This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You
- Downloads：3394
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-08-31 16:21:38
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Susan Rogers
- ISBN：0393541258
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
This Is What It Sounds Like is a journey into the science and soul of music that reveals the secrets of why your favorite songs move you。 But it’s also a story of a musical trailblazer who began as a humble audio tech in Los Angeles to became Prince’s chief engineer for Purple Rain， and then create other No。 1 hits （including Barenaked Ladies' "One Week"） as one of the most successful female record producers of all time。
Now an award-winning professor of cognitive neuroscience， Susan Rogers leads readers to musical self-awareness。 She explains that we each possess a unique “listener profile” based on our brain’s natural response to seven key dimensions of any song。 Are you someone who prefers lyrics or melody？ Do you like music “above the neck” （intellectually stimulating）， or “below the neck” （instinctual and rhythmic）？ Whether your taste is esoteric or mainstream， Rogers guides readers to recognize their musical personality， and offers language to describe one's own unique taste。 Like most of us， Rogers is not a musician， but she shows that all of us can be musical—simply by being an active， passionate listener。
While exploring the science of music and the brain， Rogers also takes us behind the scenes of record-making， using her insider’s ear to illuminate the music of Prince， Frank Sinatra， Kanye West， Lana Del Rey， and many others。 She shares records that changed her life， contrasts them with those that appeal to her coauthor and students， and encourages you to think about the records that define your own identity。
Told in a lively and inclusive style， This Is What It Sounds Like will refresh your playlists， deepen your connection to your favorite artists， and change the way you listen to music。
Now an award-winning professor of cognitive neuroscience， Susan Rogers leads readers to musical self-awareness。 She explains that we each possess a unique “listener profile” based on our brain’s natural response to seven key dimensions of any song。 Are you someone who prefers lyrics or melody？ Do you like music “above the neck” （intellectually stimulating）， or “below the neck” （instinctual and rhythmic）？ Whether your taste is esoteric or mainstream， Rogers guides readers to recognize their musical personality， and offers language to describe one's own unique taste。 Like most of us， Rogers is not a musician， but she shows that all of us can be musical—simply by being an active， passionate listener。
While exploring the science of music and the brain， Rogers also takes us behind the scenes of record-making， using her insider’s ear to illuminate the music of Prince， Frank Sinatra， Kanye West， Lana Del Rey， and many others。 She shares records that changed her life， contrasts them with those that appeal to her coauthor and students， and encourages you to think about the records that define your own identity。
Told in a lively and inclusive style， This Is What It Sounds Like will refresh your playlists， deepen your connection to your favorite artists， and change the way you listen to music。
Reviews
Kuki
，
I love reading about music in general so this book was right up my street。 Besides the fact that it recommended some great tunes to add to my playlists， this book features plenty of scientific studies and very interesting stories about music and the record producing which I found very compelling， all writen in a such a way that it almost feels like you're having a little dialogue with an old friend who is really into music。 I would highly recommend to anyone looking for an easy but very compelli I love reading about music in general so this book was right up my street。 Besides the fact that it recommended some great tunes to add to my playlists， this book features plenty of scientific studies and very interesting stories about music and the record producing which I found very compelling， all writen in a such a way that it almost feels like you're having a little dialogue with an old friend who is really into music。 I would highly recommend to anyone looking for an easy but very compelling read。 。。。more
Laura
，
This was an interesting look at what makes "your" music yours - the different aspects， like tempo or novelty or lyrics， that go into each song and how those aspects affect your enjoyment of the song。 My biggest problem was that there's no discussion of aphantasia （the inability to visualize things "in your mind's eye"）， which I have。 There was a lot of discussion about closing your eyes and what you see when you listen to a song - I don't see anything， so that's a discussion that isn't relevant This was an interesting look at what makes "your" music yours - the different aspects， like tempo or novelty or lyrics， that go into each song and how those aspects affect your enjoyment of the song。 My biggest problem was that there's no discussion of aphantasia （the inability to visualize things "in your mind's eye"）， which I have。 There was a lot of discussion about closing your eyes and what you see when you listen to a song - I don't see anything， so that's a discussion that isn't relevant and didn't increase my understanding of what made me love a song or not。 A more minor quibble is that it would have been great to have a song list in one place， like an appendix。 Since I read an ARC it's possible that will be in the final version。ARC provided by publisher。 。。。more
Carrie
，
Having taken piano and guitar lessons and never really catching the musician bug， I've never felt like I could say anything worthwhile about music， but this book reminded me that I can still have valid musical feelings and appreciation。 Music does define me and my life in a lot of ways。 This book is a great mesh of some neurology/brain stuff with discussion of different kinds of music and how that music relates to various appreciation components such as rhythm， authenticity， melody， and timbre。 Having taken piano and guitar lessons and never really catching the musician bug， I've never felt like I could say anything worthwhile about music， but this book reminded me that I can still have valid musical feelings and appreciation。 Music does define me and my life in a lot of ways。 This book is a great mesh of some neurology/brain stuff with discussion of different kinds of music and how that music relates to various appreciation components such as rhythm， authenticity， melody， and timbre。 。。。more
Alexa Esperanza
，
