What is the fixation with Foot Tapping?

It's about the only exercise I get so I all for as much foot tapping as possible. 

.sjb

Like SJB - I like the exercise......but seriously it's an indication that the PRAT of the system is good....

Some systems are only about hifi and don't have the foottapping qualities...

Bert Schurink posted:

Like SJB - I like the exercise......but seriously it's an indication that the PRAT of the system is good....

Some systems are only about hifi and don't have the foottapping qualities...

But is that the case? Does  it depend on the type of music you listen to? As I observed, my foot doesn't always (or even often) tap at live performances, though I may be moven to slightly more motion than that at a loud rock gig so how can absence of tapping at home be negative (unless playing rock muic as loud as at the gig)?

is is primarily a jazz thing, as I notice that there seems to be a predominance of liking for Jazz on this forum, and on Naim radio, and by dealers demoing things? (I don't like jazz!) 

Seems like we need threads for "PRaT", "Inky Blackness" etc., etc., etc.........

Perhaps even one for the meaning of "Hum"?

P.S. I can't stand jazz either (I'm dyslexic).

Huge posted:

Seems like we need threads for "PRaT", "Inky Blackness" etc., etc., etc........

Perhaps even one for the meaning of "Hum"?

P.S. I can't stand jazz either (I'm dyslexic).

1) i seem to recall someone started one not long ago for definitions, butbit didn't run for long

2) mmmmmmmmmmm, have to think about that one

3) is dyslexia a reason, excuse, random offering? I'm not aware of anything that explain my dislike, other than the fact that it doesn't sound nice to me, and doesn't engage me (and before anyone says that's down to my system, I have heard jazz live). Of course like many things there can be exceptions, and i have enjoyed a few jazzy things, but very little that I am moved to want to listen to.

Innocent Bystander posted:

Bert Schurink posted:

Like SJB - I like the exercise......but seriously it's an indication that the PRAT of the system is good....

Some systems are only about hifi and don't have the foottapping qualities...

But is that the case? Does  it depend on the type of music you listen to? As I observed, my foot doesn't always (or even often) tap at live performances, though I may be moven to slightly more motion than that at a loud rock gig so how can absence of tapping at home be negative (unless playing rock muic as loud as at the gig)?

is is primarily a jazz thing, as I notice that there seems to be a predominance of liking for Jazz on this forum, and on Naim radio, and by dealers demoing things? (I don't like jazz!) 

 

There is everything in music section I guess.... even boy band Ed guy... have not see many beyonce,lady gaga but middle aged white guys stuff.. including lot of old farther rock, so we like

So we are a foot taping forum, aged with groove

Bert Schurink posted:

Like SJB - I like the exercise......but seriously it's an indication that the PRAT of the system is good....

Some systems are only about hifi and don't have the foottapping qualities...

 Procured Rhythmic Acquired Toe-tapping : )

Debs

Foot-tapping is at the opposite end of the scale of feeling you just have to get up and dance. Head banging comes somewhere in between but not always, depending on cranial density and wall composition.

Ah, Jazz. Delicious hot, disgusting cold. 

Don't worry Ian; they are not talking about you.

Good listening y'all; and long may you continue to tap the part of your anatomy which gives you the greatest pleasure.

John.

J.N. posted:

... and long may you continue to tap the part of your anatomy which gives you the greatest pleasure.

The mind boggles 

For those of us who are stout & proud sloths, foot tapping indicates a level of fitness that we aspire to, the very zenith of tip-top physical condition.  After starting with toe nail twitching under the supervision of a qualified physiotherapist, I have built up to toe tapping so far.  Foot tapping is the year-end target for 2017, this year's major resolution.

Now, where is that steak & ale pie?

On a slightly more serious note, foot tapping for me is merely one symptom of something much more important.  What I do crave is the emotional engagement in being captivating by a well crafted piece of music.  When immersed in a great song, sometimes the listener should want to sit still, transfixed.  Other times, the emotional connection will drive a desire to get up & dance around the room, to practice air guitar, to practice the drums, to cry, or indeed to tap one's feet.   It's all about the emotional engagement, not the foot tapping.  

Fortunately, Naim electronics seem to enable this wonderful, life-enriching engagement better than any other make that I have experienced to date.

As for jazz, well, where to begin?  If jazz is Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong singing together, or the Oscar Peterson Trio from the 1960s, then bring it on.  If It is modern, improvisational jazz, then it leaves me stone cold.

How's that IB?

Best regards, FT

Thank you FT - you are of course the one most qualified to answer!

As for jazz - none of the above!

Toe tapping should be concealed within roomy slippers and foot tapping should be concealed under a nice tartan blanket.

no obsession, it is about the removal of distortions that ensure frequencies are aligned when delivered to the speakers, in particular bass.

That's why Naim is quite particular about being able to swing high levels of current in their power amps.

I understand and fully get the instantaneous supply of current idea, which is good - it used to be measured indirectly by 'rise time', but what has the current to the speakers got to do with foot tapping? A slamming bass drum doesn't bpnecessarily make my foot tap, no matter live or recorded. If live music doesn't make your feet tap, should the same thing do so recorded? So many people complimenting the sound of some new component of system say "it made my feet tap" or something along those lines.

