Notes on Thomas Turino's Music as Social Life

Summary

There are several different kinds of musical performance - four fields of practice, which do not map to particular genres of music. They define the types of activity, artistic roles, values, goals and people involved in the music making.

Participatory performance: artistic practice in which there are no artist-audience distinctions, only participants and potential participants - the primary goal is to involve the maximum number of people in some performance role

Presentational performance: situations where one group, the artists, prepare and provide music for another group, the audience, who do not participate in making the music

High fidelity: the making of recordings that are intended to index or be iconic of live performance

Studio audio art: the creation and manipulation of sounds in a studio or on a computer to create a recorded art object not intended to represent real-time performance

Relevant Quotes

"Art is not really an "imitation of life"; it would be more accurate to say that artistic processes crystallize the very essence of a good life by dramatically emphasizing the interplay of future possibilities with experiences and things we already know from the past - all within a specially framed and engrossing present." (pg 18)

"I think what happens during a good performance is that the multiple differences between us are forgotten and we are fully focused on an activity that emphasizes our sameness - of time sense, of musical sensibility, of musical habits and knowledge, of patterns of thought and action, of spirit, of common goals - as well as our direct interaction." (pg 18)

"With the array of musical choices available, there is larger variety in habitual time sense and musical sensibility, and this often makes finding people to sync with more difficult." (pg 19)

"We also need the Possible - dreams, hopes, desires, ideals: these are the elements of life that add dynamism and challenges and that make us want to keep living." (pg 17)

"People develop a deeper sense of engagement and investment through direct participation in contrast to simply being a spectator or consumer." (pg 231)

"...by connecting and integrating the different parts of the self we are better able to connect and integrate with others and our environment." (pg 233)