Performing our CIRCUS of music was definately the most unusual concert performance i can think of ever participating in. Unusual, but i have to say i greatly enjoyed it. I was dying of laughter inside when i stopped mid-sentence and people shuffled in their chairs and curiosity entered their brains. I didn't expect their reaction of complete silence as a respect to the performance, and was actually quite SHOCKED despite their likely associations to performance ettiquete because I found it hard enough to say nothing for 4:33 as a performer. My text was really hard to read off being that i had mixed the lines so much with more care for mass confusion for the listener by way of random assortment and repetition than for something more substance based or informative. However, I do believe my choice of arrangement greatly fit the piece as we had tangled it as a whole.
I Felt like everyone did an amazing job with their readings, and absolutely loved how the different parts chose stating what portion of readings were being used were totally out of order. It obviously was meant to not matter the way we set up this performance, but it still created a comic effect for anyone that caught the statements of different parts of the reading. I felt that the use of the gong part in the center couldn't have been placed better and it was so perfect to have Aaron's voice disappear in the noise and return upon the decline of volume. The ending came perfectly with the stopping of the music and final statement as if it had been rehearsed numerous times despite our method of self practice. Despite the unfamiliarity i have for this type of performance I would be open to this again and/or other things for sure!
Monday night we exited the circus of no animals, but maybe some animal noises ;)
Chris Lundeen
Friday, December 14, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Reflection After a Performance
So here we are post-performance. It was quite a performance. Thank you all for doing such a great job it was one of the most interesting performances I have been to/participated in.
It was kind of odd however, sitting and watching while others were going. The uninterruptedness was something that doesn't come around here all too often. There were no breaks between "songs", there wasn't a backroom for us to go and hide and build up any more nervousness that sometimes comes along with performance of music. We were all, in a way, performing the entire 30 minutes, which brings all of the pieces we performed together, together even more so than if we would scuttle back offstage. We were all engaged the entire time.
Musically, our form that we created was very satisfying. There was a pretty even distribution of sound and "energy" throughout. You could say it was phrased very nicely, not being too dense with sound as to create just "noise". There was ebb and flow, and it was good.
When I had said before, well, after we performed that the text wasn't quite music to me-I just wanted to let you all know that it was only an opinion of mine and not anything that I have heard from any source other than others that share my view. It is one of the concepts that I cannot seem to work through since I get so caught up in the meaning of the content of speech. And really, the more interesting the content, the harder it is for me to justify it as music. Music acting as a conduit of meaning, and text being the literal meaning in the flesh, having its own conduits i.e. through metaphor, analogy, etc. I suppose that this idea could also be shared by literary artists as well, them perhaps not wanting lines to be blurred by saying that their own poetry is "music". I could be absolutely wrong though. I guess I just am still unsure of this myself. A good question can't be answered without being asked.
Counterpoint: it definitely is sound, and thus can be defined by sound's parameters.
Continuing on:
I am still, to this moment, 3:19pm 12/11/07, that the form that we created was brilliant. It was so abstract when we thought it out and figured in amounts of time, and divided time up in multiple certain ways, but sounded so fluid when it was performed. I know that part of it could partly be coincidence, but the process that we followed through with to determine time was plainly uncanny. So... good job us!
The clothing really tied things together, just like the rug in "The Big Lebowski". "It really tied the room together."
We could have asked for a slightly larger audience, but too big could have been problematic as well. I mean, we're not singin' folk tunes that any regular "billy" would hear on a day-to-day basis. And no, not 'hillbilly'. Although it could also ring true. It is really music that is for people open to accept it. It would be socially unacceptable to bring our crew as an opener for Slayer, so I think the social context that we performed it in was very acceptable.
As a sort of random ending note:
Isn't it weird that some "New Media" is almost 50+ years old?
Feel free to post your comments on that if you still check this at a later date, now that we all have a blogger account if we didn't have one before.
Cage Circus Chaos!
As soon as I ended a somewhat awkward post-performance / waiting to clap silence by saying "the end," I felt pretty good. With no run-through and a pretty loose yet calculated structure, I'd say we did pretty good at pulling it all off. Having never truly been on a stage like that and in front of others, I was a bit nervous (which wouldn't have changed whether there was 8 people or 800 in front of me). The simple beginning of just one person talking on stage was a good introduction and the mid-sentence stop which began 4'33" was just brilliant. It was amazing how long four and a half minutes felt and the way the mind would drift to all sorts of sounds, as the piece intended. Whether it be the hum of the room, people walking around the halls outside the theater, or just the shuffling of people in the room, our ears were made very aware of every little sound. I remember scratching at my beard at one point and it just seemed extremely loud and rough sounding. I was a little saddened that Lucier's long thin wire didn't quite pan out, but as was explained both in class and after the performance, the set-up is pretty temperamental. There was a kind of cool eerie and subtle type of feel to it, though, and there was definitely at least one moment where the magnet made a really cool sound. The centerpiece of the performance, and from what I could gather was most people's favorite, was Having Never Written a Note for Percussion when combined with the highly repetitive part of Cage's Lecture on Nothing. I'm very interested in hearing the recording of this, because it sure felt strange being on the inside of it and trying to speak as if there was no loud gong rising in intensity right next to me. I also really got into giving the reading a sort of monotone and pronounced tone to it, especially using key pauses after the word "slow." During the midpoint of my part and the height of the gong-banging frenzy, I literally felt like I wasn't speaking out loud and it was very strange to try to make myself feel like I was still reading in the same manner as before. I am very glad I took the advice of my fellow classmates in not changing to a higher volume and I'm also satisfied that I cut to the silent / sleep part a bit early to let the gong have a brief moment as the only sound being produced for the piece. Radio Music would have felt a bit too anti-climatic had it come right after Having Never Written... and the 4th segment was a nice sort of breather and going back to the Lecture on Nothing being the sole focus mostly. It was a bit hard to gauge how successful the Radio Music session was, with me being in the back and focussing on doing my part. I do remember a moment where I had heard someone else's radio fade out from a certain station right as I was fading in the same station, which was neat. I think overall the performance didn't really have any bad moments or weak points and that our small little audience enjoyed it to some degree. I really enjoyed hearing that one man tell us how he had seen a Cage Circus/ Radio Music in the 60s with Cage himself there! That was quite impressive and it would have been fun to get more of a sense of how it compared to ours. Also the woman pointing out that at 71 she was pretty open minded to be coming to something like this, which was kind of funny. I really dug the fact that the audience asked each of us, as performers, are views on the experience. I think all of us got a real nice opportunity to give our thoughts on not just that night but how the class in general had helped shape and form our ideas about not just experimental or avant garde styles, but music and sound in general. I will definitely look forward to hearing the recording of this night! Hopefully now in the future I can experience more things similar the stuff we talked about in class with a better understanding of some of the elements at work. Well, it's been fun... have a nice winter break / life / eeyah!
Monday, December 10, 2007
My post experience
Omg that was so fun. I would def. love to do that again. (valley girl). Anyways I LIKED IT A LOT. It was so interesting to move along the timer. I liked that idea to have the timer there. It represented a lot of interesting feelings. Like that painting with melted clocks. It was just artistic within itself. I think Logan had a lot of cool examples when he was explaining it to the crowd. We all did such a good job reading, and I think it was so wicked how the silence overcame everyone in the start. Awesome. I did feel a bit weird reading that nothingness. But in a sense it actually meant something now that I had more time to think about it. We are nothing, or at least were nothing at one point, so it's okay to be nothing again! As if it was ever a bad thing to be nothing! That is a wonderful statement that I will cherish for the rest of my life. That guy sitting on the couch eating potato chips gets called lazy and a no good. Well he is being a nothing, and that is beautiful! ;). Yay now I can become lazy and be nothing until I die and birds eat me. This will be a wonderful life knowing I have more options with my own state of mind. Being bored and insecure is a good thing and i should cherish that. Thank you CAGE! Right cage? I think so... Yessss
With an hour and a half to go...
...I'm remembering when, years ago, I'd have piano recitals in the Performing Arts building and how nervous it made me, having to sit in the back room until it was my turn, having to walk on-stage under the lights with everyone and their parents watching in the seats, worrying if I'd make any mistakes while running through what I'd been practicing for weeks. I like to think I've gotten better about nervousness before a performance, though. Granted, every time I'm thrown into an unfamiliar performing situation, like playing with a new band, or especially improvising, I still get those fight-or-flight sensations.
Generally humor's gotten me through a great deal of those situations. One time while I was in a band playing at the Varsity Theater, I definitely felt strange being up on the stage with all of that space and all of those people out in the crowd. Luckily, the icebreaker occurred when the guy who booked the show got a hold of the smoke machines that were mounted on the ceiling and rained down ridiculous amounts of it down on us as a kind of B.S. grand entrance during our first song. I had to laugh inside, though maybe I did scowl slightly at the over-the-top nature of his gesture. I have a feeling when I step foot in the recital hall after over a decade of being away from it that things will seem smaller than as I once remembered them, and this is a little funny to me.
One other thing that helps get me through is the struggle against the adversity of other people's negative perceptions of what you're doing. Nothing makes things easier for me than a good old-fashioned showdown mentality of "Hey, I'm on the stage and doing this, so if you like it, great, and if not..." As the nature of the pieces that will be performed within the next two hours is decidedly avant-garde, especially given the context of this being Saint Cloud and all, I'd thrive if people got nervous or reacted negatively...but what would also make my day would be if people enjoyed it and even joined in the dialog, so to speak. And so I continue to wait...
Generally humor's gotten me through a great deal of those situations. One time while I was in a band playing at the Varsity Theater, I definitely felt strange being up on the stage with all of that space and all of those people out in the crowd. Luckily, the icebreaker occurred when the guy who booked the show got a hold of the smoke machines that were mounted on the ceiling and rained down ridiculous amounts of it down on us as a kind of B.S. grand entrance during our first song. I had to laugh inside, though maybe I did scowl slightly at the over-the-top nature of his gesture. I have a feeling when I step foot in the recital hall after over a decade of being away from it that things will seem smaller than as I once remembered them, and this is a little funny to me.
One other thing that helps get me through is the struggle against the adversity of other people's negative perceptions of what you're doing. Nothing makes things easier for me than a good old-fashioned showdown mentality of "Hey, I'm on the stage and doing this, so if you like it, great, and if not..." As the nature of the pieces that will be performed within the next two hours is decidedly avant-garde, especially given the context of this being Saint Cloud and all, I'd thrive if people got nervous or reacted negatively...but what would also make my day would be if people enjoyed it and even joined in the dialog, so to speak. And so I continue to wait...
