I was thinking more of the early CD marketing that claimed an improvement because of the silence between the notes compared with the cracks & pops from vinyl, and yet a good turntable is still more musical than most digital...ThomasOK wrote: ↑2021-08-26 18:02 I know I have posted this somewhere but it seems like this latest conversation would benefit from it again.
Aldous Huxley: "After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music."
One might argue that the silence referred to is something not achievable in the world as there is always some noise. But I would expect that the author might be talking about the silence of deep meditation, where the goal is to cut off the mind from the senses rendering the meditator immune to sounds, sights, feelings, smells and tastes. Similar to what occurs in sleep, but deeper and without loss of consciousness.
Of course, that might plunge you into the music of the spheres, so still not truly silent, but the most enjoyable music imaginable as it encapsulates Bliss. And yet beyond that there is the Bliss in true silence. I'm still working on all this.
Sorry to wax philosophical, but there you have it.
Of course, an inner calm and silence of the mind might help when listening to music, whereas the silence of deeper meditation comes from being immune to sounds and outside influences, to achieve a state of Bliss and tune into whatever natural energies or music that beholds.
I think the response to the claimed benefit of CD was that there is always 'some noise in the world' - it's whether that noise (or comparative absence) is your focus, or the music is too compelling for you to notice.