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Eleonora Sargsyan
Professor Kane
English 115
16 December 2016

Essay 2.3: Composite Reality

According to the author Weiss Dieter, what we perceive as reality is always a construct
of cultural conditioning, as studies on the structure of cognitive processes have made clear. The
human mind is unable to grasp the totality of the world. Every concept of reality necessarily
starts with a reduction of the totality to a relatively narrow segment brought about by the process
of social and mental conditioning within a cultural framework (209). However, since everyone
has their own version of a reality it can be hard to create a composite reality and interact
productively together. This is often a problem when music is created. However, different people
with different realities of how they want the music to sound like, can still come up with one
composite reality that creates a beautiful piece of music. Artists who are more similar have an
easier time to work productively together, however, artist who are more different can also be
productive in putting both ideas and creating something new. Both sides need each other to
handle reality in a comprehensive way. Different people can create one music piece by having a
common goal, blending ideas, and on some occasions, establishing leadership.
One way that musicians can create a music piece together is by having a common goal.
The members in the making of the song all have different realities, and images of how they want
the finished piece to sound like. Often times, communication doesnt cut it as everyone has their

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own version of what is being communicated. The number one step to be able to interact
productively together is their common goal. As Childs, G.W. wrote in his book, Any
motivational speaker will tell you that goals are the utmost importance of trying to achieve
anything (235). Not only can this make the musicians bond together on a new level, but it also
creates a nice and productive atmosphere in which they have the same mission. This common
goal also includes the style of the piece, and the arrangements of music such as the rhythm and
the tempo. Two musicians who sing in different genres and styles, have to come up with a
decision on which one style the piece has to be in. If the piece is a song, they would also need to
have an idea of what the song will say. They have to understand the message their song or lyrics
will send, and not only should they agree on it, but they should also connect to it. Otherwise, it
can be much harder to present something that one doesnt relate to nor understand. Most
importantly, their common goal should be what they want to present or give to the audience.
When musicians have a common goal, they expand a feeling and experience with not only one
another, but also their audience. No communication or use of words can replace this feeling
that is transferred through everyone. The musicians get to know each others ways and
understand each others views. Of coarse, having more stylistic similarities can help in
understanding each other better. If they are lucky enough to be similar, the musicians might be
able to understand each other without having to explain things too much. This is because the
feeling they share will be more powerful. Understanding each other can also be done by the use
of senses and expression. For example, the musicians might not understand what their partner is
trying to say, but they can understand him or her through the sounds that they play on the piano.
The sound is more likely to express the musicians own reality than words itself. Words can be

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understood differently in everyones minds, but hearing creates a more stable understanding that
everyone has of the piece.
On another note, the musicians or singers need to spend enough time together in order to
get to know each other, and their ways. They need to understand their partners views. Not doing
so can have a bad outturn and it can possibly cause dissonance in the music piece. This can be
irritating to the ear, and embarrassing for the musicians. The musicians need enough time to
develop together. In the article Two Ways to Belong in America, both Bharati and her sister
Mira came to America and realized that they were actually totally different people. Bharati
wanted to be socially accepted in the place that she lived, and Mira never wanted to leave her
own culture. However, the two accepted each other and their views, and therefore were able to
continue interacting together the same way they did before. Mira did not abandon Bharati
because she became different instead, she understood her and accepted her. They developed
together, but in two very different ways. This is a similar way in which musicians accept each
other along with their common goal that they came together for, and their differences in which
they blend in and make something more beautiful.
Another way that singers and musicians are able to collaborate and interact productively
together is by blending their ideas. Both sides have their own realities, but when working
together, those ideas naturally blend in together. Of coarse, there are instances where one of the
artist can act like a control freak and try to make everything go their way, but those kind of artists
usually dont last long in a group. For example, in the popular band One Direction, Zayn Malik,
who was the lead singer, wanted to take matters into his hands and do his own thing, as the
disagreement with the group was too much. Shortly after he left the band, causing millions of
fans to be heartbroken. Otherwise, if both sides are willing to commit to that partnership, they

