This Is What It Sounds Like

What the Music You Love Says About You

By: Ogi Ogas, Susan Rogers

Narrated by: Susan Rogers

When you listen to music, do you prefer lyrics or melody? Intricate harmonies or driving rhythm? The “real” sounds of acoustic instruments or those of computerized synthesizers? Drawing from her successful career as a music producer (engineering hits like Prince’s “Purple Rain”), professor of cognitive neuroscience Susan Rogers reveals why your favorite songs move you. She explains that we each possess a unique “listener profile” based on our brain’s reaction to seven key dimensions of any record: authenticity, realism, novelty, melody, lyrics, rhythm, and timbre. Exploring this profile will deepen your connection to music, refresh your playlists, and uncover aspects of your personality. Rogers takes us behind the scenes of record-making, using her insider’s ear to illuminate the music of Prince, Frank Sinatra, Lana Del Rey, and many others. Told in a lively, inclusive style, This Is What It Sounds Like will change the way you listen to music.

©2022 Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas (P)2022 Recorded Books

Every music lover should listen!

Warning! This book takes an extra 10 hours to listen to properly, which includes going through each song as it is mentioned. This book is a life-changing examination of what music is, and how to understand the way it touches a person’s heart.

You’ll never listen to music the same way again.

So educational and exciting. Loved it!
One thing though: This book likely works better if you’re reading it with the accompanying playlist going. Constantly pausing the audiobook to go listen to the mentioned song sample hit really annoying really quickly.

Great Listening

Rogers adeptly explains the components of listening to music. She gives you the tools to look at the music you love and understand why it effects you the way it does. The accompanying music examples are enjoyable and also help illustrate her points. Love it.

Must hear, must read

Absolutely brilliant I learned so, so much about how I listen & why I listen to the music I do

Interesting, but…

I would have preferred two books that also included short 20-30 second examples of the music she referred to. I often cannot get to a music selection as I listen to a book. She often says to pause and listen to…. But it is not often feasible

Outstanding insights into music

She has a most pleasing voice and develops an interest in various aspect of the listening experience. Highly recommended.

Worthwhile and highly enjoyable on many levels.

While I’m an avid listener to many different types of Music, I’m normally resistant to any scalpel attack on a piece of Art, but in this book, Susan Rogers and her Co-Author have created a real service to Lovers of Music.

“Sounds Like” dissects the aesthetic and musical components of Musical works helping the Reader focus on the effect listening to Music has on the Brain. There’s nothing particularly revolutionary about this analysis but Rogers and Ogas sprinkle it with anecdotes about the making of each piece or the Artist and Culture creating it that maintains our interest.

They also set the scene by addressing the changing technology that affected the way the song was written and recorded. This perspective available to an experienced Producer is not something even dedicated Music listeners hardly ever have access to. Add to this the Author’s Neuroscience background allowing her to explore the Brain’s processing of Melody, Lyrics and Rhythm, etc.

Authenticity, Realism, Novelty,
Melody, Lyric, Rhythm, Timbre?

I’m not sure I’ve figured out my Listening Profile, but this melange of broad Musical Knowledge, Production Technology, and Brain Operation makes this book a valuable addition to any listener’s Library. The Form & Function Chapter alone is worth the price of admission as it lays open the methodology employed by real life producers of the recordings we have all listened to. “Sounds Like”overcame my initial skepticism to rate it Four Stars. ****

Recommended it to all my friends

I just wish there was some sort of indicator in the audiobook when to stop and listen to a song

Love it

An amazing journey of the authors love for music. 5 stars all around. Could not put the book down at time.

when you keep thinking

You know it is a great book when you keep referencing the way it makes you see the world and think differently after you have read it. It has become a joke in our family about how many times I say "it is like in the prince lady book..."