There’s More to Music Than Loudness
Louder, more detailed, and more physical describe different things. A founder’s note on what we mean when we want more from our music.
Turn it up.
Sometimes that’s exactly what you want. But when we say we want more from music, louder may be only part of it. A stronger kick drum, a voice that feels closer, a chorus with more space around it: those are different wishes.
I think it’s worth being specific about them.
Loudness is one part of listening. Musical detail is another: the texture of a voice, the pause before a chorus, the little sound that answers the melody. Physical sensation is another still. These things can overlap, but they aren’t interchangeable. Calling an experience “powerful” doesn’t tell you much about which part someone enjoyed.
Think about a drum hit and a bass note that hangs beneath a whole phrase. One might catch your attention through its sharp beginning. The other might interest you because of the way it stays there, changing the weight of everything above it. Those descriptions say something about why the music holds your attention.
That’s a more interesting conversation to me than whether a listening experience is bigger or more intense.
SoundBlanket turns an audio signal into vibration you can feel through a blanket or pillow. That physical connection to music is the part that interests me as a maker. And it leaves plenty of room for people to value different things in the same song.
Maybe what matters to you is a steady pulse. Maybe it’s the contrast between a sparse verse and a crowded chorus. Maybe a singer’s phrasing is the whole reason you return to a track, and everything else is supporting it.
Even saying that you like bass leaves a lot open. You might mean the notes being played, the fullness of the sound, or the physical impression. A little more description makes that preference easier to understand.
I like descriptions that stay close to the music: a bass line that moves, a rhythm with a clear edge, a vocal with space around it. They tell another person what you’re drawn to without turning listening into a technical test.
If you’re considering SoundBlanket, the useful question is whether you want that tactile part of listening. If you already own one, I’d rather hear what you enjoy about it than tell you what you’re supposed to feel.
That’s where the conversation gets useful: when we stop at a particular moment in the music and can say what matters about it.
What part of a track makes you want to hear it again?
— Lance