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are more open to accepting each others ideas and styles. When people are around each other for
enough time, and they grow and develop together, they also start to pick up each others
mindsets. In this case when musicians work together, they begin to pick up a little bit of each
others realities, therefore becoming more similar which then leads to working more easily
together. Not only would they become more similar, but also they will learn a lot from each
other. Being around, and especially working with professional people can make one teach the
other lots of good techniques, and tools. Although, differences too can create something amazing.
Some may argue that the right thing to do is to compromise with one another. However,
compromising with one another is almost as bad as having too many ideas and making the piece
seem too much. Each musician has his or her own understanding of what he or she wants, and
compromising with one another means taking out a piece of one work and breaking it apart or
adding something to the work that just doesnt click together. Therefore, there is a fine line
between compromising and collaborating together to produce something better.
Of course, musicians cant always bond like that. In the Allegory of the Cave, the
person who escaped the prison developed a new reality. When he shared his new reality of what
he believed was the right thing, the rest of the prisoners didnt believe him and left him out of
their lives and minds. The escaped prisoner accepted that he cannot change anything in these
prisoners, and he let go, even though he was the first to break the established reality that they all
created. Sometimes musicians too accept their differences and decide to not work together since
their realities out to be very different. Otherwise, the originality and the purpose of the music
piece put together by different people is the product of both of their ideas.
In very rare instances the differences set in two or more people are solved by power.
Deciding who is the leader in the group can lead to a more organized and peaceful project

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together. Sometimes, there has to be a leader for people to follow. Otherwise, things may become
a little messy. For example, if a singer and a musician are working together, there are times when
either the singer or the musician takes lead in the making of a piece and the other person just acts
on their reality of that piece. The reality of the piece that the musician has in his mind might be
different from what the singer wants in her song. Therefore, sometimes the singer has to take
leadership and the musician has to follow her reality of it. This is often the case in the
government. The presidential candidates have very different and opposing views on almost all
topics regarding on how to run the country, as shown in the first presidential debate on
September 26th. Certainly, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton cannot run the country at the
same time. They have different genres of politics, just as there are different genres of music.
Therefore, the power has to be given to one of them in order to ease worst consequences during
the process. Otherwise the two sides can clash in a bad way. In politics that would be civil war,
and in music that is the sad breakup of a group. To prevent this, there needs to be someone who
can lead an organized project in order to work productively while having different realities.
Even though both musicians can have very different realities of their own, as said by
Weiss, both sides need each other for a successful integration of perceiving and handling reality
in a comprehensive way (204). With their differences, they could create something so beautiful.
Their common goal, blended ideas, and even leadership can lead to their collaboration on
something productive. If everyone else had this mindset there would be less fights, and even less
wars in the world. If people learn to understand or accept other peoples realities, there would be
less arguments between them. In a world with so many people, there will also be so many
different understandings of things. There will be different realities. As many people there are in
the world, as many realities there are. The world just needs to learn how to productively function

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together. As two different musicians can create a beautiful common goal, so can different people
create a beautiful world that is set for everybody.

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Works Cited Page

Blake, Aaron. The First Presendential Debate Transcript. The Washington Post, 26 Sept, 2016.
Childs, G.W. Creating Music and Sound for Games. Boston: Coarse PTR, 2007. eBook
Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 16 Dec. 2016.
Dieter, Weiss. Workmanship. Ingram Publisher Services, 2011.
Mukherjee, Bharati. Two Ways to Belong in America. New York: The New York Times, 22
Sept, 1996.
Plato. The Allegory of the Cave The Republic. Faculty Knox, n.trans. n.d.,
faculty.knox.edu/fmcandre/allegory_cave.pdf. Accessed 26 Sept. 2016.

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