Quiz This Is What It Sounds Like Susan Rogers

Take the This Is What It Sounds Like Quiz

Quiz Questions

  1. Plot/Sequence (Multiple Choice): At the start of the book, Susan Rogers describes leaving a concert early because of her husband’s curfew. Which band was playing?

    • A) Prince
    • B) Led Zeppelin
    • C) Miles Davis
    • D) REO Speedwagon

  2. Plot/Sequence (Short Answer): After divorcing and moving to Hollywood, Rogers worked as an audio technician. A phone call led her to work as the personal technician for which iconic artist?

  3. Plot/Sequence (Multiple Choice): Rogers became the recording engineer for the album Purple Rain after that artist unexpectedly appointed her to the role. What artist was that?

    • A) Prince
    • B) Robert Plant
    • C) Jimmy Page
    • D) Tommy Jordan

  4. Plot/Sequence (Short Answer): Years later, at the Forum on tour, Rogers thanked the artist from question 3. After returning to Los Angeles, she became a successful record producer and wrestled with whether listening mattered. Which legendary jazz trumpeter told her that some of the best musicians are not performers, prompting her to see active listening as essential?

  5. Plot/Sequence (Multiple Choice): In the chapter “Form and Function,” which producer isolated himself to perfect a recording, demonstrating that powerful recordings emerge when formal choices serve the intended effect?

    • A) Rick Hall
    • B) Sam Phillips
    • C) Leonard Bernstein
    • D) Ogi Ogas

  6. Plot/Sequence (Short Answer): The Coda features a “record pull” between Rogers and her co‑author. What are the two guilty pleasures they respectively choose? (Name the song for Rogers and the song for Ogi.)

  7. Plot/Sequence (Multiple Choice): After sharing their guilty pleasures, Rogers and Ogi discover a mutual love for which genre of music?

    • A) Cowboy music
    • B) Jazz
    • C) Heavy metal
    • D) Classical

  8. Plot/Sequence (Short Answer): The book’s framework introduces how many dimensions of listening that form a personal listener profile?

  9. Character Motivation (Multiple Choice): Why did Susan Rogers vow to return to the Forum as a sound mixer after leaving the concert early?

    • A) She wanted to meet the band
    • B) She was determined to escape her unhappy marriage and pursue her dream career in audio
    • C) She wanted to produce the band’s next album
    • D) She was angry at her husband and wanted to prove him wrong

  10. Character Motivation (Short Answer): What motivated Prince to unexpectedly make Rogers his recording engineer? (Base your answer on the outline’s description of Prince’s action.)

  11. Character Motivation (Multiple Choice): In the chapter “Authenticity,” Tommy Jordan’s epigraph about “wrong notes played with gusto” suggests that performers should prioritize which quality over technical perfection?

    • A) Realism
    • B) Novelty
    • C) Expression and gusto
    • D) Melody

  12. Character Motivation (Multiple Choice): In the chapter “Lyrics,” Bono’s epigraph states that songs often mean what listeners need them to mean. This shifts the focus from authorial intent to:

    • A) The producer’s vision
    • B) The performer’s interpretation
    • C) Listener agency and subjective interpretation
    • D) The original recording technique

  13. Character Motivation (Short Answer): What did Miles Davis declare about some of the best musicians, which prompted Rogers to see active listening as essential? (Quote the key idea from the outline.)

  14. Theme/Symbol (Multiple Choice): The “listener profile” introduced in the book is built around seven dimensions. Which dimension explores how sound evokes visual imagery and a sense of physical space?

    • A) Timbre
    • B) Realism
    • C) Novelty
    • D) Rhythm

  15. Theme/Symbol (Multiple Choice): In the chapter “Title,” the act of labeling songs, genres, and oneself serves as a meta‑commentary on:

    • A) The importance of melody
    • B) Self‑categorization and the nature of labels
    • C) The role of the producer
    • D) The history of recorded sound

  16. Theme/Symbol (Multiple Choice): The concept of “active listening” versus “hearing” is central to the book. Which chapter most directly establishes this distinction through Rogers’ encounter with a jazz legend?

    • A) Overture
    • B) Chapter 5: Lyrics
    • C) Chapter 7: Timbre
    • D) Coda

  17. Theme/Symbol (Short Answer): The Coda concludes that despite individual listener profiles, music is ultimately a form of what, creating deep human connection when tastes occasionally align?