Music-Making Methodology... ISM
Probably the best thing I got out of this class was learning about the concept of many different types of experimental / avant-garde / minimalist / abstract examples of music. The idea of what music even is and how there are so many different types of approaches that can be taken that challenge preconceived notions of how music can be made was something I've always been interested in. When I spoke of making "songs" that were 0.99 seconds or under, it was just one example of ideas I've personally had in trying unusual, often comical ideas I've had when making sounds. That was sort of a hyper-styled approach to one I often take... where many different short bits of music are thrown together to create something that is chaotic and discordant, but taken as a whole or the sum of its parts is something that may be very primitive but I find to be creative. The other example I spoke of in class involved where me and a fellow music-maker from England employed the idea of both of us creating short songs of just vocals with the other person creating the musical backdrop that would be the same length in time without knowing the melody of the vocals-only track and then slamming the two together for better or worse. A similar idea was 5 people each making 5 minutes of very minimal music and all 5 being layered together without any idea how the others sounded or how it would turn out. Often experiments like these somewhat fail, but the few times they DO work are glorious! Sometimes they turn out okay, but the method cannot be clearly heard, such as the time I layered 3 sets of vocals over each other with one being from the other end of my house, one being behind closed doors in a bathroom, and the third being from outside through a window, all of this done to see how the varying effects the differing areas of singing had on each other when meshed together. A final example is kind of similar to I Am Sitting in a Room, where I would create music, then play it over the phone onto an answering machine, then record that and repeat the process over and over. After only a few times the melody and sounds were completely distorted and destroyed with very annoying "squelchy" sounds being added in more and more each time.
I also think it's worth noting that in the age of the Internet, it's really great how one can find people to make less traditional music with, where you send things back and forth and come up with fun ideas... From like-minded people a sort of joke-like genre of music was born called ISM, a play on the genre of IDM [where the former stands for Intelligent Shit Music the latter is, of course, Intelligent Dance Music]. As stated on http://www.editthis.info/intelligent_shit_music/Intelligent_Shit_Music ... it can be said that "to understand ISM you must become ISM" and that the only rule in the genre is that there are no rules...
Here is a pretty good example of ISM (assuming it even works since geocities isn't exactly a very reliable hosting site): AVENGING GLACIER - SAPMULER
I also think it's worth noting that in the age of the Internet, it's really great how one can find people to make less traditional music with, where you send things back and forth and come up with fun ideas... From like-minded people a sort of joke-like genre of music was born called ISM, a play on the genre of IDM [where the former stands for Intelligent Shit Music the latter is, of course, Intelligent Dance Music]. As stated on http://www.editthis.info/intelligent_shit_music/Intelligent_Shit_Music ... it can be said that "to understand ISM you must become ISM" and that the only rule in the genre is that there are no rules...
Here is a pretty good example of ISM (assuming it even works since geocities isn't exactly a very reliable hosting site): AVENGING GLACIER - SAPMULER
Sound and Space
The idea of a room creating up to 45 seconds in sustained or delayed sound was a very strange concept for me to get my head around. The way that just a few trombone players could create a wash of noises that sounded so far removed from their original type of sounds produced got me truly thinking about how one could utilize a space like that to create music and sounds that seem very alien and distorted without the need to tinker with effects or post-production. This also got me thinking about the space or environment in general that musicians use to create music and how it might greatly affect the end product in ways that not only would influence how the music sounds but how it would hold sway on the way a musician might feel in the space they record in and how that plays a role. It's somewhat of an embarassing example, but I remember once reading how the Iowa band Slipknot had recorded their 3rd album (called "Iowa"!) in a very tiny enclosed space that was extremely hot. The fact that there is nine people in the band would only make it more cramped and heated, and their reason for doing this had such a purpose. It was to somehow inspire them to channel anger and discomfort into the music. In some ways this would make the emotions more fake or forced while in other ways it would make it more real. Another similar example of this type of thing comes back to the band Animal Collective, who try to have a different type of sound and recording style or method from album to album. For their last one they specifically chose to record in the desert setting of Arizona. This is a great instance of showing how a change in environment or setting can actually change or influence the creative ideas and therefore sounds of the music being made.
The Physical Force of Loud Live Music
A word about a concert experience I had this weekend. The concert I went to last saturday (Menomena at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytowne), I just wanted to make note of the idea of music, especially live, often having the physical aspect worked into it. The bands had ultra thumpy electronic and bass noises that were so intense at some points that the empty beer cans and glasses on the stage bounced about and one even moved 2 feet forwards and fell off the stage! haha! Also the stage having a certain amount of "give" to it really made the opening band's stomping of their feet at some points have a real heavy-hitting aspect to the sound. In general, I think there is definitely a very physical aspect in hearing music in a live setting. While too often the music is cranked up to a level that can take away from certain elements, whether they may be hearing the words being sung clearly or certain instruments being completely drowned out by others, I think it often stands true that when done right, the louder it is the better up to a certain point. The other downside of when it is too loud is that the physical force of the sound pummeling you can actually have a sort of draining effect. I know I would often feel like my body and head took a beating after certain shows and i'd feel wiped out even without really getting into it by way of moving about.
Pre Show
I am really nervous for this show tonight. I have no idea how it is going to be calculated. I have never done a piece like this live before. The feelings I have are scared but I know we will kick ass. I feel that although I am scared, you all know your material very well. I have always had troubles finding out how to get into New Media music but with the help I received from everyone in class was awesome. I enjoyed the way the poster looked whoever created that. The way the guy laughs looks really awesome. The noises tonight will be fun to make and the lyrics of nothing will be extraordinary. I hope everyone has a good time and I can't wait
EA Arts Ensemble: Rupert Murdoch Wants YOU
It's no secret that Murdoch's company News Corp has been in an acquisitive mood for some time--they recently have tried to purchase the media firm Dow Jones, which owns, among other things, the Wall Street Journal. More importantly, at least with regard to this blog posting, News Corp owns Myspace, the new media phenom that has lonely singles and not-so-singles, bands that have yet to leave the bedroom for the garage, aspiring filmmakers, and even comedy troupes vying for everyone else's attention. And, although they have yet to be as ubiquitous a force as every other neighbor kid with an electric guitar that might be in a band (or maybe just a Guitar Hero aficionado who plays Rock Band every now and then), those who make the more 'experimental' garden varieties of sound have been making themselves heard as of late, and now have a couple Myspace-approved genres with which to tag their music profile.
Anyone in this class start a band profile (yet), and if so, did you notice the seeming wealth of genres to choose from? Leaving aside those which have been historically related to relatively pioneering in the popular, er, "sound" realm (i.e. Industrial, Ambient, etc.) budding EA Arts Ensemble'rs with an eye towards self-promotion can choose from these pertinent choices:
Acousmatic / Tape Music
Electroacoustic
Experimental
Live Electronics
and of course
Other
(it's worth noting though that there's been a bit of a screwball movement of those who would rather humorously label themselves and thereby have fun with genres and unsuspecting Myspace music searchers)
So why this allotment of recognition? Is there somebody "cool" at the right hand of "Tom"? Rather, I think it's a testament to the data collecting powers of a site like Myspace, where everyone, regardless of what they put in their interests section (for instance) can be spammed for friendship/praise/credibility/booking/$$$ by any number of real and/or otherwise profiles clued into their presence by one particularly half-thought out keyword. Thusly the all-commodifying power of global capitalism seeps its way into the friend request and event invitation boxes of even the most noisiest of noise mavens...tribute page or no.
Proceeding from the question "why would anybody do this?" . . .
... and dredging up something that was brought to my attention a couple weeks ago, a documentary about noise artists in Portland, Oregon will soon be out, and it's called "People Who Do Noise" (trailer below)
And this video response, as it were, is hardly meant to fully answer the question, but rather to shed a little light on a particular community of people who do art through sound in this way, using these means. Political, aesthetic, and even purely hedonistic-seeming discursive threads can be seen running through each of the little blurbs of interviewees shown in the trailer. The portrayals, brief as they are, seem to indicate a group of people who have taken stock of their surroundings and worked out little niches for themselves to explore and share with each other, in contrast to how some detractors of experimental music would probably, at first exasperated and dismissive, tag perceived members of any avant-garde with trying to outdo each other in terms of pushing the envelope and doing what had yet to be done. I hope to be able to catch this movie when it comes out to see how well it will be executed as a film and also to hopefully catch some interesting presentations of music.
And this video response, as it were, is hardly meant to fully answer the question, but rather to shed a little light on a particular community of people who do art through sound in this way, using these means. Political, aesthetic, and even purely hedonistic-seeming discursive threads can be seen running through each of the little blurbs of interviewees shown in the trailer. The portrayals, brief as they are, seem to indicate a group of people who have taken stock of their surroundings and worked out little niches for themselves to explore and share with each other, in contrast to how some detractors of experimental music would probably, at first exasperated and dismissive, tag perceived members of any avant-garde with trying to outdo each other in terms of pushing the envelope and doing what had yet to be done. I hope to be able to catch this movie when it comes out to see how well it will be executed as a film and also to hopefully catch some interesting presentations of music.
Mincemeat or Tenspeed
In my time both going to local shows in the Twin Cities and traveling across the country making music, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing a Philadelphia-based solo electronics/noise/dance (emphasis on the last genre tag but accomplishing that goal through ingenious use of the other two) music performer by the name of Mincemeat or Tenspeed twice. The first time was in an upstairs illegal venue in Oakland, full of kids who frantically got their party on in a seething mass before the Bay Area Rail stopped running in the AM and left them stranded until the next morning. Then, after forgetting what his performing moniker was, I saw him towards the end of a ridiculous nine-band bill, which ran the gamut of acts from shambolic folk to hip-hop to dub-noise, at the Hexagon Bar in Minneapolis. Subsequently that night, I was hit between the eyes by the fact that I’d seen him before, the euphoria upon my recognition of him (small world, eh?) being lifted even further by his triumphant and exhilirating pieces, which caused the assembled music-weary crowd by night’s end to forget the last 2.5 hours and move about his rig in front of the stage.
I found this description of his approach and work online:
And, although the videos I’ve found on YouTube of him don’t do his live performance all that much justice, on account of the sorry state of widely-available videorecording devices being very easily overdriven to the point of erasing the kind of nuance that makes someone like MoT pretty amazing on a couple perceptual levels, here’s a short clip of him mid-show:
I thought him especially relevant to this course due to his employment of handheld, mostly-battery-operated effects pedals and a few mixers, taking basic building blocks of sound through a painstaking process and achieving similar results to artists who would require more traditional means of reproducing sound.
I found this description of his approach and work online:
[f]or those unfamiliar, Mincemeat or Tenspeed (yes, thats one band, one name) does NOT use any drummachines, sequencers, samplers, computers, etc to make his beats. Instead, he uses an intricate and delicately balanced series of gated mixer-feedback loops to create intense rhythms with a texture unlike any other type of beats you will ever hear. Highly recommended for anyone interested in cutting edge techniques for making hardcore electronic music.
And, although the videos I’ve found on YouTube of him don’t do his live performance all that much justice, on account of the sorry state of widely-available videorecording devices being very easily overdriven to the point of erasing the kind of nuance that makes someone like MoT pretty amazing on a couple perceptual levels, here’s a short clip of him mid-show:
I thought him especially relevant to this course due to his employment of handheld, mostly-battery-operated effects pedals and a few mixers, taking basic building blocks of sound through a painstaking process and achieving similar results to artists who would require more traditional means of reproducing sound.
Brought to you by the fine folks at kidsbegone.com!