Just enjoy the music whatever moves you

Foot tapper posted:

J.N. posted:

... and long may you continue to tap the part of your anatomy which gives you the greatest pleasure.

The mind boggles 

For those of us who are stout & proud sloths, foot tapping indicates a level of fitness that we aspire to, the very zenith of tip-top physical condition.  After starting with toe nail twitching under the supervision of a qualified physiotherapist, I have built up to toe tapping so far.  Foot tapping is the year-end target for 2017, this year's major resolution.

Now, where is that steak & ale pie?

 

On a slightly more serious note, foot tapping for me is merely one symptom of something much more important.  What I do crave is the emotional engagement in being captivating by a well crafted piece of music.  When immersed in a great song, sometimes the listener should want to sit still, transfixed.  Other times, the emotional connection will drive a desire to get up & dance around the room, to practice air guitar, to practice the drums, to cry, or indeed to tap one's feet.   It's all about the emotional engagement, not the foot tapping.  

Fortunately, Naim electronics seem to enable this wonderful, life-enriching engagement better than any other make that I have experienced to date.

As for jazz, well, where to begin?  If jazz is Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong singing together, or the Oscar Peterson Trio from the 1960s, then bring it on.  If It is modern, improvisational jazz, then it leaves me stone cold.

How's that IB?

Best regards, FT

Okay - you most come over to hear some Weather Report

Foot tapping. That reminds me of an old joke.

How do you torture a scotsman?

Nail his feet to the floor and play a Jimmy Shand record.

Foot tapping, nooding the head, singing along ....all good indications that the system is playing music in an enjoyable way.

Better have it than .... not.

I tend foot-tap when I play bass - helps me to keep the timing - a sort of inner click / metronome.

So for me foot-tapping is a necessity 

Adam Zielinski posted:

I tend foot-tap when I play bass - helps me to keep the timing - a sort of inner click / metronome.

So for me foot-tapping is a necessity 

Now that I can quite understand and recognise. May your feet keep tapping forever!

Rui Marques posted:

Foot tapping, nooding the head, singing along ....all good indications that the system is playing music in an enjoyable way.

Better have it than .... not.

But that ignores the fact that people sing along to music played on the crudest of equipment, and least when the music is very rhythmic it is not uncommon to see them moving extremities of their bodies, at least when loud, so is rather meaningless. The only explanation yet as to why foot tapping is seen as desirable (when listening, as opposed to playing music) is Foot Tapper's suggestion that it is because it indicates that the music is invoking an emotional response. But as he noted, that does not necessarily lead to foot tapping, and as I have observed, foot tapping as a response to the music can happen whatever it is played on.

It seems as if saying the system or component led to foot tapping after an upgrade is either a meaningless statement, or the system or the upgraded component is emphasising the rhythmic trigger in the music that causes involuntary foot tapping, even if it might not have been anywhere near as prominent in the music as recorded, thereby losing fidelity by distorting the sound (referencing here the fact that that live music does not always trigger foot tapping).

There's something wrong if Oliver Nelson doesn't get your toe tapping. There is also something wrong if you are toe tapping to Nessus Dorma.

BB

Not being the expert in musicology, but lazily and happily quoting from wiki:

"..The common elements of music are

1 pitch (which governs melody and harmony),

2. rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation),

3. dynamics (loudness and softness), and

4. the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound).

Different [styles or types of music] may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements.  "

My guess is that one could replace the bracketed reference above with [music reproduction equipment] or  even 'individual preferences/biases' and the statement would still be valid.

One can imagine some order of emphasis say 2, 3, 1, 4 or 2&3, 1&4 to sound different and reflect specific bias. I guess foot tappers might pick a specific hierarchy with #2 highly emphasized, and tend to prefer hardware of the same vein. Just a thought.

If I may borrow from FT's eloquent appraisal (and why wouldn't the master know about his namesake), any involuntary response to music (foot tapping, head banging, singing) is surely a manifestation of one's engagement to a particular tune or artist. There are a couple of levels of such engagement, if I might explore the phenomenon of foot-tapping a little further and with the risk of sounding pompous.

There is the immediate response to a familiar piece of music that elicits some reaction that is more in recognition of something familiar that has possibly some special meaning to the listener. If listening in a group this can also be a kind of 'tribal' response with the possible aim of getting others to respond in similar way - think of chanting at a football game. If listening alone, this primeval level of response can be a reaction to a piece of music that produces a particular memory of (better?) times. The level of response I am talking about here does not require posh hifi, just a choon that is instantly recognisable and means something to the listener.

The next level of listener response is generated because a particular piece of music is produced in such a way that it causes an almost involuntary reaction in the listener. This is much more about the PRaT content in a piece of music and the ability of hifi to faithfully reproduce said PRaT. To experience this kind of response takes considerable expenditure on hifi, much cable dressing, much room treatment and possibly living on one's own due to the obsessional behaviour required to achieve this level of music-listening Nirvana. OK that last statement might be a little over the top (ooh Statement, there's a thought), but this level of foot-tapping takes a well sorted system and the system that has always been able to do this to me has a special Naim.

Night, night.