysis with plenty of soul, this will have music lovers rapt. A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting. This is a really intriguing read if you love music and I certainly learned a lot from it, even if I’m still not sure how to answer the question of why I like the music that I do.Largely informative and rather interesting, This Is What It Sounds Like dishes out a good bit of science and research into why music — of all kinds — is so integral to the human experience. While there is a larger component and focus on the science behind why the brain and body responds the way it does to various components of music than what I anticipated (or wanted), I thought the method of teaching the reader about the fundamental correlations made the information surprisingly accessible. This is the book that scholars and fans of popular music across all disciplines have impatiently waited for. It is truly inspiring, the kind of book you fall in love with, that causes us to reflect over how and why records become a condition of the heart. It’s like two books in one: stories of some of our most beloved musicians, singers and songwriters, coupled with insights about how and why our brains decipher musical notes, melodies and lyrics in particular ways. This is the immense power of lyrics: to enable us to momentarily become someone else." I found the section on lyrics fascinating! Despite being unable to play an instrument, Susan Rogers became an extraordinarily successful record producer - and certainly one of the most successful women record producers in history - because of her ability to listen. (She was an engineer on Prince's "When Doves Cry", which inspired the title of the book.)

My only real complaint with the book was that it sometimes gets a bit repetitive, and there’s a lot of structural redundancy about “your personal listener profile” that I feel like could’ve been left as understood. But maybe that is just the professor within the author, coming out, and desperately wanting to provide us with a syllabus. I found the entire thing very informative, and it did offer insight into the different ways that my spouse and I encounter music. Susan is one of the smartest people in the world of music and this book will help you hear music more deeply and more thoughtfully. You can tell why Prince loved working with her.Nonetheless, it was an enlightening way along — and I really enjoyed the eclectic playlist included.

Dennoch war ich sofort interessiert, als ich die ersten positiven Rezensionen zu diesem Titel las. Denn schon immer war ich fasziniert von der Frage, weshalb ich jenes mag, aber dieses nicht, eine andere Person wiederum eine Vorliebe für etwas völlig anderes hat. But if you want a really good book on the topic, I wholeheartedly recommend Music, Math, and Mind: The Physics and Neuroscience of Music, by David Sulzer, aka Dave Soldier, who activates in the same music industry.

Now an award-winning professor of cognitive neuroscience, Dr Susan Rogers takes readers behind the scenes of record-making and leads us to musical self-awareness. She explains that everyone possesses a unique 'listener profile', shows how being musical can mean actively listening, and encourages us to think about the records that define us. Lively and illuminating, this book will refresh your playlists, deepen your connection to artists, and change the way you listen to music. Extraordinary insights about music, emotion, and the brain... An instant classic' Daniel Levitin, author of The Organized Mind Rogers’ neuro-scientific nous is boosted by her gift for communication; her insights into brain networks and memory associations make sense even to the most uninformed layman. Equally, her genuine love for her subject gives credence to more subjective conclusions about poetical and polemical lyrics, and their passionate call to arms, or Proust-like conjuring of nostalgic tidal waves. I did originally follow along with the playlist, provided and listened to each song that was mentioned in full, but honestly that added so many hours to my audiobook experience that I couldn’t keep up with it. Plus, it was messing up my Spotify recommendations and I did mention above that I sometimes find listening to unfamiliar music to be a chore. I would dip in and out for snippets and the occasional whole, depending on how much I thought I needed a concept illustrated. I do really recommend having that playlist on hand while you’re reading, even if you don’t listen to every single song. Because it really does make the experience richer. Susan Rogers is the only person who could have written this incredible book. Her passionate love of music, her vast experience creating history in the recording studio, and her deep knowledge about the subject helped me understand WHY I love the music in my life. She will open your ears and eyes in a way you won't expect. I cannot get this book out of my head Duane Tudahl, Author, Television Producer