With regards to the sensory power unleashed by Steve Reich’s “Pendulum Music,” I was glancing at some reading about the idea of sound as weapon and came across a device that purports to use the keen ears of youthful teenagers, who may also be prone to acts of petty criminality like . . . er, loitering. It’s named the Mosquito, and it was designed to affect people from their teens up to the age of thirty or thereabouts, when the average person’s ability to reliably hear the frequency at which is broadcasts, 17.4 kHz, diminishes. Apparently the annoying quality comes into effect if the unfortunate soul remains in place for longer than ten minutes. The makers of the Mosquito, Compound Security (http://www.kidsbegone.com), maintain their device meets safety standards and cite the example that children have used their particularly higher hearing attentuation to make cellphone ringtones that elude adults’ (i.e. teachers) ears. Ingenious, no?
However, concern has been raised in the UK about the legality of such means, with detractors arguing the Mosquito falls in the realm of a violation of human rights. Not surprisingly, Compound Security’s research into the matter is at odds with such criticism.
Stumbling from that onward to an additional tangent, apparently the Republic of Ireland has found the Mosquito to be illegal on the grounds that--
anyone who "directly or indirectly applies force to or causes an impact on the body of another ... without the consent of the other" ... including "application of heat, light, electric current, noise or any other form of energy", is guilty of commiting assault. (wikipedia.org)
One wonders how well someone could make a case against noise bands like Wolf Eyes or even plain loud rock bands touring Olde Eire based on such criteria. It definitely gives me pause on the odd moment where I think about touring the Emerald Isle...er...
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Reflection Before a Performance
So here we are. The night before our circus.
I have never uttered those words ever before in my life.
I'm guessing only those that have traveled with the circus have. I doubt anyone in class has, but if so- I apologize. I think the real fun tomorrow will be all of the collaboration during the overlapping sections. It may not be really fun for the audience since they don't know what has transpired in class to bring this particular performance to them, but maybe they will see us enjoying our sonic mayhem and live through us vicariously.
So this post is really not too academic. But then again, I don't want it to be. There will be one after the performance that will have way too much jargon and vernacular pertaining to class. This post is my reflection of what I think sometimes we neglect learning all the particulars about music. At it's heart- music is to have fun. Plain and simple. You could say historically it was to please the gods- but if you think about it- if they (He, them, it, whatever you believe) are pleased: we're more likely to have fun, huh? So there it is. I'm sure we'll all have fun and show some unlikely audience member what they are missing out on.
Short post I know. Just remember to have fun! That's what it's all about!
I have never uttered those words ever before in my life.
I'm guessing only those that have traveled with the circus have. I doubt anyone in class has, but if so- I apologize. I think the real fun tomorrow will be all of the collaboration during the overlapping sections. It may not be really fun for the audience since they don't know what has transpired in class to bring this particular performance to them, but maybe they will see us enjoying our sonic mayhem and live through us vicariously.
So this post is really not too academic. But then again, I don't want it to be. There will be one after the performance that will have way too much jargon and vernacular pertaining to class. This post is my reflection of what I think sometimes we neglect learning all the particulars about music. At it's heart- music is to have fun. Plain and simple. You could say historically it was to please the gods- but if you think about it- if they (He, them, it, whatever you believe) are pleased: we're more likely to have fun, huh? So there it is. I'm sure we'll all have fun and show some unlikely audience member what they are missing out on.
Short post I know. Just remember to have fun! That's what it's all about!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
When I Wake Up Each Morning, My Alarm Plays Caribbean Music
It's been a while since I started. "What?" you ask... Well, anything. But music, school, and breathing come to mind upon first glance. These things have always been there. They have always been things. I often don't make sense. But I keep talking. Unfortunately for you readers, it is late, and I am sleepy, and yet, motivated to write a blog. Web-Log. Weblog. We-Blog. We do blog don't we.
...
Wow. OK, so the point of this weeks installment of my blog is in answer to many threads on "our" blog that are generally speaking about music and/or New Media. Or something completely different. I liked James' last post about inspirations. It really gets to the point of music, the reason for music. Inspiration. Whether it is a "who" or a "what" or a "when" and so on, it is something. Something not to be trifled with. Or at least without a good reason.
The post made me recollect what I like about my favorite music. I draw a blank absolutely every time. I have been a music student for 5 years and all I can think about is "what" the music is doing, not entirely "what about the music" I like. And if I am a little unclear, which I may be, I will reiterate: I can't exactly put my finger on what exactly gets me intrigued about my favorites. You know, the CD's that are always playing. Or the songs that give you the chills when you just even think about them. I'm also not sure if everyone has that sort of reaction to a specific musical event. But some do.
Why is there a difference between that "favorite song feeling" and "muffled, radio bar-rock"? Isn't it just sound? NO! And Yes! :/ and maybe a couple more "no's" and "yes's", but who knows. It's so different from person to person. Yet we are taught in college to recognize potential differences in these different forms of sound. There is just so much variety out there, it is hard to distinguish between these sounds- if we were to put them in categories.
In an attempt to segue to my point: hypothetical question: do you listen to only one style of music? If not- what styles are they? And how do they differ? If yes- what is it that draws you into this style of music? Are there other styles/types that you are not as interested in or just slightly less interested than your favorite?
I'm sure there are answers all throughout that continuum. And music students of any emphasis, and music lovers in general will most likely have different answers across it, but they can all appreciate seeing someone else's point of view- even if it is very different from their own.
A sort of stereotype that I have run into being in musical academia is the "so, ya talk about Bach and Mozart all day, eh?" (apparently a Canadian asked this individual time, maybe a northern Minnesotan). But I always wonder why music is never related to a foundations/emphasis duality. You learn foundations (basics- the words, the early works, the traditional theory) and then you move onto the emphasis (not the basics- oppositional viewpoints, analytical and creative techniques, avant-guard musical selections, and more technical aspects that the less interested seem to be, well, less interested in.) And that is leaving out performance practice of the music itself. It can get complicated, but then again, what field isn't complicated at some point? Math... yep. Econ... yep. Aviation... yep. History... good God. I guess my sub-point here is that many see music as being irrelevant to these, but in reality, is so irreversibly intertwined it is impossible to take them apart (awesome alliterations).
To these people from above, I usually say, "Yep. That's all we do."
Just kidding. I usually begin explaining what I just did, but they walk away when I blink.
These complications are important however long winded they can be to explain.
Think of the best "music industry" producers. They're makin' the "big bucks" right? So could they make it in the "industry" without a pretty good grasp of music on a complicated scale? Even though they have all the technology in their hands- they not only need to know how to operate it, but also what the hell they are trying to accomplish **e x a c t l y** to their specifications. Many have gone through the trials and tribulations of sheer experience, but I am pretty sure that a few mind bending classes (or lessons, or apprenticeships) have been taken to make them the best at what they do. They may have not used every single concept (i.e. I'm pretty sure I can't find a worthwhile application for a Lucier Wire at the moment- for myself that is) but these people use the concepts to think outside of "THE BOX" the dreaded Hypothetical "BOX".
This box really doesn't exist unless we fail to let it not exist. Hmm... Let me try and explain that one. So I am taking a basic music class. I just learned what a triad is. The much beloved 3 note chord. I believe in this triad, for it is what I know. This is my box at the moment. Anything I learn and accept will be a part of this box. Thinking out side the box is really just willingness to pursue new knowledge that you didn't know or believe in.
Now what we all truly want to do is blow the box out of the "water". Where the water came from I don't know, but we sure as hell want to blow the box away and not have it anymore. This is when we not only are pursuing new knowledge out of our box, but understand it so thoroughly that it poses no limitation on us and all aspects regarding the box are thrown away. Ta-da. Ding. *Bell noise* We no longer have to rely on some box that never really existed in the first place. We had to believe it did, otherwise we would have nowhere to put new information. I am being somewhat redundant, but this is such an important concept.
I will always have some sort of box however, personally. I have a math box. I think 99 percent of humans have a math box. Don't you agree? I don't know the square root of -27, and neither should you. It is out side of our math box and only if we really loved finding the SQUARE ROOT OF MINUS 27 would we ever escape our math box. Or in other words, make it not exist.
Sooooooo... New Media got ya' down? It may not be vital to your survival, although it may enrich the other areas of your life if you just go with it. It all in all is a good experience. And by no means is it comprehensive yet- in my mind. If it is """"""New"""""" it could still be in the creation process today. Who knows, maybe something on of us 5 does will kick start a new trend in the musical world. Or math world. Or something else.
I am running out of brain for the night. I could go on, but I need to sleep, and this is quite long enough for tonight. Although I do recall promising MIND BLOWING BLATHER!! So there it was. I will most likely continue with this later being that I am short a few blogs.
Please feel free to ask questions about anything- especially if I am at all unclear.
Thank you and Congratulations for making it through this.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Inspirations
I am unsure of where these inspirations come from. new media. what came first the new or the media? Whats so new about it? i think it's a miscommunicated seducing persuasion. I stepped into New Media thinking we would be working with equipment beyond the imagination. Little did I know New Media is using your imagination beyond the equipment. Oh well. What is my inspiration with music if all I do is write complaints about what I am already involved in. I'm unsure. But it seems a rebellious personality never hurt anyone. I guess going against the grain... well I should of researched further into New Media before taking such a dramatic impulse of dreams towards it. On a positive note: New Media taught me things I would of never imagined. Danke :) you New Media. so i still dont get it. What is your inspiration towards music? really i would love to know. I didn't mention it two sentences ago but a sudden impulse of satisfaction came over me at the idea of your Inspiration. You may read this thinking i'm a failing teacher of pride/honor unlike the coach of Remember the Titans or any other inspirational movie. You may be right, but I would still like to know exactly why music is your charm. I would like to think of myself as a quiet child unable to grow without the nourishment of emotional knowledge. I hate logical concepts. I don't care for them due to my own self issues of past relationships. Go figure. Speaking of emotional concepts, that seems to be the only thing that flows out of my finger tips or lips whenever a decision no matter how serious or complex.
Monday, December 3, 2007
advertising and its lovely complications
When you have a product you obviously want it presented and any free promotion you can find is obviously desirable right?
Well, one great market that advertising is hugely active in is the world of Myspace. The question is what is cool to use and is really fair game and what is uncool? Often bands or companies messages massive quantities of people presenting their music, show, or product. Many people flip out in anger that it is SPAM!!! However, sometimes these messages are personalized based on information that involves much of your profile. I personally think the random duplicate message are almost surely classifiable as spam, but what about the messages with personal attention? Really myspace is a place for networking and friendmaking so couldn't a message like that be placed in the same category as a hello message stating the interest in talking to someone?
It has been clearly defined that emails from random sources are spam, but with a networking world such as myspace what do you do because while some people are absolutely against a message from a stranger, isn't that the same thing that you see on television called a commercial that alot of people DON'T WANT TO WATCH? I have thought about this a lot and one idea i thought about was...What if on your page you could choose whether to allow messages from people you didn't add or not, wait that is an option! That means that people that don't want the messages can prevent them, however i do sympathize the technologically challenged somewhat...ok enough sympathy, figure it out already. If you are going to be on myspace you better be ready for complex technology because it employs all sorts of multimedia and linked pages!
When dealing with music the purpose of myspace is to be able to be heard and get your name out there. Here's to the creation of filling out a section of musical preferences to be added to your personalization of your profile so you can only receive messages for your style of music!!!
