M - U - S - I - C

Many, many years ago I had my first seminal exposure to the world of "Le Cahier de l'Audiophile", a magazine which also opened never guessed doors toward the most beautiful of passions: the sound, more than music, because in sound - in nature: crickets, wind, storm, birds - you hear the music seed and after this you'll became aware of a parallel world of infinite beauty... a by-product of this love is in hearing differences among audio gears and recording and instruments and halls... a curse, you'll say... NO!... a blessing, indeed.
Being able to follow several musical lines in classical music pieces, at a concert and at home, the joy of a montain stream water sound, and the birds... the birds! They're a blessing's blessing... since my boyhood I always loved their singing.
My mother woke up at dawn to sip a peacuful coffee cup with a singing bird company from the highest tree... for years... it was her very way to love and celebrate Earth and Its mysteries.
Now I still love same singing, and I also found a crazy way to go beyond this... on several, dozens recordings, mostly classical music, I became aware of the well kept hidden sounds captured by mikes: a motorbike in a David Munrow's record, and birds, plenty of them: in a Bert Jansch's disc, in Paniagua's several recordings on Harmonia Mundi's and many many others...
Some weeks ago I found an obscure solo lute music disc on EMI Reflexe... and I jokingly began to count the birds singing on the recording which I was able to listen to... well: I counted SIX!!! different birds singing!
The disc is: Pieces de Luth by Anthony Bailes and the Tonmeister is Johann-Nikolaus Matthes... he also recorded a FANTASTIC Hopkinson Smith's disc of S.L. Weiss Lute Music... and there too, tons of details from recording venue - unfortunately it was recorded in winter... so, no birds;-)))... but nonetheless an huge, subbass heating-boiler switching ON and OFF several times during Weiss' celestial music... well, nice mikes, Mr. Matthes!
I cannot explain "Why" I'm so attracted by these sounds, instead of considering them as distracting noises... they simply seem to near myself to musician and composer and Music and recording place.
That's why now, almost in my fifties, I understand when a Japanese gentleman, mr. Iwata-san, owning a superbly complex, expensive, BIG multiamped horn-music system, told - in an interview to Jean Hiraga of L'Audiophile fame - his life was devoted to M-U-S I-C... and he felt fortunate enough to have reached M-U-S... hoping to reach, more... I... and C, too, maybe?!?! before his death.
I'm humbly in same league: I reached in my own life M, a strong, mature, heartfelt, well done, proud "M"... and, thinking different from mr. Iwata-san, I sadly know I'll be not able to go beyond "U" or "S"... but this is one of the Great Mysteries... someone else will get closer to the Perfection, one day... and so on and on. I'm definitely faithful in humankind;-)

P.S. - if anyone wonder who's the white bearded man in the pix... he's Pandit Pran Nath, an Indian master singer, a man whose micro-tonal technique defined a new standard in musical subtleties, very rare and almost unknown in Western music... Indian musical heritage and Raga inspired La Monte Young, Terry Riley and many others...
The pix is an homage to Pran Nath's vocal accuracy and ancient art... a step closer to perfection in Music.
If you'll listen to his music you'll understand what I mean... in tears.