---
title: "Motion Over Time"

description: "Why are so many “music words” based around travel? Around space? Highs and lows, in and “out.” We talk about being in a key, moving away from home, climbing into a chorus, falling into resolution. Why are we navigating music? For me, musical gravity is one of the best ways to find your way through it!"

status: complete

date: 2026-02-24

kind: solo

guestSlugs: []

listenUrl: "https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lovemusicmore/episodes/Motion-Over-Time-e3ff9ja"
appleUrl: "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/motion-over-time/id1567355195?i=1000751160462&uo=4"
spotifyUrl: "https://open.spotify.com/episode/247pRrDsI5cga6OayMh8U9"

topicsDiscussed:
  - "Mixing"
  - "Musical Gravity"
  - "Emotional Communication"
  - "Rhythm and Dynamics"
  - "High vs. Low Frequencies"
  - "Composition Techniques"
  - "Internalized Craft"
  - "Musical Orbits"
  - "Tension and Release"
  - "Journey of Sound"

hostNote: |
  Companion to my vocabulary episode: **why do we talk about music like travel?** Highs and lows, being *in* a key, climbing into a chorus, falling into resolution, the words we use for sound are spatial, and I think that reveals how we actually process it.
  
  I frame **musical gravity** and **orbits**: home as root or melody, borrowed chords as moons tugging the path, jazz's stacked 251s as a series of temporary homes. From Winter Olympics-level muscle memory to mixing as filling a 3D object, forward/back, top/bottom, not just reverb: this is about internalized craft: knowing what pull, lift, and resolution you're aiming for before you deploy it.

selectedMoments:
  - label: "Introducing the core concept"
    startSec: 90
    note: "How the language around music reveals our thought processes and helps communicate emotions."
  - label: "Internalized craft in music"
    startSec: 139
    note: "The significance of muscle memory in musicianship and composition."
  - label: "Exploring high vs. low frequencies"
    startSec: 230
    note: "How frequency affects our understanding of sound and music."
  - label: "Concept of musical orbits"
    startSec: 278
    note: "Orbits as a metaphor for how musical elements relate to each other."
  - label: "Representation of gravity in music"
    startSec: 318
    note: "How certain musical structures create feelings of tension and resolution."
  - label: "Complexity and simplicity in jazz"
    startSec: 361
    note: "The balance between simple melodies and complex compositions in jazz."
  - label: "The journey with music"
    startSec: 454
    note: "Music as a journey rather than just a collection of notes."
  - label: "Different colors of resolution"
    startSec: 675
    note: "How tension and dissonance enhance the emotional impact of music."

excerptQuotes:
  - text: "...a lot of talent is internalized craft where you know what is appropriate in the given time..."
    startSec: 86
    reviewed: true
  - text: "...the fundamental aspects of music is it happens over time? It's not just one note, one chord, it is the exploration..."
    startSec: 233
    reviewed: true
  - text: "...you can kind of think of the home as the familiar, or the home as the root note..."
    startSec: 282
    reviewed: true
  - text: "...the thing that like pushes you back, like think about the moon revolving around the earth..."
    startSec: 315
    reviewed: true
  - text: "...the satisfaction of that journey is often related to the direction that it takes you..."
    startSec: 447
    reviewed: true
  - text: "...we have all these different kind of colors of resolution from the very standard to very non-standard..."
    startSec: 673
    reviewed: true
  - text: "...the next moment when you are rolling off into the universe like a little comet, but then you find your way back home..."
    startSec: 724
    reviewed: true

faq:
  - question: "What is the concept of musical gravity in Motion Over Time?"
    answer: "Musical gravity refers to the way certain musical elements pull listeners through the composition, creating feelings of tension and resolution."
  - question: "How do I describe the journey of music?"
    answer: "I emphasize that music is a journey rather than just individual notes or chords, illustrating how direction and expectation guide the listener."
  - question: "What role do high and low frequencies play in music?"
    answer: "High and low frequencies shape our understanding and perception of sound, influencing emotional responses and the overall experience of music."

transcriptPublished: false

draft: false
---