Chris Lundeen
Well, one great market that advertising is hugely active in is the world of Myspace. The question is what is cool to use and is really fair game and what is uncool? Often bands or companies messages massive quantities of people presenting their music, show, or product. Many people flip out in anger that it is SPAM!!! However, sometimes these messages are personalized based on information that involves much of your profile. I personally think the random duplicate message are almost surely classifiable as spam, but what about the messages with personal attention? Really myspace is a place for networking and friendmaking so couldn't a message like that be placed in the same category as a hello message stating the interest in talking to someone?
It has been clearly defined that emails from random sources are spam, but with a networking world such as myspace what do you do because while some people are absolutely against a message from a stranger, isn't that the same thing that you see on television called a commercial that alot of people DON'T WANT TO WATCH? I have thought about this a lot and one idea i thought about was...What if on your page you could choose whether to allow messages from people you didn't add or not, wait that is an option! That means that people that don't want the messages can prevent them, however i do sympathize the technologically challenged somewhat...ok enough sympathy, figure it out already. If you are going to be on myspace you better be ready for complex technology because it employs all sorts of multimedia and linked pages!
When dealing with music the purpose of myspace is to be able to be heard and get your name out there. Here's to the creation of filling out a section of musical preferences to be added to your personalization of your profile so you can only receive messages for your style of music!!!
Chris Lundeen
Who's right is it anyway???
When there is a loved member of anything it is common that a great deal of wondering about what should be done will occur regardless of personal involvement in whatever that may be.
We will be performing 4:33 with two people performing it in duo which directly correlates to a situation of a local musical group, and in fact MANY musical acts.
The local giants of underground hard music, AFTER THE BURIAL had their signer leave the band in July this past summer. He was by most people the most known member of the group and beloved. The members which do/did most of the musical composition still remain in tact now and replaced their drummer and the missing singer spot with members of a band they were friends with.
The reason I'm going on about this is I heard alot from people about how they should change their name because it wont be *the same band.* I understand what is meant because of the belovedness of the original frontman and stage energy that he had unlike anyone else, however isn't it kind of the band's right to choose? They haven't even debaited name change as far as i'm concerned, but i just thought about it because it is a common happening that a band once known for its original members may only have one original member when it becomes hugely popular and who's right is it to decide if they are the same band? That in mind, is it right of us to call 4:33 just that or are we being too experimental with it? Who should decide the right's of anyone else and is it fair to call something by the same label when the components have changed greatly? Who's right is it anyway???
Chris Lundeen
We will be performing 4:33 with two people performing it in duo which directly correlates to a situation of a local musical group, and in fact MANY musical acts.
The local giants of underground hard music, AFTER THE BURIAL had their signer leave the band in July this past summer. He was by most people the most known member of the group and beloved. The members which do/did most of the musical composition still remain in tact now and replaced their drummer and the missing singer spot with members of a band they were friends with.
The reason I'm going on about this is I heard alot from people about how they should change their name because it wont be *the same band.* I understand what is meant because of the belovedness of the original frontman and stage energy that he had unlike anyone else, however isn't it kind of the band's right to choose? They haven't even debaited name change as far as i'm concerned, but i just thought about it because it is a common happening that a band once known for its original members may only have one original member when it becomes hugely popular and who's right is it to decide if they are the same band? That in mind, is it right of us to call 4:33 just that or are we being too experimental with it? Who should decide the right's of anyone else and is it fair to call something by the same label when the components have changed greatly? Who's right is it anyway???
Chris Lundeen
Radio Music
The frequencies suddenly appear from the air. It seemed to come from out of nowhere. Stations are coming in and out and noise replaces silences spot. A fond song airs and gets you hooked. Just at that time you are shook. The song is gone but didn't end, they're searching for a brand new friend. Too much to capture all at once, constant change takes place and then...it stops.
Chris Lundeen
Chris Lundeen
Draft of a Blurb (Blurb of a Draft)
Early in the semester, we as a class examined a piece by deceased composer James Tenney entitled, “Having Never Written a Note for Percussion.” Professor Twombly wrote out the entire score in class for us, which can be seen above.
He then demonstrated the performing of it with the use of a single gong and two mallets, playing a version of it which lasted six minutes. As can be seen by the notation, the piece calls for a gradual crescendo over the course of an extended period of time, coming to the loudest possible volume somewhere in the middle and then followed by a gradual decrescendo.
Noted avant-garde percussionist William Winant, who adapted the piece to be played by himself and the members of the experimental rock band Sonic Youth for their album Goodbye Twentieth Century, describes some of Tenney’s thought behind these works: “[Tenney] had all these compositions for solo instruments that were musical analogs of Zen koans, musical questions to ponder that would bring enlightenment.”
Karl Konz will be performing this evening’s version of James Tenney's “Having Never Written a Note for Percussion.”
Isaac Rotto
Scary Music!!! : Perceiving the perceptions
This past weekend I had a lengthy conversation with a lady friend and at the beginning of this talk I was greeted by a shreek followed by "Are you listening to scary music?"
I was playing a band that I am friends with that I was previously planning to take this girl to in a couple of weeks because she had never been to the club they are playing. Now, we'll see because what she was referring to by SCARY MUSIC was music with screaming. I guess i hadn't realized how normalized it has become to me because now it's like no big the and the WEIRD stuff i listen to is associated with these new media classes in my own mind. I dare to say i don't think i'll be playing it for her anytime soon due to a lot of explaining needed to get to a point where she could comprehend the purpose.
This really helped me get a better grip of connotations of what is music. Really i have been grouping new media music into the CRAZY and WEIRD categories without realizing that that's what people near me think about the music that i enjoy on a daily basis. I have "perceived perceptions" in a new way and i'm glad this conversation with the girl took place. Really i have been trying hard to accept new media into the realm of MUSICAL PIECES or WORKS but at the same time unconciously denying it that very right. I've felt like it's just crazy even though i get the technical and skillful aspects correlated with the music.
My point is...No matter what you enjoy listening to, someone find its to be CRAZY or STUPID and any genre of music should be considered as quality. You just have to learn to perceive the perceptions you've known your whole life in a new way.
Chris Lundeen
I was playing a band that I am friends with that I was previously planning to take this girl to in a couple of weeks because she had never been to the club they are playing. Now, we'll see because what she was referring to by SCARY MUSIC was music with screaming. I guess i hadn't realized how normalized it has become to me because now it's like no big the and the WEIRD stuff i listen to is associated with these new media classes in my own mind. I dare to say i don't think i'll be playing it for her anytime soon due to a lot of explaining needed to get to a point where she could comprehend the purpose.
This really helped me get a better grip of connotations of what is music. Really i have been grouping new media music into the CRAZY and WEIRD categories without realizing that that's what people near me think about the music that i enjoy on a daily basis. I have "perceived perceptions" in a new way and i'm glad this conversation with the girl took place. Really i have been trying hard to accept new media into the realm of MUSICAL PIECES or WORKS but at the same time unconciously denying it that very right. I've felt like it's just crazy even though i get the technical and skillful aspects correlated with the music.
My point is...No matter what you enjoy listening to, someone find its to be CRAZY or STUPID and any genre of music should be considered as quality. You just have to learn to perceive the perceptions you've known your whole life in a new way.
Chris Lundeen
Music On A Long Thin Wire WRITE-UP
In 1977, experimental music composer Alvin Lucier created a musical piece titled "Music On A Long Thin Wire." The set up for this piece involves a wire being extended across a large room and clamped to two tables at either end. It is there that the wires are connected to loudspeaker terminals of a power amplifier with a sine wave oscillator connected to the amp. A magnet "straddles" the wire at one of the ends while wooden bridges are put under the wire at both ends with contact microphones imbedded and then routed to the stereo system. With changes to the frequency and volume of the oscillator, the vibrations produce a variety of sounds, though Lucier admitted himself that a shorter wire would create as good, if not better, results over a longer one and that the best way to create sonic phenomena is to leave the set-up alone. Trivia note: the United States library of Congress did not allow Lucier to copywright this piece, saying that it was not a work of authored art, but rather a natural phenomenom being produced!
Cistern as Instrument
I have to admit that Stuart Dempster's piece that we listened to in class last week fooled me. The recording and the instruments involved sounded all the world to me like they were heavily processed and/or synthesized. Also, seeing as a new “final cut” of the movie had been released, I thought it might have been part of keyboardist Vangelis’ score to Blade Runner, partly due also to my rough memory of there being hand-chimes/bells played somewhere during the soundtrack.
I would’ve loved to have found out just how the performance of the Dempster piece was recorded. I’m sure if they had used unidirectional close-mic’ing of the instruments the results of the performance would have sounded much different than whatever mics were used to capture the rich resonating and echoes of the cistern as “activated” by the ensemble. I also wonder to what extent trial-and-error factored into the recording situation; if it was a one-take deal or if several, possibly shorter, runs in order to nail down a satisfactory mic situation were attempted; and how frustrating it might have been to have to wait after a botched take for the echoes to die down in order for the next take to begin as envisioned.
In doing a little reading about Oliveros and deep-listening, I was struck by this part of her Wikipedia entry--
The idea of a group of people traveling around and exploring both natural and artificial structures’ sound really intrigues me. As someone who has played music in various places around the country, the sound of a room almost becomes at times a personal bane, a never-ending struggle with trying to sound similar, a different room night after night, to how things sounded in a “control” room like a practice space. Here is an aesthetic that prides itself on going around and activating those places’ characteristics! In a way it almost undercuts traditional notions of the performer, in that it could be said that greater allowance is made for aspects of individual spaces to play the musicians after a fashion.
I would’ve loved to have found out just how the performance of the Dempster piece was recorded. I’m sure if they had used unidirectional close-mic’ing of the instruments the results of the performance would have sounded much different than whatever mics were used to capture the rich resonating and echoes of the cistern as “activated” by the ensemble. I also wonder to what extent trial-and-error factored into the recording situation; if it was a one-take deal or if several, possibly shorter, runs in order to nail down a satisfactory mic situation were attempted; and how frustrating it might have been to have to wait after a botched take for the echoes to die down in order for the next take to begin as envisioned.
In doing a little reading about Oliveros and deep-listening, I was struck by this part of her Wikipedia entry--
Oliveros coined the term "Deep Listening", which she then applied to her group The Deep Listening Band and to the Deep Listening program of Deep Listening Institute, Ltd. (formerly The Pauline Oliveros Foundation), which she founded in 1985. The Deep Listening program includes annual listening retreats in Europe, New Mexico and in upstate New York, as well as apprenticeship and certification programs. The Deep Listening Band, which includes Oliveros, David Gamper, and Stuart Dempster, specializes in performing and recording in resonant or reverberant spaces such as caves, cathedrals and huge underground cisterns. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Oliveros)
The idea of a group of people traveling around and exploring both natural and artificial structures’ sound really intrigues me. As someone who has played music in various places around the country, the sound of a room almost becomes at times a personal bane, a never-ending struggle with trying to sound similar, a different room night after night, to how things sounded in a “control” room like a practice space. Here is an aesthetic that prides itself on going around and activating those places’ characteristics! In a way it almost undercuts traditional notions of the performer, in that it could be said that greater allowance is made for aspects of individual spaces to play the musicians after a fashion.
