Susan Rogers (2) (1956–)

What about music do you, personally, enjoy? That's what Susan Rogers, former music producer turned neuroscientist, and Ogi Ogas, computational neuroscientist, investigate in this engaging book. Whether it be authenticity, realism, novelty, melody, lyrics, rhythm, or timbre, we each have a sweet spot when it comes to the music we love. Rogers and Ogas break each down for us, with a variety of examples on a book website that link to songs on streaming services, so that we can discover our personal listening profile.

I really enjoyed reading and listening through this and trying to work out my own listener profile as I went. The authors' love for music comes out in their descriptions. The records (individually recordings of songs) chosen as examples are distinctive and do a great job of illustrating each feature. And, when needed, more complex science about the brain and music is broken down in an understandable way for laypeople. This is narrative nonfiction with a wide appeal - after all, who doesn't like to listen to music?… (altro)

This is a really well put together book with invisible endnotes and a lot of musical examples. Both Susan’s and Ogi’s musical preferences are mentioned, although Susan does get more of the airtime because she’s the primary author and the former music producer. I liked that the authors took pains to stress that just because they chose certain songs as good *examples* of what they were talking about, that didn’t mean the songs themselves were good or that you should feel obliged to like them (especially the Shaggs’ song “I’m So Happy When You’re Near”, which is shall we say an acquired taste).

Like any good music book, this one comes with a playlist and the playlist is integral to the book. The discussions work best when you do actually stop and listen to the songs being discussed when you see them come up on the page. The book’s website provides handy links to Tidal, Spotify, IHeartRadio, and iTunes, although of course you can also use YouTube or even your own catalogue if you happen to have the songs in your collection. One of the most delightful moments for me was relistening to David Byrne’s “My Love Is You”, which makes excellent use of a tuba but I had never realized it was there, because I was so busy focusing on Byrne’s voice (and the lyrics, which include the classic “Sometimes dear, you tell me I’m an asshole / Sometimes you’re an asshole too”).

My favourite chapter was the one about rhythm, which talked about grooves. After reading it, I ended up listening to one of my all-time favourite songs (“Slippery People”, by Talking Heads, specifically the Stop Making Sense version), and paid close attention to where I moved and what beats I hit. I tended to move on the snare. Based on the discussion of the songs in the rhythm chapter, that suggested to me that I am inclined to groove on the downbeat.

Overall I really liked this and would consider getting a copy if I came across it. But what I’d really love is the chance to spend an hour with Susan and get her input on my favourite songs and what my listener profile is. Even without that, though, I know I’m going to have fun going through my music collection again and seeing what makes it what it is. This is worth reading if you’re interested in music.… (altro)

Susan Rogers, one of the authors of This is What it Sounds Like, is the sound engineer and record producer behind some of Prince’s biggest hits. So how did she come up with the book’s title? I’m embarrassed to say how long it took me to get it. What I didn’t get was the reason behind the subtitle, ‘What the Music You Love Says About You’, because it doesn’t do a very good job of describing the book. I think a better one would have been this quote, “...understand why you fall in love with a record...by understanding your listener profile". The listener profile it refers to is each person's unique response to seven key elements of music, such as melody, lyrics, timbre, authenticity, and more, that shapes their musical taste.
Since the website ThisisWhatitSoundsLike.com explains all of this far better than I can I’m not going to try. Also, I’m not going to spill the tea on which of the artists the author worked with recorded one song on every album in the buff. (Hint: it wasn’t Prince)… (altro)

I found this book very interesting- the main author was a recording engineer for years (working with such people and Prince and Bare Naked Ladies) and has many stories about how creating an album works. After being an engineer, she went back to college and became a neuroscientist, specializing in how music and sound works in people’s brains (Ogas, her co-author, is also a neuroscientist that works in sound). So she understands music and sound from multiple angles. She explains what seven different aspects of music are- lyrics, melody, rhythm, timbre, novelty, realism, and authenticity- and how they work. She talks about doing ‘record pulls’, where multiple people bring out their favorite music and share it, and how, if you like a certain musician, you’ll probably like musician “X”, also. It’s a really educational read.

But- there is always a but- at no point does it tell you what the music says about you. Well, I did learn that my complete lack of rhythm is genetic and there is nothing I can do about it, sadly. I was kind of expecting something that told you how empathetic you were or if you were forward thinking. So, I enjoyed the book- lots of anecdotes about working in the music industry and lots of neurology information- but the title is a little deceptive. Four and a half stars.… (altro)