Lately I’ve been thinking about how we experience things – art, architecture, music, people – in different ways depending on the space were in.  I’m reading “The Architecture of Happiness,” by Alain de Botton, who explores how our surroundings (specifically buildings) affect our moods, sense of beauty, and even our identity. Put simply, we are different people in different places.

And this also applies to music—from arena rock, to Italian opera, to a concert in someone’s living room—the space affects the acoustics, the audience and the atmosphere. For example, a few years ago I hosted a fundraiser for The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra in my big cedar house on the Red River.  Guests moved with their wine and cheese through multi-levels of the home – inside and out – with the sounds of sax, bass and trombones wafting throughout the space and across the river. It was an intimate evening, with a cool crowd and a good vibe. And I have to admit I now prefer my jazz with a view.

On that note, in a recent TED Talk, David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame) asks: does the venue make the music? As a musician who’s done everything from drumming with African tribes to playing Carnegie Hall, he explores how context has pushed musical innovation. In other words, different spaces affect not only how music is experienced but also how it is composed.  Check out his video here.

How does the space you’re in affect you, or your experience of music, art or life?