Friday, November 30, 2007
How Cunning the Ear is to Deceive Us
This last week I was baffled by the Stuart Dempster piece in the cistern. I honestly could have lost a huge bet on what was actually sounding. Baffled. But after hearing some really loud notes hit later in the piece- I think even without the answer given to us, I could have placed the sound.
I still find it funny that two things can emulate each other so well. Or how one thing emulates another, really. It really startled me when I heard the answer too. I felt like I should have known better being that I have played trombone for the greater portion of my life. It also shows how well it worked as an example for what we talked about afterwards.
Room. Make some room in your music for room. It could be its own genre. "Room Music." It's perfect. No. Let's not go there.
In reality, what makes a room "good"? Is there an 'all purpose room'? Or is it really just to fit the situation accordingly in each individual instance? Probably the latter mentioned. I have a friend that owns a studio, and the sound of the room is one of the biggest influences on every sound. From drums, to guitar, to bass, to vocals, to keyboards... Each really needs its own different space to be captured in their own 'perfect' ways, or at least for the aesthetic they are looking for.
Thinking in this way poses a slight problem- I could be on a wrong path of thought, but- if each instrument requires a different size room to perhaps "create the most beautiful sound" of its own- why does it work out when all the instruments are put together live? Take for instance a big drum kit with a booming bass drum and wicked loud cymbals- you need a pretty hefty room to accommodate just the size of the drums let alone the sound produced. It is a big stretch when comparing it to the small sound-proofed isolation booth needed for vocals to be crisp and 'in your face'.
I understand that there are entire institutions devoted to bringing these physical limitations into our grasp, but what about the amateur musician striving to make their trumpet sound better? I have no idea what I just meant by that, but I'm sure I was going somewhere with it so I will keep it. I guess my question would be: how would someone without prior knowledge learn these precise things without analysis of music to a very fine ...lack of word... state. There we go. To a very fine state of understanding.
I guess my whole post was, in a way, without fully understanding what was meant by the post below, to bring to light some of the intricacies that are needed to create even the most simple music. Whether or not the music is created with an intrinsic knowledge of all of the complexities music has to offer- there has to be some intuition of these to make a musical decision that produces, well, good music.
Most people have it- they can recognize good music and can tell exactly what they like about it. They don't have to use very technical details- but their explanation could be worded in various ways- including anything from a lush personal story of enlightenment and experience, but also one could use mathematical formulas and theoretical statements to accurately describe the same musical situation. It really comes down to individual personality. I would go as far to purport that this is not just my opinion, but a pretty rational explanation of some differences in taste.
I don't really know how to close out this post. I guess I feel like the semester is already over- a bad feeling to have- often letting homework slip through my fingers and relinquishing that pleasant grade for a less pleasant grade. Maybe a few Redbulls later I will change my mind. But anyways.
The post I am trying to close out... If anything- it is better to know that there are other methods of understanding how music makes us feel good, then not to know of them. Bleh! I'm rambling. Time for sleep.
I still find it funny that two things can emulate each other so well. Or how one thing emulates another, really. It really startled me when I heard the answer too. I felt like I should have known better being that I have played trombone for the greater portion of my life. It also shows how well it worked as an example for what we talked about afterwards.
Room. Make some room in your music for room. It could be its own genre. "Room Music." It's perfect. No. Let's not go there.
In reality, what makes a room "good"? Is there an 'all purpose room'? Or is it really just to fit the situation accordingly in each individual instance? Probably the latter mentioned. I have a friend that owns a studio, and the sound of the room is one of the biggest influences on every sound. From drums, to guitar, to bass, to vocals, to keyboards... Each really needs its own different space to be captured in their own 'perfect' ways, or at least for the aesthetic they are looking for.
Thinking in this way poses a slight problem- I could be on a wrong path of thought, but- if each instrument requires a different size room to perhaps "create the most beautiful sound" of its own- why does it work out when all the instruments are put together live? Take for instance a big drum kit with a booming bass drum and wicked loud cymbals- you need a pretty hefty room to accommodate just the size of the drums let alone the sound produced. It is a big stretch when comparing it to the small sound-proofed isolation booth needed for vocals to be crisp and 'in your face'.
I understand that there are entire institutions devoted to bringing these physical limitations into our grasp, but what about the amateur musician striving to make their trumpet sound better? I have no idea what I just meant by that, but I'm sure I was going somewhere with it so I will keep it. I guess my question would be: how would someone without prior knowledge learn these precise things without analysis of music to a very fine ...lack of word... state. There we go. To a very fine state of understanding.
I guess my whole post was, in a way, without fully understanding what was meant by the post below, to bring to light some of the intricacies that are needed to create even the most simple music. Whether or not the music is created with an intrinsic knowledge of all of the complexities music has to offer- there has to be some intuition of these to make a musical decision that produces, well, good music.
Most people have it- they can recognize good music and can tell exactly what they like about it. They don't have to use very technical details- but their explanation could be worded in various ways- including anything from a lush personal story of enlightenment and experience, but also one could use mathematical formulas and theoretical statements to accurately describe the same musical situation. It really comes down to individual personality. I would go as far to purport that this is not just my opinion, but a pretty rational explanation of some differences in taste.
I don't really know how to close out this post. I guess I feel like the semester is already over- a bad feeling to have- often letting homework slip through my fingers and relinquishing that pleasant grade for a less pleasant grade. Maybe a few Redbulls later I will change my mind. But anyways.
The post I am trying to close out... If anything- it is better to know that there are other methods of understanding how music makes us feel good, then not to know of them. Bleh! I'm rambling. Time for sleep.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Roomate sound
It seems a lot of people get inspired by wild and crazy things. In my experience nobody ever talks about the simple inspirations in life that are not so professional. It seems I am inspired by such simple things that I can easily entertain myself with the instant beauty of life. This raises a question. Why did music become so vibrantly impossible to enjoy in the professional world? Nobody was complaining with music until money became involved. So now I take my classes at state while being harassed with how much money I am NOT going to make after if I proceeded with a major in New Media or any Music major degree. Reviewing what I just phrased into a smaller word; Suck. If music is your crutch to success then fantastic, but I have to stay away from you because my mind creates gaps between whats real with the human body and sound, and whats logically presented with numbers and values in the common social world. I titled this room-mate sound because I hear things that my bud in my apt. plays and I simply enjoy it without analyzing it or portraying it in the music business. I feel like I'm the only one that does so?
p.s: This is a huge opinion and I do not direct it towards anyone.
p.s: This is a huge opinion and I do not direct it towards anyone.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
it all ADDS up
Additive synthesis was brought up this week in class and talked about how it has been used in more common music. Thinking about it, its a very true thing. Take a guitar riff for example. If you hit a note and either simultaneous or soon thereafter strike any other note the sound that will be projected or amplified has the additive qualities.
The one extremely evident case of this with guitars is what "scenies" commonly call "dissonant chords." Really they aren't chords in a structural sense of the word chord but whatever. Playing two notes half a step apart in pitch is extremely common in today's rock, pop, and metal music. In fact in harder metal or hardcore music its been so used that for a time being there was a slight joke of a movement against bands that used this aspect in their songs because they were just ripping off what NORMA JEAN (website) had come up with and i highly doubt that they *invented the idea* but they do deserve credit for being an early band to coin a style of use for the "dissonant chords."
I see those "dissonant chords" as a very effective example of the additive synthesis in common music because the notes fight so evidently, so that is why i concentrated on that subject so much, but all in all pretty much everything that involves numerous notes performed from one instrument entails additive synthesis in a way. I guess this is another case that suggests new media to be not so different after all.
Chris Lundeen
The one extremely evident case of this with guitars is what "scenies" commonly call "dissonant chords." Really they aren't chords in a structural sense of the word chord but whatever. Playing two notes half a step apart in pitch is extremely common in today's rock, pop, and metal music. In fact in harder metal or hardcore music its been so used that for a time being there was a slight joke of a movement against bands that used this aspect in their songs because they were just ripping off what NORMA JEAN (website) had come up with and i highly doubt that they *invented the idea* but they do deserve credit for being an early band to coin a style of use for the "dissonant chords."
I see those "dissonant chords" as a very effective example of the additive synthesis in common music because the notes fight so evidently, so that is why i concentrated on that subject so much, but all in all pretty much everything that involves numerous notes performed from one instrument entails additive synthesis in a way. I guess this is another case that suggests new media to be not so different after all.
Chris Lundeen
Saturday, November 24, 2007
heavy metal
i was watching a report on some channel i forgot about heavy metal. Twisted Sister was a lead part of this show, where the singer suggested a lot of things to the camera. I guess before my time (1986) or so, some Gore woman was upset about metal music. This lead to the famous "Parental Advisory" label on CD's that have bad language. Assuming this would only warn kids, it just made them more likely to buy the CD due to its intense content.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
More Nothing: The Presequel to My Earlier Blogs Yet to be Posted
Aside from reminding me about what every episode of Seinfeld is about, "Lecture On Nothing" was actually more enjoyable to read than I thought it would be. It showed me especially that Cage was a formidable philosopher as well as musical pioneer.
The whole time I just wish I could join into the lecture with some further discussion about what it really connotes. The piece/lecture can be looked at so many ways. In no way is it "nothing"- the irony being that it is quite something. Even the punctuation is structured. Each individual topic he chooses, whether directly relevant or not, can be dissected into another discussion. Even though it seems very tangential it still occupies verbal territory regarding nothing.
I apologize. I can't think very well right now and I feel like I am typing with some weird vernacular that doesn't quite make sense. I think it is a side-effect of sitting, staring at a ProTools session for 5-6 hours straight.
Continuing on...
The work itself really dove into an area of thought that I like delving into everyonceandawhile:
Something that is either totally absolute, or absolutely
nothing or non-existent.
This is really flossing the teeth of extremism in philosophy, but I don't believe "nothing" exists. The only rational explanation for, the ironically stated, "existence of nothing" is that it is only a pseudonym to express an all-encompassing opposite for "everything". And being that everything is still here, intact, to my knowledge, and my perception, to me, gives "nothing" only a function within theory, conversation and controversy... and shenanigans.
The only acceptable answer I have come up with is that: only when and if all perception is gone- from any being that is able to perceive- knowingly or unknowingly---- Then there is nothing. Even if the sun still burns in the sky and the barren Earth still spins in its same direction, no one would be there to prove that it does or doesn't exist.
ARE YOU READY FOR MORE MIND-BLOWING BLATHER!!?!??!
Tune into my next blog.
Thanks.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Frequencies
okay so here is a formula for a sinusoid wave.
Basically it's the mathematical way of saying how Dr.T showed us the Sine Square Triangle and Sawtooth method.
Wikipedia states...(Any non-sinusoidal waveforms, such as square waves or even the irregular sound waves made by human speech, can be represented as a collection of sinusoidal waves of different periods and frequencies blended together. The technique of transforming a complex waveform into its sinusoidal components is called Fourier analysis. "WIKIPEDIA")
I think this is interesting, but I am almost posting to express an opinion across music. Which is... It should never be mathematically equated like this. I think it ruins every aspect of music possible. Knowledge is power but this is a bright meaning of ignorance is bliss.