  18. Synthesis (Multiple Choice): Rogers uses the epigraphs from Tommy Jordan (Authenticity), Leonard Bernstein (Melody), Bono (Lyrics), and others to build an argument that:

    • A) Only professional musicians can truly understand music
    • B) Musical taste is determined solely by personal preference and nothing else
    • C) Listening is an active, co‑creative act that involves emotional, psychological, and identity‑based engagement
    • D) The most important dimension is realism because music creates visual imagery

  19. Synthesis (Short Answer): How does the concept of “novelty” as a taste dimension (Chapter 3) connect to the idea of “tension and release” in music? Explain briefly in one sentence based on the outline.

  20. Synthesis (Multiple Choice): Which pair of chapters most directly explores the relationship between the performer’s intention and the listener’s perception of meaning?

    • A) Chapter 1 (Authenticity) and Chapter 2 (Realism)
    • B) Chapter 5 (Lyrics) and Chapter 8 (Form and Function)
    • C) Chapter 3 (Novelty) and Chapter 6 (Rhythm)
    • D) Chapter 4 (Melody) and Chapter 7 (Timbre)

Answer Key

  1. B) Led Zeppelin – In the Overture, Rogers left a Led Zeppelin concert early because of her husband’s curfew. Source: Overture digest.
  2. Prince – After a phone call, Rogers became Prince’s personal tech and later his recording engineer. Source: Overture digest.
  3. A) Prince – Prince made her his recording engineer, and she helped create Purple Rain. Source: Overture digest.
  4. Miles Davis – Rogers’ encounter with Miles Davis, who declared that some of the best musicians are not performers, prompted her to see active listening as essential. Source: Overture digest.
  5. A) Rick Hall – He isolated himself to perfect a recording, demonstrating the interplay of form and function. Source: Chapter 8 digest.
  6. Rogers: “One Lonely Night” (REO Speedwagon); Ogi: “Cool Water” (Tim Blake Nelson) – These are the guilty pleasures shared in the Coda. Source: Coda digest.
  7. A) Cowboy music – Both admit to loving cowboy music by artists like Gene Autry. Source: Coda digest.
  8. Seven – The book introduces seven dimensions of listening that form a listener profile. Source: Overture digest.
  9. B) She was determined to escape her unhappy marriage and pursue her dream career in audio – The Overture describes her vowing to return as a sound mixer after her unhappy marriage and leaving the concert. The vow is tied to her career ambition and liberation. Source: Overture digest.
  10. Prince unexpectedly made her his recording engineer (no explicit motivation given in outline, but the action is stated) – The outline says Prince “unexpectedly made her his recording engineer.” No further motivation is supplied, so the answer accepts the described action. Source: Overture digest.
  11. C) Expression and gusto – Tommy Jordan’s epigraph contrasts “wrong note played with gusto” with “right note played timidly,” emphasizing expression over perfection. Source: Chapter 1 digest.
  12. C) Listener agency and subjective interpretation – Bono’s quote introduces the idea that songs mean what listeners need them to mean, shifting focus to the listener. Source: Chapter 5 digest.
  13. “Some of the best musicians are not performers” – Miles Davis’s statement prompted Rogers to see active listening as essential. Source: Overture digest.
  14. B) Realism – Chapter 2 explores how production techniques create visual imagery and spatialization, defining realism. Source: Chapter 2 digest.
  15. B) Self‑categorization and the nature of labels – The chapter “Title” uses its own title as a meta‑commentary on labeling. Source: Title digest.
  16. A) Overture – The encounter with Miles Davis in the Overture distinguishes active listening from passive hearing. Source: Overture digest.
  17. Sharing – The Coda states that music is “a form of sharing” and occasional alignment creates deep human connection. Source: Coda digest.
  18. C) Listening is an active, co‑creative act that involves emotional, psychological, and identity‑based engagement – The book consistently emphasizes active listening, listener agency, and the interplay of performer and listener. Each epigraph underscores a different aspect of that engagement. Source: Multiple chapter digests.
  19. Novelty involves risk‑taking in music, and the tension and release created by unexpected harmonic, rhythmic, or textural disruptions reward the brain, making music memorable. – Source: Chapter 3 digest.
  20. B) Chapter 5 (Lyrics) and Chapter 8 (Form and Function) – Chapter 5 focuses on listener interpretation versus authorial intent, and Chapter 8 examines how formal choices serve the intended function (emotional or practical purpose), directly linking performer/producer intention with listener experience. Source: Chapter 5 and Chapter 8 digests.