Group 4 - Expansion Pack

In the NY Times article, "To Tug the Heartstrings Music Must First Tickle the Neurons", Levitin describes the research that he conducted using a Disklavier to record the piano strokes of a Chopin piece. Once the piece was recorded it was played back in its original recorded form and then the notes were manipulated to express the exact musical notation, without any expressive elements added by the musician playing it. The subjects who listened to the different versions of the music reported being less moved by the pieces which were manipulated and more so by the pieces played with artistic nuances. We can draw parallels to Benjamin's Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, in which he claims that the presence of the original piece of art is necessary for any art to be authentic. This speaks to the idea of the hand of the creator being present. Now you may say that this idea of the presence of the original speaks only to live music but in the recorded music of Levitin's experiment there is a presence...a human presence. For a person to play a piece of music exactly as it is written may prove quite difficult but also undesirable because it takes out any artistic interpretation.
In "This is Your Brain on Music" Levitin writes about the tricks that recording artists and engineers use to tickle our brains. We are able to hear the human element even in this type of recorded music.
In section III of Benjamin's Work of Art, he speaks to our changing human perception over time. Levitin also mentions our changing perceptions as being due to evolutionary pressures. The ways in which we see, taste, and hear have to adapt to new technologies, cultural elements, and politics. This is especially true with listening to music. The ways that we play, record, and listen to music changes and so we adapt with the times.