Talkin' About Nothing!
Just thought I'd pop up a quicky message about the Cage lecture on nothing. After reading Cage's lecture I had a few things that came to mind. The first being the idea that I came into reading this not knowing what talking about nothing would be like and was happy to read that he DID, in fact, go off on tangents talking about some things! The part that was purposefully repetitive and annoying was a bit much even if it proved the point it was trying to prove. I still have yet to form an idea of how this is to be read if one is not to follow the way the words are spread out on the page. Reading it in a normal way sounds right but feels awkward when seeing how the wordings are spaced. I also question what if anything could be played or done in union with the speaking of this lecture. We wouldn't want something to overpower it but alone it doesn't seem quite enough. We'll see.
"My week is your year": Side A of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music
For the blog entry on reviewing an electro-acoustic piece, I've wracked my brains wondering which piece to do, until the obvious hit me: the infamous collision between the worlds of pop-rock and experimental sound as exemplified by songwriter and former Velvet Underground member Lou Reed's cacophonous Metal Machine Music, released in 1975.For an artist with a formidable backlog of lyrical works, putting out a double-record album with no vocals and drums, consisting only of swirling feedback tones which last over an hour, nevertheless generated a great deal of speculative and mostly negative text from the burgeoning rock lit-crit community who had been previously intrigued with his deadpan deliveries of stories about transexuality and illicit drug use. The album's front photo no doubt fed into misconceptions that this was another live album of his (as in the cover of Lou Reed Live).
Although the album contains no vocals or lyrics, an accompanying set of writings by Reed, shot through with amphetamine-derived sentence fragment babble and alcohol-fueled take-it-or-get-lost antagonism (Reed was a notorious abuser of both drugs) served in a similar capacity. As it turned out, very few of the tens of thousands of people who bought the album stuck with it to find out whether Reed's commentary was indeed a possible lyric sheet; soon after its release, record stores were deluged with customers seeking to return their copies, and magazines like Rolling Stone proclaimed it one of, if not THE, worst albums of 1975. Yet it nevertheless found an influential backer in critic Lester Bangs, who cheekily proclaimed it the greatest album ever made, beating out Kiss' Kiss Alive. Record cutting engineer Bob Ludwig, who oversaw its pressing to vinyl, listened to it in its entirety and compared it favorably to works by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis, both of whom Reed was aware of and revered even before his days in the Velvet Underground. It also proved extremely influential to the nascent industrial music scenes in countries like Germany and the explosion of noise music acts hailing from Japan, and it's even been referenced by name by acts as well-known as Smashing Pumpkins.
So just what does it sound like? Limiting myself to Side A of the first record, it sounds as if it behaves in perfectly logical fashion: the beginning sounds like any sort of regular intro to a sound piece, rising from initial sounds to sustained drones that relate to each other in ways that approximate a major key. Scattered high squeaks intermittently sound at the onset, then fade away, only to return at various points. Different textures move in, linger, and then are replaced by slightly different ones. A sense of space is created via the modulation and "beating" of certain frequencies. Little linear melodies dot in and out, never to be repeated. Bits that sound vaguely atonal are treated as almost passing tones, bent slightly out of a relative key and then returned to rough normality. By side's end, the music concludes much as it began: the inaugural sounds make a return appearance to bookend the first half of the first record
How did he do it? There've been many questions to that effect, and Reed himself was for a time interested in tweaking journalists' perceptions: he once maintained that he deliberately inserted bits of Mozart and Beethoven into the sonic fray. As an acousmatic work, something that wasn't conceived as being performed by a live band, a true recording-as-THE-work, it really shouldn't matter as to how he did it. The sounds ought to be what really counts . . . except on the back of the album he put the words "No Synthesizers," as if to ground an otherwise extreme conceptual leap in a vague reassurance that, "Well, at least he isn't using THOSE!" Seeing as Reed immediately undercut the acousmatic linings of MMM, I feel less conflicted about revealing in this entry that he used two guitars tuned in a certain way, each one leaning up against its own amp in order to feed back on itself (notions of Reich's Pendulum Music here), recorded them into his 4-track in his apartment, split them into four channels and manipulated the sounds, probably similar to how he manipulated lyrics and arrangements in his more usual fare, as the sounds appear to follow a certain logic. It supposedly took him a week to do, and his final comment in his original notes of "My week beats your year," instead of being a boast of a sleep-deprived speed freak, speaks more to the actual production of the album (and also the means by which he flouted a yearly record contract).
In the last couple years, Zeitkratzer, a German group dedicated to playing the "new" music of the 20th century, worked up a score derived from MMM and performed their interpretation of it live in Europe, inviting Lou Reed to add a heavily-processed guitar solo over the last minutes of the piece. Having by then passed the age of 60, he obliged.
A 30 second clip from the beginning of Side A can be heard here
In the last couple years, Zeitkratzer, a German group dedicated to playing the "new" music of the 20th century, worked up a score derived from MMM and performed their interpretation of it live in Europe, inviting Lou Reed to add a heavily-processed guitar solo over the last minutes of the piece. Having by then passed the age of 60, he obliged.
A 30 second clip from the beginning of Side A can be heard here
Friday, November 16, 2007
Feedback Pendulums & Lucier Wires
The class session where we performed Steve Reich's "Pendulum Music" was inarguably the most intense thing we've done or will probably do this year. The sheer loudness created sounds that were not only heard, but very definitely felt also. While a few of the other pieces had this element of "feeling" the music in your body, none compared with the magnitude and force of this one. As for the actual experience and what was heard, it was a case where the sounds were the most interesting in the beginning with the microphones movings very quickly and somewhat in sync with each other in a pendulum motion of movement. Hearing how they changed as they stepped out of the same movement and how they worked together (all of 3 of them) was very interesting. As it slowed down the lower, more comforting sounds of one of the three greatly constrasted from the sort of squelchy whooping of the other two mics. I was surprized to learn later that the speakers and sound intake was set as low as possible in order to achieve feedback. The idea that this could not be performed any quieter than this was somewhat amusing! With most of the things we have done I wondered how experimenting with the set-up would change the results, such as adding in other noises that would be picked up by the microphones or setting it up as to where they would all collide into each other at various random points. With Lucier's music for a long thin wire, I think it was a bit hard for me to understand the mechanics of what was going on. It would have been curious to see more things done with that or it going on longer and with a longer wire, but as we discovered, the set-up was pretty temperamental!
Monday, November 12, 2007
pendulum pain
A couple weeks ago we performed pendulum music in the little room that is THE CLASSROOM.
Being that we performed a piece thats loud in a concert hall, it was heard by the entire building and required an awesome yes we're loud sign on the classroom door to the hallway.
As joyous as the torture it brings upon other building residers to hear the volume, nonetheless PENDULUM PAIN is a good way to state what occurs. I was lucky enough to have earplugs on me that day and i must say it was still VERY loud as in the type that you feel the vibrations in your body.
I find this piece very comparable to modern music events because 1-it is performed at a deafening volume. 2-there is some ridiculous distortion. & 3-some people get ticked off by it easily =]
However, I did severely enjoy the pendulum music re-enactment in class, and the awesome frequency responses we were capable of generating just as i enjoy extremely loud modern concerts. So... to this PENDULUM MUSIC i say BRAVO!!!
Chris Lundeen
Being that we performed a piece thats loud in a concert hall, it was heard by the entire building and required an awesome yes we're loud sign on the classroom door to the hallway.
As joyous as the torture it brings upon other building residers to hear the volume, nonetheless PENDULUM PAIN is a good way to state what occurs. I was lucky enough to have earplugs on me that day and i must say it was still VERY loud as in the type that you feel the vibrations in your body.
I find this piece very comparable to modern music events because 1-it is performed at a deafening volume. 2-there is some ridiculous distortion. & 3-some people get ticked off by it easily =]
However, I did severely enjoy the pendulum music re-enactment in class, and the awesome frequency responses we were capable of generating just as i enjoy extremely loud modern concerts. So... to this PENDULUM MUSIC i say BRAVO!!!
Chris Lundeen
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Penduludium. It's the New Sonata.
Pendulum Music.
Remember when we did that? I almost don't. But I luckily still do. So as a new rule to myself, which I hopefully will abide by, I am going to attempt to update this blog faster than I have been in the recent past. We will see how long this lasts. Probably until the end of the semester.
So... My first question/response to our couple of performances is:
This question comes from a specific part of our first performance where Isaac's speaker setup was producing an incredibly low frequency with some pretty sweet low-level distortion (from what I could hear). This sort of sound deserves to be preserved, why?... Just my opinion. This is just one of those pieces that it wouldn't be to bad of an idea to record some results every so often just for chance purposes- especially if you are into sounds that aren't regularly heard- that are also not digitally manipulated with any sort of software. It reminded me a lot of some of the sound-ideas that we come up with in MUSM 437: DYI Audio. Check it out if you are tech*slash*music savvy- or aren't and want to be.
So... I am pretty sure I made enough of a fuss in class for everyone that was there to know how much I enjoyed just one of the sounds produced so I will leave that to rest.
The other times we performed the piece I was not as stunned. Well, I take that back. The sound probably stunned me either way because of the volume even with earplugs in.
But sort of on the same lines of that low frequency- I Wiki'ed for a while the other night and found a little bit more about "brown-noise" which we talked about a while back. (I have no idea what I was looking for, but landed on Brownian motion and the random functions therein and found a whole page of different types of noise. Brown, Pink, Grey, White, Red... all with different frequency/amplitude relationships. Check it out. (CLICK THIS for link). And sorry guys- there is no brown note. Although Southpark references it to an exact frequency...
"92 cents below the lowest octave of E-Flat" LOL!
Thank you Wikipedia. Thank you so much.
So everyone remember to tune your pianos regularly... OR ELSE!!
...
Oh, I remember what I was looking for now... I was looking to see if a perpetual motion machine had been created. This was a cool theoretical device (if it worked).
Remember when we did that? I almost don't. But I luckily still do. So as a new rule to myself, which I hopefully will abide by, I am going to attempt to update this blog faster than I have been in the recent past. We will see how long this lasts. Probably until the end of the semester.
So... My first question/response to our couple of performances is:
1. How can we reproduce this amazing *THAWOMP!* sound on a second occasion?
This question comes from a specific part of our first performance where Isaac's speaker setup was producing an incredibly low frequency with some pretty sweet low-level distortion (from what I could hear). This sort of sound deserves to be preserved, why?... Just my opinion. This is just one of those pieces that it wouldn't be to bad of an idea to record some results every so often just for chance purposes- especially if you are into sounds that aren't regularly heard- that are also not digitally manipulated with any sort of software. It reminded me a lot of some of the sound-ideas that we come up with in MUSM 437: DYI Audio. Check it out if you are tech*slash*music savvy- or aren't and want to be.
So... I am pretty sure I made enough of a fuss in class for everyone that was there to know how much I enjoyed just one of the sounds produced so I will leave that to rest.
The other times we performed the piece I was not as stunned. Well, I take that back. The sound probably stunned me either way because of the volume even with earplugs in.
