Whoa.
I’ve been looking for an appropriate piece of music for Messalina Agrippina to use when she finally vanquishes the Bernie bullies, crushing them into the ground.
Campaign music used to be a big deal, but it seems to have evaporated from the national culture about the time of the second world war. It’s too bad, as I think it’s a great idea.
Some weeks ago, I discovered the can-can music of the German composer Offenbach, and after “listening†to it, decided it was the perfect music to accompany Messalina Agrippina as she—in a can-can skirt and high heels, of course—high-stepped across the stage to give a victory speech.
I still think it’s a good piece of music for her, but wondered about other possibilities, and began exploring those.
This evening, I checked out various versions of Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyriesâ€â€”the theme surely seemed apt, Amazons and Vikingettes dancing across the stage for Messalina Agrippina —but as the music was jarringly alien and not at all pleasant to me, I discarded that idea.
Somewhere along the line, I began checking out Handel’s “Hail, the Conquering Hero Comes,†and about half an hour into the “research,†came across something that abruptly resurrected nearly-forgotten memories of the University of Nebraska circa the early 1980s.
It was awesome; I can’t say how awesome it is.
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As many here know, yes, franksolich is deaf, lacking in any ability to “hear†to the same extent that cousin nadin lacks pulchritude; it just isn’t there. In my case, it’s never been there; I was born that way, absent ears.
However, as I’ve always been able to give the appearance of being aware of what’s going on around me—appearances of course are deceptive; I do okay, but not as good as is oftentimes alleged—all my life I’ve involuntarily been a source of fascination to other people, about how I “do it.â€
When I was in college, one of my roommates had an older brother studying audiology, and for about three years during the academic year, nearly every Friday evening I went with him to the audiology “laboratories,†engaged in just about the only activity that kept me from drinking and partying—I was a, uh, rather heavy drinker-and-partier when young.
He was convinced that despite the absence of ears and ear-drums, I could actually and truly hear the same way hearing people hear. If that was so, “how†was the question, but it never got answered, and he’s no longer in this time and place to tell me what he ever found out.
Today of course, computer technology and the internet has enabled me to “hear,†after a fashion. It’s not the easiest thing and demands full and utter concentration to the exclusion of doing anything else, and “hearing†and understanding voices and human language is all but impossible (it’s just easier to “read†body language). But when it comes to basic elementary instrumental music, it’s possible.
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But this was more than thirty years ago, long before any such technology existed, which makes this all the more remarkable.
I don’t remember when it was, or at what point, he wondered if perhaps I could “hear†if I “saw†the music. In a weird way, I suppose, something akin to “hearing†by Braille, although using the eyes rather than the fingertips and sense of touch.
He had skills and talents in engineering, having been raised reading
Popular Mechanics almost from kindergarten and devised something that included a screen across which differently-colored bands moved, at various speeds and lengths. These, he “synchronized†with the notes of music, and with various musical instruments.
Once I was illuminated as to which color and which band represented which note and instrument, we both discovered that despite the absence of sound, by merely watching the bands and colors progress across the screen, I could recognize the piece of music being played.
Given how long ago this was, and what was then available, I seriously doubt the system operated using the same principles as used in this youtube, but in appearance only, it seems the same. Merely by watching the colors and bands move, I can understand what the music is.
I think it’s awesome.
https://youtu.be/-ou0lXyOZH0I wish I knew what this guy did here—he explains it in the “show more†section, but its way above my pay-grade to understand—because I’d like to see it applied to more than just half a dozen or so pieces.
And I think it’d be a great piece of music for Messalina Agrippina to use, when celebrating her inevitable destruction of the Bernie bullies.
