"What is Time?"

La Joueuse de Tympanon (The automated piano player) has now been claimed….

I am doing mine on The Turk.

Dibs on The Flute Player by Jacques de Vaucanson.

uyuhyuf

Time is like a beautiful song.

Marvelous as the rhythm is, time is full of unexpectation. Life is filled with happiness, sorrow, calmness, anger, etc. And only various tune can form a piece of emotional music to move audience’s heart as colorful experience in one’s life can do

Uniform as the meter is, time can be divided into tiny equal segments, and elapses in constant speed. Listen! The clock is ticktocking!

Speedy as the tempo is , time swifts away in the twinkling of an eye. More quickly the fingers we move on the keyboards, more dashing tempo we have. More devoted to the task we take, less time we sense to possess.

Inconsecutive as the leaps is, time is disjunct and you cannot fill the gap forever. Have a look at the theory of parallel universes. I can never reach to the destination in a running race at the exactly same time as another runner if the measure of time is accurate to picosecond or even more subtle.

Continuous as the steps is, time is conjunct on the other side. I am working on piles of reading stuff of history for a long long longggggggggggg period of time but the time doesn’t show me any sympathy and stops its steps to leave any time for me to go shopping. Time is flowing away ruthlessly.

These are the main elements of the time and they make it melodious.

As far as I can recall from music theory lectures in choir three or so years ago, musicians sometimes use the word “time” in the context of, say, “3 4 time.” Ah! That’s called the time signature. It goes, I think, between the symbol indicating which clef a staff represents and the key signature in written music. The time signature consists of two stacked numbers. The top number is the number of beats per measure, and I had the bottom number explained to me as what each beat counts for, but I didn’t fully understand the concept when I originally learned it. Anyways, time signature is what I think of when I think of the concept of musical time.

Time, generally is unchanging.  Whether one wants it to go faster or slower, time moves at a constant speed.  However, when one is having fun, time seems to go by faster and vice versa, when one is sad or bored, time goes by much, much slower.  In this way, time is somewhat a reflection of ones emotions.

In a similar way, musical time is also reflective of ones emotions.  Depending on the tempo at which a song is played, the mood of the song can change.  For example, if one played a simple song like “Happy Birthday” at the normal speed,  it sounds like a happy, joyous song.  However, if one played the song at a very slow tempo, then the song will start to sound slow, sad and depressing.  In the same way, if one played a serious song at a much faster tempo, then the song will start to sound festive or even silly.  Musical time, unlike normal time, is changeable and by changing the time, or tempo, of musical pieces, a musician is able to convey the emotions desired, no matter what the song is.

It is interesting that musical time contains the word “time” at all.  Time, as accepted by the West, can be broken down into definite intervals such as hours, minutes, seconds, etc. whereas musical time cannot.  Musical time creates its own continuum.  A series of whole notes, held for four counts each, or a bass chord which dwindles through several bars provides suspense and a lingering feeling within the heart while the quick note progression of a rock-n’-roll solo encapsulates the listener, wild with anticipation.  Musical time is how music can create a picture, design, or even a movie within the listener’s head.  Largo, lento, or adagio, very slow music, creates a methodical, peaceful scene which becomes action-packed and chaotic as it turns into allegro and furthermore allegretto, very fast music.  Then, all of a sudden, an unexpected rest which is ill-timed and beautiful like losing your breath at the sight of something marvelous.  The timing of music its its own unique, original beast that can never be assigned a certain value, sorted into a given category, or defined by any absolute scale which is why it is cherished and immortal.

Time is very much based upon perception. Time can fly when you’re having fun, or can drag on and on when you’re in a situation you don’t want to be in. Therefore, time has a connection to your feelings and perceptions. Music too has a connection to your feelings. Music can trigger memories that take you back to a certain point in your past or expected future, and can trigger those same feelings that you had at that point in your life. Music’s tempo also has an effect on your feelings. When you listen to a song that has a fast tempo, you often feel excited. When you listen to a song with a slow tempo, it can calm you down.

I think that time is manifested in music. In a lot of instances, the lyrics of a song tell you a story. When you listen to that song, you’re transported back to that moment in history, or to the anticipated event in the future. A chant, like the ones we’ve listened to in class, take us back to the early centuries when monks would chant in a church. Or the song “Life is Beautiful” by Vega4 takes me back to a retreat I went on my junior year of high school. Time and memory are very interconnected, and because music has this profound effect of making us remember events in our lives and hear about events in other people’s lives, I think time is manifested best in music.