But sort of on the same lines of that low frequency- I Wiki'ed for a while the other night and found a little bit more about "brown-noise" which we talked about a while back. (I have no idea what I was looking for, but landed on Brownian motion and the random functions therein and found a whole page of different types of noise. Brown, Pink, Grey, White, Red... all with different frequency/amplitude relationships. Check it out. (CLICK THIS for link). And sorry guys- there is no brown note. Although Southpark references it to an exact frequency...
"92 cents below the lowest octave of E-Flat" LOL!
Thank you Wikipedia. Thank you so much.
So everyone remember to tune your pianos regularly... OR ELSE!!
...
Oh, I remember what I was looking for now... I was looking to see if a perpetual motion machine had been created. This was a cool theoretical device (if it worked).
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Still Nothing That Rhymes with Radio
Ah, postponed-post.
"Radio Music" is always a fun piece to perform in my opinion. There is always some difference in every performance that brings to my mental table another sample of sound that I have not heard before. There is always this energy between engaged performers that makes the piece almost more enjoyable to the performer than the audience- I will have to assume this because I have never seen an audience while performing the piece. But we will see soon maybe, possibly?
My critiques for our performance would be that we could have tried moving around the room to find different timbres for each radio's sound, plus adding another form of spacializaion in addition to having the radios placed in differing locations around the room. I remember a movie in Music History where Cage was performing one of his "Circus's" and the performers were walking around while performing, and to me, this would create a more amiable sound- at least in volume, to the audience instead of just raising and lowering the volume from the radio itself. Hey, and the more sound manipulation the better, eh? eh?
I did particularly like the "transposition" of the piece into the FM bandwidth. This could also have a lot more connotations though, this "transposition." What if every performer had access to XM radio and could make a continuous stream of stations that way. I don't know if that is physically possible at the moment, but it would definitely open up a huge range of timbres and sounds that maybe haven't been explored.
Go ahead, try it.
"Radio Music" is always a fun piece to perform in my opinion. There is always some difference in every performance that brings to my mental table another sample of sound that I have not heard before. There is always this energy between engaged performers that makes the piece almost more enjoyable to the performer than the audience- I will have to assume this because I have never seen an audience while performing the piece. But we will see soon maybe, possibly?
My critiques for our performance would be that we could have tried moving around the room to find different timbres for each radio's sound, plus adding another form of spacializaion in addition to having the radios placed in differing locations around the room. I remember a movie in Music History where Cage was performing one of his "Circus's" and the performers were walking around while performing, and to me, this would create a more amiable sound- at least in volume, to the audience instead of just raising and lowering the volume from the radio itself. Hey, and the more sound manipulation the better, eh? eh?
I did particularly like the "transposition" of the piece into the FM bandwidth. This could also have a lot more connotations though, this "transposition." What if every performer had access to XM radio and could make a continuous stream of stations that way. I don't know if that is physically possible at the moment, but it would definitely open up a huge range of timbres and sounds that maybe haven't been explored.
Go ahead, try it.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Wolff Orchestra
The multiple pieces we played that were designed and composed by Christian Wolff were definitely the most extensive pieces yet in regards to actual performance, where each one of us had our part to play. This one, to me, seemed to be so very complex for some of the pieces, to the point where I think they would be quite hard to organize if you had an extended amount of groups or orchestras. This was partially the point, as we discussed, and as one could see by the tenth and final performance's rules involving flight, which was kind of amusing. To me, this continued along with a similar idea that the Cage radio session had, where much more leniance is given to the performers and the overall piece involving ideas that move a bit more beyond than just normal performance and composing into the territory of a somewhat philosophical slant. These two especially, but also pretty much every weeks class, pushed the boundaries of what experimental music and music itself in general can be. It also showed a less minimal, but still avant garde approach to electro-acoustic styled music. The idea of chaos coming into play again is what intrigued me, where sometimes the performance may have moments that don't work at all, others work very well and surprise us, and the general idea of how the human mind is at work within itself and among others in this integration and interplay of playing in and out of harmony. Of course, it also proved that music can even be funny and make us laugh, when I hit that little sped up drum beat and the week before with the Cage radio performance and the Native American flute music.
Cage Radio
For me, the class where we performed the Cage piece with the AM (and FM!) radio stations was one of the most interesting and dynamic of all the things we've done so far. The idea of a piece that did have structure and rules, but also left it quite open to chance and the whims of the performers was what it made it for me. The sounds and overlapping were often chaotic or nothing but barely audible static, but then every so often things would come together in an unexpected way. I definitely think moving on to the FM band added another dimension, seeing as how there were more stations that played music rather than just talk radio. With this and other examples of pieces like this from Cage or possibly others came the idea of putting more power in the performer and random chance. There would be no way to ever truly duplicate the performance of a piece like this, which is in many ways a thrilling idea, even if you take into account that any performance no matter how similar won't be an exact duplication. This also kind of ties into my last post, but to an even higher degree, where many seperate sounds or music every so often come together to create a third type of sound.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
What to do after college...
Well, if we graduate and have failed to make individual music, i think working for someone like this would be a nice job. My main issue is how do you get a job like this? and where would I want to go after scsu to even get close to getting a job like this?
Friday, November 2, 2007
"I prefer laughter to tears..."
With regards to last week's Cage piece with radios, here is another piece of his involving radios (which he unfortunately couldn't use as originally written) that he performed on another broadcast medium (television) in the 60's:
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/04/john_cage_on_a_.html
It's really interesting to note that the format of that particular game show was left behind in order to allow him to play the piece, as well as the fact that union politics entered into and affected the performance of an avowedly lefty composer!
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/04/john_cage_on_a_.html
It's really interesting to note that the format of that particular game show was left behind in order to allow him to play the piece, as well as the fact that union politics entered into and affected the performance of an avowedly lefty composer!
Monday, October 29, 2007
guess and tell
Last week in class we each took roles to perform different sections of a structured piece that had interesting rules. Never having done anything like this before with playing based off formula, I found it very intruiging. The cool thing was that it worked very well and didn't turn into a plain chaos. There was actual phrasing just like the music of a jamband that just plays based on experience with eachother.
Actually no, the parts fit even better than that. There was structure to the starting points of every stimulus and reaction and much control over volume for the reactions. This will greatly enhance my creative musical mind!
Chris Lundeen
Actually no, the parts fit even better than that. There was structure to the starting points of every stimulus and reaction and much control over volume for the reactions. This will greatly enhance my creative musical mind!
Chris Lundeen
Thursday, October 25, 2007
What Rhymes with Radio?
Nothing as far as I can tell.
If anyone knows of something that rhymes with radio, go ahead an comment.
I'll post more soon.
If anyone knows of something that rhymes with radio, go ahead an comment.
I'll post more soon.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Collaborating music and lights
I think a rare topic that comes up amongst music majors is collaboration, and when it does, it's usually from a one on one talk with a professor or speech given, not taught. You can collaborate with almost anything in life. I believe as long as it has the same tempo or meaning or just a mood of the song then you have successfully produced a collaboration. In this case I tried to find an example and was successful. This is a collaboration of music and lights (typical mixture) that usually Awe's the audience for many bands and variations of music.
Monday, October 22, 2007
The silence
LISTEN TO THAT! Listen to what?
In last week's class we performed a radio music piece that involved tuning stations at random timing according to the order of a sheet with the only limitations being it would span 6 minutes and you could not stay on one station for the whole time. Because of this inbetween stations we encountered a lack of a radio program however, i would argue that we still got tonal music in the "blank" frequencies. I feel this way because there is still noise in the background. If you asked someone to listen after you turned the dial on a radio from a station to a unused frequenced you would get the "Listen to what?" response and it would be common to hear them say what am i listening for there is nothing there, its just silence. This wouldn't occur in some cases where a radio projects the static very loudly, but especially on many newer radios nothing would project and maybe there IS silence. However i would still argue this is very much so musical for many reasons.
Mainly I would argue for that because you can easily compare the empty frequencies to the pauses in songs. Is it not true that just as you are dialed in with your attention in a song when its paused, and you wait for something to happen? Is it not also true that when you have a radio on and it is not tuned to a broadcasting station it makes that same desire for something to happen occur? In my mind much of the effectiveness in music might be in the commonly unnoticed, suspense of pause or silence. THE SILENCE is what brings forth our desire for more, and does its job every time.
Chris Lundeen
In last week's class we performed a radio music piece that involved tuning stations at random timing according to the order of a sheet with the only limitations being it would span 6 minutes and you could not stay on one station for the whole time. Because of this inbetween stations we encountered a lack of a radio program however, i would argue that we still got tonal music in the "blank" frequencies. I feel this way because there is still noise in the background. If you asked someone to listen after you turned the dial on a radio from a station to a unused frequenced you would get the "Listen to what?" response and it would be common to hear them say what am i listening for there is nothing there, its just silence. This wouldn't occur in some cases where a radio projects the static very loudly, but especially on many newer radios nothing would project and maybe there IS silence. However i would still argue this is very much so musical for many reasons.
Mainly I would argue for that because you can easily compare the empty frequencies to the pauses in songs. Is it not true that just as you are dialed in with your attention in a song when its paused, and you wait for something to happen? Is it not also true that when you have a radio on and it is not tuned to a broadcasting station it makes that same desire for something to happen occur? In my mind much of the effectiveness in music might be in the commonly unnoticed, suspense of pause or silence. THE SILENCE is what brings forth our desire for more, and does its job every time.
Chris Lundeen
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Being a sensitive listener
I am a very sensitive person. Therefor I look at all aspects of life with sensitive senses. Smell, Touch, Sight, Hearing, Tasting. Hearing is the most sensitive of all. The slightest noise attracts me or distracts me. I cannot sleep due to these small noises some nights. Rock music keeps me jacked up. And I wondered why. I always have to gradually turn the volume up, never blast it right away, which I assume you all do too. But can audio music provoke not just emotions such as... Depressed/Sad, Happy/Jacked up, Relaxed, Tensed ext... But actual physical movements? Literally at the sound of something, a normal human being WILL move physically? I think this clip proves my point. ***WARNING*** obscene language is present, please excuse this.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/42237/
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/42237/
Monday, October 15, 2007
2 Different Melodies Creating a Third
I thought this would be a good opportunity to discuss, in brief, some of the sonic experimentation of one of my favorite bands, The Animal Collective. On record, the band makes use of many ideas involving sound manipulation and abstract ways of creating melody, but what I want to talk about here is something they do in the live setting. The way the band performs live changes from tour to tour and currently it is just three guys with one of them working with samplers and effects, and the other two singing and using effects. With no use of actual guitar or drum it's hard to convey to someone who hasn't seen them that they still very much so have a live band dynamic, and for the most part this comes through the use of vocals. The key idea behind the new songs they are playing is the idea that during many moments one singer will be singing a completely different melody from the other, and while this at some points seems like it's about to clash and become incomprehensible to the human ear and mind, more often than not the two differing melodies mesh together in and out of creating a very definite third melody. This also ties into some of the transitions between the songs where, seamlessly, one song goes into the other so gradually there really doesn't feel like one ends or the other begins, and the time in between some lingering sound of the ending song melds with a beginning sound of the next song. It is tricks like these that really make for an interesting and mind-blowing music experience. One thing I also found funny was that the band was on Conan O'Brien recently and if you had the subtitles on the description of the two singers was quite amusing. Not sure who was in charge of typing that up! haha!