This was such a fun read！ As a music maker and music lover， it was really interesting to learn about the science of why people love to hear what they love to hear。 Although it’s written in a way that’s easy to understand， it did take me some time to get through because there’s over 100 song references （a lot If which I’ve never heard before and I wanted to make sure I listened as I went along）。 I’m compiling a Spotify playlists that I’ll make public once the book is released so ppl who use Spoti This was such a fun read！ As a music maker and music lover， it was really interesting to learn about the science of why people love to hear what they love to hear。 Although it’s written in a way that’s easy to understand， it did take me some time to get through because there’s over 100 song references （a lot If which I’ve never heard before and I wanted to make sure I listened as I went along）。 I’m compiling a Spotify playlists that I’ll make public once the book is released so ppl who use Spotify can listen to all the songs in one place if they’re interested。 。。。more
Martin Maenza
，
This guide to music and ourselves comes out on September 20， 2022。 W。W。 Norton and Company provided me an early galley for review。Three things drew me immediately to this book: that glorious cover （I love the colors）， a title drawn from lyrics by one of my favorite artists ever （the genius Prince） and one of the authors （Susan Rogers did amazing studio work with Prince during the 80's）。 I knew this one would be an interesting， enlightening read。 You'll want to have a listening device handy as yo This guide to music and ourselves comes out on September 20， 2022。 W。W。 Norton and Company provided me an early galley for review。Three things drew me immediately to this book: that glorious cover （I love the colors）， a title drawn from lyrics by one of my favorite artists ever （the genius Prince） and one of the authors （Susan Rogers did amazing studio work with Prince during the 80's）。 I knew this one would be an interesting， enlightening read。 You'll want to have a listening device handy as you read for a deeper experience。This book very much reads like a college text on music theory and neuroscience。 And that is to be expected given Rogers' background， education and role as a professor at the Berklee College of Music。 If she does not use this as her textbook for a class， she should。 I learned so much from it， and I wasn't bored like I had been in some of my college classes back in the day。 This is fun stuff， and her writing style is very approachable。An aspect of the book which I like is the "record pull" - where Rogers asks the reader to listen to tracks to help illustrate her points。 This interactive element is very key to understanding the book's points and for the reader to connect to their own music profile。This is one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys music， likes to understand how different elements of it work， and how we as humans process it。 。。。more
Becky Diamond
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Fascinating topic and explanations about listening to music and why we prefer certain records。 Music-specific definitions are clearly outlined throughout， such as performance gestures （an artist’s unique musical expression）， timbre （the unique voice of an instrument） and synthetic listening （developed through years of listening to records） versus analytic listening （developed through years of formal musical training）。 The combination of the authors' real-world experiences and analysis of the sci Fascinating topic and explanations about listening to music and why we prefer certain records。 Music-specific definitions are clearly outlined throughout， such as performance gestures （an artist’s unique musical expression）， timbre （the unique voice of an instrument） and synthetic listening （developed through years of listening to records） versus analytic listening （developed through years of formal musical training）。 The combination of the authors' real-world experiences and analysis of the science behind the way the brain processes music is brilliant。 。。。more
Victoria
，
Thanks to WW Norton and Netgalley for providing this ARC。 Very interesting guidance on analyzing the different aspects of your personal music listening profile。 Because I’m not a musician myself， sometimes I had difficulty understanding some of the examples used （e。g。， someone playing behind the beat I just don’t get that， maybe I have bad beat perception！）。 But it was fun to read along with my iPhone and stream the various songs used as examples。 Definitely interesting if you’re a music lover。
Anthony
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I thought I'd like this one more than I actually did。 It was just ok。。。 I thought I'd like this one more than I actually did。 It was just ok。。。 。。。more
Emily
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Reviewed for Booklist。
Jessica
，
A engaging and fascinating look at why people's musical preferences exist for specific songs from a music producer turned neuroscientist。 Each section examines a different aspect of a record （authenticity， realism， novelty， melody， lyrics， rhythm， and timbre） and the different ways they appeal to the human brain and what that means for your musical taste。 The authors make the topic easy to understand using a range of musical examples and scientific studies combined with a written tone that makes A engaging and fascinating look at why people's musical preferences exist for specific songs from a music producer turned neuroscientist。 Each section examines a different aspect of a record （authenticity， realism， novelty， melody， lyrics， rhythm， and timbre） and the different ways they appeal to the human brain and what that means for your musical taste。 The authors make the topic easy to understand using a range of musical examples and scientific studies combined with a written tone that makes the topic accessible， and engaging。 The authors clear passion for the topic makes the book even more charming。The extra benefit of being able to hear about behind-the-scenes stories from Roger's experience in music producing （especially with Prince） is the icing on the cake of this illuminating book。 I highly recommend to anyone who loves reading about music or neuroscience。Book from Netgalley 。。。more
Brian Pham
，
This was easily one of the most rewarding books I've read in a long time。 In this deeply informative and fascinating book， Susan Rogers draws from her singular expertise as being both a multiplatinum record producer （Prince， Barenaked Ladies， David Byrne） as well as a trained cognitive neuroscientist。 The combined result makes for a book that's incredibly rewarding and illuminating to read。The neuroscience in this book avoids being overly reductive yet remains accessible to most audiences。 Neuro This was easily one of the most rewarding books I've read in a long time。 In this deeply informative and fascinating book， Susan Rogers draws from her singular expertise as being both a multiplatinum record producer （Prince， Barenaked Ladies， David Byrne） as well as a trained cognitive neuroscientist。 The combined result makes for a book that's incredibly rewarding and illuminating to read。The neuroscience in this book avoids being overly reductive yet remains accessible to most audiences。 Neuroscience aside， where this book really shines is the music writing— the love that Rogers and her co-author， Ogi Ogas， practically ooze out the pages。 If you love music， neuroscience， or both like me， this is required reading。 Thanks to W。W。 Norton & Company for the advanced copy！ 。。。more
Gwen
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