Click Here
In another class I am taking this semester we listened to "Sonic Contours" by Vladimir Ussachevski. We spoke mainly about the history of the piece and the significance in that manor, but we just grazed the top of it analytically. So I will, for purposes of this class re-skim what I thought about the piece and how it affects me musically.
Throughout the piece there is a dichotomy between sounds that are very tonal in their nature, and those that are more rich regarding their spectrum. The latter of these sounds have more inharmonic spectra (frequencies in between what we would call "notes" in a tonal structure). These two sounds are intertwined in the first section showing relationships between their range and also the specific frequencies present- one just has more differing frequencies (and is probably derived from the first sound [the """"piano"""" sounding thing] but I will not go too much into the source of these sounds.) A similarity in these first two sounds, or gestures from now on, is their almost chordal structure. There usually is an interval in the first gesture or a similar intervalic range produced in the second gesture; only in the second this interval is filled in or has some frequency material between the frequency maximum and minimum.
The second "section" that I noticed was more melodic by far, not being driven by intervals harmonically, but rather- you guessed it: melodically. I wouldn't classify it as a classic lullaby, but its softness does offer a rather delicate nature often becoming more active dynamically but then receding back to its almost docile quality. This section is then accompanied by rich long tones and intervals that provide a background texture to add some color to the sound pallet. Soon this section reveals another instance of the """""""piano""""""" sounding thing and is much more agitated for a period of time. Now we are beginning to experience delay! Or at least a much greater semblance than we have heard so far. Now the melodic gestures are accompanied by themselves and create the intervalic material from well, itself. Then... There... Is... A... Slower... Section... Lots... Of... Space... Then... An alien talks. Well. No. Not really.
Being the humans we are, we immediately notice someones voice no matter how drastically changed it is. This is one source that I oftentimes have a real difficulty listening to and not just shouting, "HEY! I KNOW WHAT IT IS!!!" So I will. Just this once... maybe.
And then... MORE DELAY!!!! I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THIS STUFF!!!
The delay that he used in the piece decays rather quickly, losing a lot of the frequencies from the original gesture in only 1 or 2 generations. At the 5th and 6th generation it is a totally different sound. Almost like the difference between the dichotomy of the two sounds/gestures in the beginning...
But I really don't know. So I'll leave you with that for now.
Throughout the piece there is a dichotomy between sounds that are very tonal in their nature, and those that are more rich regarding their spectrum. The latter of these sounds have more inharmonic spectra (frequencies in between what we would call "notes" in a tonal structure). These two sounds are intertwined in the first section showing relationships between their range and also the specific frequencies present- one just has more differing frequencies (and is probably derived from the first sound [the """"piano"""" sounding thing] but I will not go too much into the source of these sounds.) A similarity in these first two sounds, or gestures from now on, is their almost chordal structure. There usually is an interval in the first gesture or a similar intervalic range produced in the second gesture; only in the second this interval is filled in or has some frequency material between the frequency maximum and minimum.
The second "section" that I noticed was more melodic by far, not being driven by intervals harmonically, but rather- you guessed it: melodically. I wouldn't classify it as a classic lullaby, but its softness does offer a rather delicate nature often becoming more active dynamically but then receding back to its almost docile quality. This section is then accompanied by rich long tones and intervals that provide a background texture to add some color to the sound pallet. Soon this section reveals another instance of the """""""piano""""""" sounding thing and is much more agitated for a period of time. Now we are beginning to experience delay! Or at least a much greater semblance than we have heard so far. Now the melodic gestures are accompanied by themselves and create the intervalic material from well, itself. Then... There... Is... A... Slower... Section... Lots... Of... Space... Then... An alien talks. Well. No. Not really.
Being the humans we are, we immediately notice someones voice no matter how drastically changed it is. This is one source that I oftentimes have a real difficulty listening to and not just shouting, "HEY! I KNOW WHAT IT IS!!!" So I will. Just this once... maybe.
And then... MORE DELAY!!!! I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THIS STUFF!!!
The delay that he used in the piece decays rather quickly, losing a lot of the frequencies from the original gesture in only 1 or 2 generations. At the 5th and 6th generation it is a totally different sound. Almost like the difference between the dichotomy of the two sounds/gestures in the beginning...
But I really don't know. So I'll leave you with that for now.
mystical noise
There is something about the noises of things like R2D2 from Star Wars that can just make a person smile and laugh, but also there are things about the sounds that are simply put as cool.
I listened to "Dialogue" by Tenney, and was pleasantly reminded of the R2D2 effect as i will call it. There are what seem like random pitched and timed note sequences that make up the phrases of such music.
However cool all that is, that wasn't the main point of this. The main sounds of this include a rhythmic background that comes and goes, and creeping whistle noises making it reminiscent of the forbidden planet and other scary movie parts but not for long because they are quickly interupted by the above mentioned R2D2 randomization.
What i got from this was basically a feeling of curiosity, which I think is natural when listening to music that both stimulates lurky and random things in my head.
Chris Lundeen
I listened to "Dialogue" by Tenney, and was pleasantly reminded of the R2D2 effect as i will call it. There are what seem like random pitched and timed note sequences that make up the phrases of such music.
However cool all that is, that wasn't the main point of this. The main sounds of this include a rhythmic background that comes and goes, and creeping whistle noises making it reminiscent of the forbidden planet and other scary movie parts but not for long because they are quickly interupted by the above mentioned R2D2 randomization.
What i got from this was basically a feeling of curiosity, which I think is natural when listening to music that both stimulates lurky and random things in my head.
Chris Lundeen
Friday, October 12, 2007
White Noise?
I woke up on the wrong side of bed today and decided that I will throw some sticks in the spokes of "The Sea Darkens" or at least the way we refer to it in an analytical sense. I remember that we used the term "white noise" for metaphorical purposes, but in reality, there was absolutely no white noise in the piece by definition.
white noise
–noun
1.
Also called white sound. a
steady, unvarying, unobtrusive sound, as an electronically produced drone or the
sound of rain, used to mask or obliterate unwanted sounds.
2.
Physics.
random noise with a uniform frequency spectrum over a wide range of
frequencies.
This handy definition from dictionary.com shows us that any structuring of the white noise makes it no longer "white". White noise is a very specific quality of sound that has its own definition. There is no audible semblance of the word "white" or "sea" in white noise. If we subtract enough sine waves through subtractive synthesis we may uncover such a phenomenon, but we would destroy the purity of true white noise in the process by changing it. If we must use the idea of "white noise" let us only refer to it as part of the source or process in creating the piece we heard, but not so much of any exact sound presented in the piece. I sound pushy don't I? Well, I'll stop here. I would probably get quite annoying if I continued.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Xenakis
i listened to this sound clip of the artist Xenakis. It seems to be a gradual air lifting piece that im unsure of. I cant really say a whole lot about it, other then heres an EA piece that i listened to. Its not large enough to get the full feel, but ill keep looking and repost if i find something of a greater extent. Here is the link and info on the piece i heard.
this clip of Xenakis' electronic music includes the main works from his 1st period (1957-1962), - Diamorphoses, Concert PH, Orient-Occident - one from his 2nd, (1969-1977) - Hibiki-Hana-Ma -and one from his last - S.709.
http://www.digital-music-archives.com/webdb2/application/Application.php?
this clip of Xenakis' electronic music includes the main works from his 1st period (1957-1962), - Diamorphoses, Concert PH, Orient-Occident - one from his 2nd, (1969-1977) - Hibiki-Hana-Ma -and one from his last - S.709.
http://www.digital-music-archives.com/webdb2/application/Application.php?
Monday, October 8, 2007
White Noize
Hearing Yausa's musical piece "the Sea Darkens" (from a study in white) helped me realize how something that could be considered quite minimal and experimental was also complex and calculated. The idea that every sound was made from human voices, even if heavily distorted, was something I picked up on right away while listening to it, yet this did nothing to stop me from wondering how each and every sound was made. The complexity comes in with the dual nature of the song, where the male/female, English/Japanese, and feelings of both white/light and black/darkness created a juxtapozed sound that worked both as two and one. It switched from feeling very human to very alien at many points and often felt like both were at play. This lead me to think of the many times in less straight-forward music where the human voice is utilized as if it was an instrument itself. There is less focus on the meaning of words and more on their sound, rhythm, and dynamics. I remember the lead singer of Radiohead once saying, about his lyrics, that more often than not he chooses words for the way they sound over their actual meanings. The other main idea that was heavily discussed in class was the idea of this song unintentionally aligning up with the inverse golden ratio when broken down into parts. It still boggles my mind that these major changes in sound and mood were unplanned, and to me points out the idea that some people are just born with the ability to naturally do something like that in the same way that some people are just good at drawing or picking up an instrument and others are not.
That thing
In music the typical listening experience is in a car or at work or some show of a favorite band right?
Well i've spent a lot of time with not-so-typical music in the past year and studied with the basis that the sound's source is unimportant on many occassions. However different the listening experiences of bands and the studying its funny how much the things i've learned in studying apply to the typical listening.
First of all, when bands play most of the time everyone thinks, yea i know what that sound is its a bass drum or a snare head or you name it. The thing that many people are oblivious to are that many times in live performance and/or recording sure someone played a bass drum or snare head, but the sound that comes out is a desired triggered sound that is pre-recorded and used for that *near perfect* sound.
Also, many sounds that are live or real are now days easy to mix up with instruments because of processing and effects. In fact people have confused keyboard and guitar parts since the 80's rock music of van halen and i'm sure even before that. What this leads me to conclude is that new media music and pop music however different they seem in aesthetic tonality, really value the same thing, that being how something sounds. I've come to see that whatever "that thing" is that we like to here we don't care how it is generated.
It's funny what a year in new media does to your outlook. A couple years ago i would have just called anyone that wants anything to do with the WEIRD MUSIC a little goofy in the head, but now i see how the important sound aspects correlate perfectly with typical popular music.
Chris Lundeen
Well i've spent a lot of time with not-so-typical music in the past year and studied with the basis that the sound's source is unimportant on many occassions. However different the listening experiences of bands and the studying its funny how much the things i've learned in studying apply to the typical listening.
First of all, when bands play most of the time everyone thinks, yea i know what that sound is its a bass drum or a snare head or you name it. The thing that many people are oblivious to are that many times in live performance and/or recording sure someone played a bass drum or snare head, but the sound that comes out is a desired triggered sound that is pre-recorded and used for that *near perfect* sound.
Also, many sounds that are live or real are now days easy to mix up with instruments because of processing and effects. In fact people have confused keyboard and guitar parts since the 80's rock music of van halen and i'm sure even before that. What this leads me to conclude is that new media music and pop music however different they seem in aesthetic tonality, really value the same thing, that being how something sounds. I've come to see that whatever "that thing" is that we like to here we don't care how it is generated.
It's funny what a year in new media does to your outlook. A couple years ago i would have just called anyone that wants anything to do with the WEIRD MUSIC a little goofy in the head, but now i see how the important sound aspects correlate perfectly with typical popular music.
Chris Lundeen
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